Republican frontrunner Donald Trump was asked about the conspiracy theories swirling around Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s death. And he didn’t exactly shut down the speculation.
Donald Trump is fanning conspiracy theories about Antonin Scalia’s death
Libby Nelson was Vox’s editorial director, politics and policy, leading coverage of how government action and inaction shape American life. Libby has more than a decade of policy journalism experience, including at Inside Higher Ed and Politico. She joined Vox in 2014.
“They say they found a pillow on his face, which is a pretty unusual place to find a pillow,” Trump said in a radio appearance on The Savage Nation, first noted by Right Wing Watch.
The pillow was not over Scalia’s face, later reporting by the Los Angeles Times’ Matt Pearce clarified. It was between his head and the headboard.
“I went on the air and said we need the equivalent of a Warren Commission, we need an immediate autopsy before the body is disposed of,” host Michael Savage said. “What do you think of that?”
Trump responded: “I just landed, and I’m hearing it’s a big topic — that’s the question. And it’s a horrible topic, but they say they found a pillow on his face, which is a pretty unusual place to find a pillow. I can’t tell you what — I can’t give you an answer. You know usually I like to give you answers but I literally just heard it a little while ago.”
While the circumstances of Scalia’s death were somewhat unusual — he was pronounced dead over the phone — there’s little out of the ordinary about a 79-year-old man whose doctor reportedly said he had “several chronic conditions” dying in his sleep.
But we’ve known for a long time that Trump is a conspiracy theory aficionado. After all, the only reason he’s a prominent Republican in the first place was his vocal affiliation with the “birther” movement during President Barack Obama’s first term — a view he espoused as recently as July.
