Donald Trump campaign spokesperson Katrina Pierson either has little grasp on recent United States history, believes Americans are stupid, or simply hopes no one will call her out on being a blatant bullsh*tter.
Pierson claimed President Barack Obama led the U.S. into war in Afghanistan in a CNN interview on Saturday, an absurd reorganization of the timeline of that war.
The U.S. in 2001 invaded Afghanistan. Obama became president in 2009. In 2001, Obama was an Illinois state senator.
It's unclear what Pierson was trying to say by bringing Afghanistan into a conversation about the beginnings of the Islamic State, which can be traced to Iraq. In one of the most awkward pieces of television this presidential election has produced, Pierson's words are so jumbled it's difficult to make out a coherent argument, other than she thinks Obama and Hillary Clinton are bad.
This is the latest distortion of facts from the Trump campaign this week. Donald Trump has also been trumpeting the notion that Obama and Clinton cofounded ISIS, which is blatantly untrue.
Of course, after a few days, Trump pawned his comment off as "sarcasm."
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Tuesday is a very important day for Ted Cruz, but it's been a rough road for the GOP's second-place candidate.
Indiana holds its primary Tuesday, one that Cruz has staked a great deal on. It's 57 delegates is second only to California in states still left to vote, and Cruz has invested a lot of time and money in the Hoosier State as the odds of catching Trump before the convention get smaller with each week.
Unfortunately the Texas senator is making waves for all the wrong reasons. It's hard enoughbeing called "Lucifer" by a former party leader, but now Cruz is spending time addressing conspiracy theories that have become memes and, in doing so, he's undercutting the seriousness of his campaign (whatever seriousness the 2016 campaign has left, anyway).
But if you haven't been following along, maybe you're a bit confused, so here's a quick overview of some of the bigger conspiracy theories about Ted Cruz.
Ted Cruz is the Zodiac Killer
Ah, the mother of all 2016 election internet memes. And, yet, its origins are actually from 2013.
In case you didn't know who the Zodiac Killer is, he's a man suspected of killing at least five people in the San Francisco area in the late 1960's, one who also sent letters to area newspapers about the crimes and never got caught. They even made a well-known movie about it. It's good!
So how did Ted Cruz get dragged into this and why is it a big deal? The Daily Dot claims the origins come from this tweet in 2013.
At some point, the joke cropped up again on social media early in this election cycle, and — as things are prone to do on social media — exploded.
OK, funny, ha ha, etc. But why does this matter now, after it's been refuted by research? Well, the joke got new life thanks to Saturday's much-talked-about White House Correspondents' Dinner speech from Larry Wilmore. During the speech, Wilmore went on a run of Cruz/Zodiac Killer jokes.
All of this led to a surreal moment on the campaign trail on Monday, the eve of the Indiana primaries, when Ted's wife Heidi apparently felt compelled to not only acknowledge the Internet joke but offer what she thought was a rebuke of the rumor.
But, in a twist only the 2016 campaign could provide, she didn't really offer a clear denial and left the door open, saying, “Well, I’ve been married to him for 15 years, and I know pretty well who he is, so it doesn’t bother me at all. There’s a lot of garbage out there."
And, so, the meme lives to fill your Twitter timeline for another day.
Ted Cruz's father killed JFK
The newest entry in the Cruz Conspiracy Pantheon, this one comes courtesy of — who else? — Donald Trump. During an appearance on Fox News Tuesday morning, Trump suggested that Ted Cruz's father, Rafael, was spotted in cahoots with Kennedy's assassin Lee Harvey Oswald just days before the shooting.
Problem is, Trump's apparent source on the story is the National Enquirer.
The tabloid previously accused Cruz of being involved in many extra-marital affairs. And, in light of that, it's worth noting that Enquirer leadership has close ties to Trump.
Still, the conspiracy theory has caught on, and Cruz on Tuesday felt compelled to address it, if even in a sarcastic, exasperated manner.
Ted Cruz is Canadian
Ah, ground zero for Cruz conspiracies. Believe it or not, Cruz is not the first presidential campaign figure to face the Canadian conspiracy. That distinction goes to Chester A. Arthur, the 21st president of the United States. Hopefully, Ted can find some comfort in that.
As for Cruz himself, this one has been around a while but has gotten new life thanks to Donald Trump, who has made the issue of Cruz's birth a talking point (not a shock, given he did the same thing of President Obama previously).
A sampling of Donald Trump's "Canada Conspiracy" tweets about Ted Cruz
IMAGE: TWITTER
Even Obama got in on the action during his portion of the White House Correspondents' Dinner.
Now, this issue is, for the most part, settled. Judges in states like Utah, Pennsylvania and Illinoishave already dismissed lawsuits challenging Cruz's citizenship status, declaring him a legal citizen eligible to be on the ballot.
Not that that's stopped the attacks from Trump supporters.
And, so, as Indiana heads to the polls, here's hoping that someone uses an exit poll to find out what, if any, of these theories voters believe, and maybe we'll get a little bit of closure.
Rowdy protests prior to Donald Trump's Southern California rally Thursday evening devolved into all-out rage when the GOP front-runner finished speaking to a capacity crowd at the Orange County fairgrounds.
Hundreds of protesters swarmed the streets outside the sprawling Costa Mesa venue. Some smashed the rear window of a police car, while a few jumped atop the vehicle. Protesters unsuccessfully tried to flip the car before authorities intervened. An anti-Trump crowd temporarily blocked a freeway onramp, bringing benches and chairs to sit on.
Back window has been smashed out of a Costa Mesa police cruiser. Protester: "I think Donald Trump did it!" pic.twitter.com/FTj4JoiAdN
Images and video of the protest flooded social media as "Costa Mesa," "Orange County," #TrumpOC and #TrumpRally trended on Twitter throughout the evening.
As of this writing, police are still determining the total number of people taken into custody. Authorities attempted to break up crowds along city streets throughout the night, tackling pockets as they formed.
#OCSDPIO POST Trump Rally Protest ongoing. Number of detained and arrests still being determined
It's not unusual for Trump rallies to turn violent. They have in Chicago, Wisconsin, Florida and elsewhere. And in Orange County, which is more than a third Latino, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, Trump's anti-immigrant rhetoric lit a match. Protesters could be seen holding Mexican flags and signs that said "Build A Wall Around Trump."
Arianna Perez, 19, with the sign: "We could be peaceful & do things different, but we wouldn't get our voice heard." pic.twitter.com/xjkDOUY3et
Even before Trump took the stage in front of thousands to talk his usual fare about building a wall between the U.S. and Mexico and making America great again, his supporters and detractors faced off. Punches were thrown, expletives were shouted. Authorities in riot gear and mounted police had to break up the two sides, forming a barrier between them.
Later in the evening, fighting between the pro and anti-Trump crowd picked up again, with a handful of supporters intentionally jamming their cars into protest crowds. One Trump supporter's face was bloodied after being punched.
Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island hold elections on 26 April in a series of polls known as the "Acela Primary" - after the rail service which links all five states.
Republican frontrunner Donald Trump will seek to build on his big win in New York and further dent the hopes of Ted Cruz, who has formed a pact with John Kasich in a last-ditch effort to block Mr Trump's path to the nomination.
Hillary Clinton is hoping to deliver a knockout blow to challenger Bernie Sanders.
Results state by state
Click or tap on the links below for full results, provided by the Associated Press.
Winning delegates, the people who endorse a candidate at the party conventions in July, is key to securing the nomination.
The Democratic totals include the delegates won per state, as well as so-called "unpledged" or "super delegates". Hillary Clinton has a huge lead among the party leaders and elected officials who each get a vote at the convention.
AP conducts surveys of these super delegates, and adds them to a candidate's totals if they indicate their support. But super delegates can - and do - change their minds during the course of the campaign, so the figures may shift as the race unfolds.
The delegate tracker is updated automatically. There may be a short delay between the delegates being assigned and the totals changing.
President Obama can make anything look great. Anything. Even a dorky VR headset.
At the Hannover Messe Industrial trade show in Hanover, Germany, Obama tried out a very special VR headset. How special? It had googly eyes on it. Yes, silly, adorable, googly eyeson the outside of the headset.
It's pretty clear Obama rocked this googly eyed VR headset like a boss.The VR headset was one of several new technologies he tried at the world's largest industrial trade show.
IFM Electronic, the company that makes the headset, demoed a 3D picture that "looked like a color-coded heat map" taken from its world's smallest 3D camera, according to a White House report.
The company's CEO reportedly said Obama could use the headset, along with the camera, to "talk to his daughter virtually."
"It's a brave new world," Obama replied. Indeed, Obama. Indeed.
HANOVER, GERMANY - APRIL 25: U.S. President Barack Obama tests virtual reality glasses at the ifm electronics stand at the Hannover Messe industrial trade fair on April 25, 2016 in Hanover, Germany. This is likely Obama's last trip to Germany as U.S. president. The Hannover Messe is the world's largest industrial trade fair. (Photo by Alexander Koerner/Getty Images)
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