Donald Trump pushes murder conspiracy theory about TV host Joe Scarborough, prompting calls for Twitter to act from widower of Lori Klausutis
- Trump suggested via Twitter the MSNBC host killed Lori Klausutis in 2001 when he was a Republican congressman and she was one of his staffers
- The woman’s widower, Timothy Klausutis, wrote to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey pleading with him to delete Trump’s ‘vicious lie’
The president’s attempt at character assassination of MSNBC host Joe Scarborough by spreading the baseless rumour to his nearly 80 million followers was only his latest foray into conspiracy theory territory.
For years before being elected in 2016, Trump built his political brand by supporting the “birther” lie that Barack Obama, America’s first black president, was not born in the United States and therefore was illegitimate.
Trump’s current fixation is on the entirely evidence-free story that Scarborough killed a woman in 2001 when he was a Republican congressman and she was one of his staffers. According to the narrative, Scarborough was having an affair with the woman.
Trump, who faces US economic calamity and 100,000 deaths from coronavirus, as well as sinking re-election polls, pushed the story over the weekend, saying “Did he get away with murder? Some people think so. Why did he leave Congress so quickly and quietly? Isn’t it obvious?”