During the George W. Bush and Barack Obama years, many Republicans steered clear of far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and Infowars. Even Bill O'Reilly, then a Fox News host, was overtly contemptuous of Jones. But during Donald Trump's presidency, Infowars was granted White House press credentials; the Trump White House treated Infowars much more respectfully than it treated CNN or the New York Times. Conspiracy theorists, once shunned by Republicans, became much more accepted in the GOP — and some Republican members of Congress, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Rep. Lauren Boebert, have promoted QAnon conspiracy theories.
According to analysis and research reported in the Washington Post, conspiracy theories and misinformation haven't become less common among Republicans in the post-Trump era. Instead, the problem has become even worse.
