If you’re feeling confused and disoriented by the stunning success Donald Trump has achieved in the American elections; by the level of hate displayed by his supporters, by the paranoid nature of the allegations he flings (like “the elections are rigged”), and the way he paints his rival Hillary Clinton as “the devil”, then don’t fret, help is at hand. This story is for you.

Donald Trump and his campaign are tapping into the fear, anger, and distress of a large and fast-growing group of Americans – conspiracy theorists. You cannot explain both the stunning success and the serious limitation of his campaign without grasping the specific family of ideas he taps into.

Trump’s penchant for conspiracy theories isn’t just a quaint aspect of his personality. In this election, it appears to be critical to his success. The audience he’s playing to have a wide and varied number of concerns – and the campaign is pushing their buttons with finesse.

So what’s the evidence that Trump is drilling for electoral oil in the deserts of conspiratoria?

Let’s Start With the Word “Globalist”
This is a charge the Trump campaign and his supporters have thrown around with surprising frequency, to the extent that syndicated columnist Ben Shapiro was forced to write an essay on it (see link 2 of the sources listed at the bottom).

Trump has used the word often in speeches and interviews, and referenced it in his GOP nomination acceptance speech (link 3), as have his senior campaign staff and supporters. Here are a few examples:

Trump on the “false song of globalism”: