Donald Trump Thanks Conspiracy Site For ‘Amazing Honor’ Of Being Its Man Of The Year

Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump took to Facebook on Thursday morning to thank a right-wing conspiracy website for the “amazing honor” of naming him its Man of the Year. Trump told the publication, WorldNetDaily, that he “very much” appreciates its “informative polls and coverage.”

WorldNetDaily’s founder and editor Joseph Farah is one of the nation’s leading purveyors of “birther” conspiracy theories — the repeatedly debunked notion that President Barack Obama was born in Kenya — publishing more than 600 posts on the topic. Even after Obama released his long-form birth certificate indicating his birth in Hawaii, Farah claimed that this proved nothing. Trump has frequently repeated these claims and Politico reported in 2011 that Farah frequently advised the billionaire investor and former reality show host.

But Farah’s and WND’s conspiracy theories do not end with the president’s birthplace. In a 2011 column, he accused Muslims of promoting a “homosexual agenda” to help destroy America. That same year, he called a minor earthquake in Washington, D.C. a punishment from God for “disobedience and indifference to our Creator,” while warning that the city “deserves” worse. In 2012, he claimed that Obama’s re-election would mean that he and other conservatives would be “hunted down like dogs.” And earlier this month, Farah wrote on the site that the Obama administration is “facilitating, enabling, and empowering” terrorist attacks “by jihadis.”

According to Right Wing Watch, Trump is scheduled to speak at a March conference for Farah’s Western Center for Journalism, at which Farah will be honored by his own group as a “Hero of Freedom.”

http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2015/12/31/3735448/donald-trump-wnd-man-of-the-year/