The Atlantic

Why the Iowa Caucus Birthed a Thousand Conspiracy Theories

A panicked electorate is more susceptible to believing claims without evidence.
Source: Brian Snyder / Reuters

Politics, like nature, abhors a vacuum, and in the absence of results from the Iowa caucus, a range of conspiracy theories have sprouted.

As of this morning, results from last night’s caucus are still outstanding. The Iowa Democratic Party blames that on the failures of a new app it rolled out to gather results from across the state. It’s still impossible to know quite what happened, in part because the party has given out so little information about what went wrong.

That has created a perfect environment for conspiracy theories to spread. The whispers are coming from President Donald Trump’s election campaign, from , from , and from ordinary Americans who

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