Politico | Trump backers see a coronavirus conspiracy

This story is published in a content partnership with POLITICO. It was originally reported by Ben Schreckinger and Alice Miranda Ollstein on politico.com on February 26, 2020.

Some supporters of US President Donald Trump see a threat bigger than the spread of a highly contagious novel coronavirus: a conspiracy by “deep state” actors to use the virus against the president.

One key piece of evidence fuelling their theory: a Centres for Disease Control official making public statements on the outbreak is the sister of Rod Rosenstein, the former deputy attorney general who oversaw the Mueller probe and, according to a disputed report, once discussed removing Trump from office.

Dr Nancy Messonnier, head of the CDC’s National Centre for Immunisation and Respiratory Diseases – who got a shoutout from her brother for attending his 2017 confirmation hearing – warned Americans in a Tuesday media briefing that an outbreak in the US was inevitable.

Messonnier’s comments got widespread attention, sparking calls for further actions by the administration, which had long struck a more reassuring note. The furor appeared to catch Trump flat-footed while en route back from his summit with the Indian prime minister, where he had declared the outbreak “very well under control”.

The likes of conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh and Jim Hoft, publisher of the Gateway Pundit, a conspiratorial, pro-Trump site, have seized on the sibling connection, as have a large number of anonymous Twitter accounts.

“Rod Rosenstein as we all know definitely worked to undermine the Trump administration, which is oddly exactly what his sister is doing by undermining the more logical and calm message the president’s team has issued on the virus,” charged conservative pundit Wayne Dupree in a Wednesday blog post.