CONSPIRACY THEORIST IN CHIEF

ONE OF THE MOST popular items at this year’s Republican National Convention was a navy blue T-shirt that at first glance looked terribly out of place. “Hillary,” it read in large letters. Beneath was the punchline: “for Prison.” You could find the slogan everywhere—on stickers, signs, and buttons, on a banner towed by an airplane over Cleveland, on the lips of convention speakers such as Patricia Smith, whose son was killed in Benghazi. “Hillary for Prison” quickly became a rallying cry synonymous with Donald Trump’s presidential campaign—but it did not originate with the Republican nominee.

The phrase was popularized by Infowars.com, the conspiracy theory site run by the radio host Alex Jones. Jones’ online store started selling “Hillary for Prison” T-shirts in the fall of 2015, alongside other merch calling 9/11 “an inside job” or warning about fluoridation. But its revival as a catch-phrase of the Republican