The Washington Post, whose writers have portrayed skeptics of Hillary Clinton’s health as conspiracy theorists, is now lending credence to a Nigerian-born doctor’s conspiracy theory that Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump collaborated to poison Hillary Clinton.
“The man who discovered CTE thinks Hillary Clinton may have been poisoned,” blared the Post’s headline Monday morning. Nigerian-born doctor Bennet Omalu, who has worked extensively on concussions, suggested that Clinton had been poisoned by Putin and Trump.
I must advice the Clinton campaign to perform toxicologic analysis of Ms. Clinton’s blood. It is possible she is being poisoned.
— Bennet Omalu (@bennetomalu9168) September 12, 2016
“I must advice [sic] the Clinton campaign to perform toxicologic analysis of Ms. Clinton’s blood. It is possible she is being poisoned,” Omalu wrote on Twitter Sunday night.
Washington Post reporter Cindy Boren noted that Omalu’s “suggestion was greeted somewhat skeptically in the replies,” before doubling down.
“But this is Omalu, whose credentials and tenacity are well known,” Boren argued.
“He wasn’t giving up on Twitter, adding that his reasoning is that he does not trust Russian President Vladimir Putin or Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee who has expressed admiration for Putin.”
I do not trust Mr. Putin and Mr. Trump. With those two all things are possible.
— Bennet Omalu (@bennetomalu9168) September 12, 2016
Boren went on to note that Putin was implicated in the poisoning death of a former KGB operative in London in 2006.
Boren’s speculation came just a week after the Post’s Chris Cillizza dismissed any questioning of Hillary’s health as the work of “conspiracy theorists.”
“Beyond the Clinton conspiracy theorists who believe she had something to do with Vince Foster’s death and that she was secretly responsible for everything from Y2K to the SpaceX explosion last week, it’s hard to plausibly insist, based on the available data, that Clinton is ill,” Cillizza wrote.
On Monday, the Post’s Dave Weigel reported on the blossoming conspiracy theories some on the Internet have pushed since Clinton’s fainting episode. Weigel did not, however, report on the conspiracy theory being pushed by the Post’s own reporter.