Donald Trump's conspiracist base is restless these days, still irate that they never got the "Epstein files" they were promised. Futile efforts to keep the conspiracists happy have seemingly become the full-time job of multiple top-level law and intelligence figures in the administration. Over the weekend, FBI director Kash Patel and deputy director Dan Bongino tried to distract the MAGA masses by promising FBI investigations into a baggie of cocaine found at the White House in 2023 and, more disturbingly, the pipe bombs planted at DNC and RNC headquarters on January 6, 2021. Their efforts are about fueling baseless right-wing myths that President Joe Biden used drugs or that the FBI was trying to frame the January 6 rioters. Still, there is little reason to believe Patel and Bongino can do much to keep the MAGA base happy, especially as their "investigations" are unlikely to produce the desired evidence for the conspiracy theories.
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard. Her latest foray in generating red meat to stoke the paranoia of Trump supporters isn't just dishonest, but downright dangerous. Late last week, without the mainstream media noticing, Gabbard started pushing the flat-out lie that President Joe Biden was labeling Americans as "terrorists" because they opposed COVID-19 mitigation measures like masks and vaccines. Biden did no such thing, but by pushing this lie, Gabbard is, whether she intends to or not, encouraging the radicalization that does lead to domestic terrorism.
