Trump, DeSantis push baseless election conspiracy theories as California counts its votes
ms.now
When votes take time to count, conspiracy theories rush in to fill the uncertainty gap — and this story is a textbook case of motivated reasoning meets the illusory truth effect.
Motivated ReasoningIllusory Truth EffectEpistemic BubbleConspiracy Theory Framework
Theory Briefing
- Trump and DeSantis promoted baseless election fraud claims while California was still in the normal process of counting votes.
- Motivated reasoning theory explains why politicians default to fraud narratives when results don't match their expectations.
- Repeating unverified claims publicly exploits the illusory truth effect, making false stories feel credible the more they circulate.