9/13/2020

Nonfiction • TV-PG • Directed by: Fareed Zakaria GPS • 39 minutes

Donald Trump uses false conspiracy theories to damage perceived enemies, explain away poor polling numbers, or to cover up his own misdoings. CNN’s Fareed Zakaria explores why some people are vulnerable to believing Trump’s conspiracy theories. Trump launched his political self-invention as the highest profile ‘birther,’ a peddler of the racist accusation that Barack Obama was not born in the United States. He has also spun tales to explain away his polls, and shake the faith Americans have in the electoral process. Trump has falsely tweeted that former President Barack Obama’s re-election in 2012 was a ‘total sham,’ and that Sen. Ted Cruz ‘stole’ the 2016 Iowa Republican caucus. Zakaria assesses whether the damage the president has done to American institutions and global standing can be undone after he someday leaves office.