Crazy Conspiracy Theories Of 2020: Revisiting Bill Gates to Bigfoot

The desire for control and information in a fast-paced world leaves us susceptible to believing in conspiracy theories. What were some of the notable things that moved through the rumor mill in 2020?

The Election

President Donald Trump still believes he won the election, arguing the system was riddled with fraud and his adversaries plotted against him in the race.

“This was a stolen election,” he said from his Twitter account on Nov. 8.

Countless lawsuits seeking to overturn the results of the election were filed by lawyers representing the president. That included a rather embarrassing situation in a Michigan courtroom for former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani. None of those claims had merit, though the president continued to claim victory long after the voters in the Electoral College cast their ballots for President-elect Joe Biden.

The Supreme Court, which counts three Trump appointees on the bench, ruled Dec. 12 against a Texas challenge to the results from Michigan, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, arguing Texas "has not demonstrated a judicially cognizable interest in the manner in which another State conducts its elections."

From the position of the FBI, the courts and Trump’s Attorney General Bill Barr, who tendered his resignation in December, there is no evidence to support claims of election irregularities.

COVID-19

President Trump has peddled a steady string of misinformation about the origins and the severity of the pandemic. The more popular bit of fake news is that China is directly to blame for spreading the virus that’s left nearly 2 million people dead, according to the latest COVID data from Johns Hopkins University.

Another theory, however, is that COVID-19 itself was part of a deep-state conspiracy to remove the president from office somehow.

“It looks like the coronavirus is being weaponized as yet another element to bring down Donald Trump,” conservative radio commentator Rush Limbaugh said in February.

As of September, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 likely originated in bats in China, “though the exact source of this virus has not been identified.”

QAnon

Originating in 2017, the QAnon conspiracy moved into mainstream politics in 2020. The far-right narrative suggests a group of Satanic pedophiles are running a global sex-trafficking ring involving children. This Satanic group is plotting against President Trump, who himself is expected to usher in a messianic cleansing of sorts dubbed the “Storm.” That’s when members of this evil group will be rounded up and arrested. Alleged members of the Satanic group include the likes of Hillary Clinton.

None of that is true. But it resonates well in the age of populism, a political ideology that makes a clear line between the people and a self-centered elite. Nancy Rosenblum, an emeritus professor of ethics in government at Harvard University, told the Associated Press in early 2020 the doomsday narrative of QAnon reverberates in many right-wing circles for that very reason.

“What makes it unique is that Trump is the chosen one,” she said.

Bill Gates

One of the richest and more influential people in the world, the Microsoft founder and philanthropist fits neatly inside the QAnon conspiracy. But he’s not just trying to overthrow the president, the theory goes; he wants to implant microchips inside people.

That theory derived from a proposal by Gates to deploy “digital certificates” as a way to track the spread of COVID-19. Reporting from the New York Times finds that theory gained widespread support from the likes of Laura Ingraham, a conservative television host on Fox News.

“Digitally tracking Americans’ every move has been a dream of the globalists for years,” the Times quoted her as saying.

In debunking the theory, the BBC reported that the idea is more akin to an invisible tattoo that serves more like a contact tracer than a tool for surveillance.

Bigfoot

Yes, Bigfoot, AKA Sasquatch. The pandemic drove more and more people outside in an effort to break the cabin fever for social restrictions in quarantines. By one estimate, there were more than 5,000 sightings of an alleged ape-like creature in the United States in 2020. And with more and more people able to capture videos and images on their mobile devices, the “evidence” has been overwhelming.

There is still no confirmation that Bigfoot is anything more than a conspiracy theory.