In the serene mountains of Colorado, there’s a figure known online as “Eco Sage,” the pseudonym for a man named Julian. He shares his life and philosophy with 75,000 followers through videos focusing on sustainable living, permaculture, and raising his twin boys with a back-to-basics approach. Julian, despite his focus on environmentalism, supports Donald Trump’s bid for the presidency, seeing him as a disruptor of traditional political systems which he believes have failed in environmental stewardship.
Contrastingly, in the urban sprawl of Denver, about 100 miles east, lives Sophia, an ardent advocate for social justice and equity, surrounded by her collection of vintage records and a local hero among animal rescuers due to her numerous pet adoptions. Sophia has been a staunch Democrat for the last two decades, her political identity deeply tied to progressive values.
Despite their stark differences, Julian and Sophia share an unusual belief: they both suspect that the assassination attempts on Donald Trump were theatrics, albeit for different reasons.
Julian’s perspective was forged in the echo chambers of platforms where conspiracy theories about government overreach and secret societies, like the “Green Cabal,” thrive. He believes these attempts were orchestrated by Trump’s inner circle to galvanize his voter base, painting Trump as a martyr against an overreaching Deep State intent on environmental exploitation.
Sophia, on the other hand, encountered these theories through social media algorithms that, after years of feeding her content on political corruption, now suggested that Trump’s team might have staged these events to manipulate public sympathy and rally his base, thereby ensuring his re-election by playing the victim card.
The spread of these theories, despite their lack of evidence, has been phenomenal, with posts suggesting staged events amassing views in the tens of millions on platforms like X (formerly Twitter). These posts range from accounts typically critical of Trump, puzzled by the lack of security failures, to those in his camp who see it as proof of his divine protection or the Deep State’s desperation.
My journey to Colorado, a state not just famous for its natural beauty but also for becoming a fertile ground for election conspiracy theories, was to explore this phenomenon. The aim was to understand how such polar opposites could converge on a single, unfounded narrative and the impact this has on their daily lives and social interactions.
Both Julian and Sophia’s beliefs, shaped by the information silos they inhabit online, reflect a broader societal trend where trust in traditional news sources wanes, and alternative narratives, regardless of evidence, gain traction. This convergence on conspiracy theories, despite their political chasm, underscores a deeper issue: the erosion of common factual ground upon which democratic discourse thrives.
Their stories highlight not just the power of misinformation but also the human need for narratives that make sense of a complex world, even when those narratives are built on sand.
