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History, Conspiracy Theories
Revisiting Pizzagate
Conspiracy theorists spread an improbable story of Satanic cult activities in a restaurant in 2016
Comet Ping Pong is the curious name of a pizzeria in Washington, D.C. In November 2016, conspiracy theorists published reports identifying the restaurant as the location for a human trafficking and child sex ring consisting of prominent Democrats, including Hillary Clinton. The theorists claimed emails hacked from Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign manager, John Podesta, included coded evidence of the crimes.
Right-wing conspiracy theorists, including the son of Trump National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, spread the story aggressively to discredit “the left.” A member of the Trump transition team, the younger Flynn was later fired for his tweets spreading the conspiracy.
It is unclear if any of the theorists publishing the story believed it. Many readers of the stories, however, found it credible.
An organization called Public Policy Polling asked 1,224 registered voters whether they believed Hillary Clinton was involved in a child sex ring in a pizzeria in Washington, D.C. Nine percent of the respondents answered “yes.” Another 19 percent indicated they “didn’t know.”
