Trump's latest conspiracy theory

Each day bears new gifts of Trump insanity. The latest is his allegation that President Obama had his phone tapped during the election. He offered no proof. Obama denied it. Then FBI director James Comey called upon the Justice Dept to refute the claim. Now, this from The New York Times:

A Conspiracy Theory’s Journey From Talk Radio to Trump’s Twitter

It began at 6 p.m. Thursday as a conspiratorial rant on conservative talk radio: President Barack Obama had used the “instrumentalities of the federal government” to wiretap the Republican seeking to succeed him. This “is the big scandal,” Mark Levin, the host, told his listeners.

By Friday morning, the unsubstantiated allegation had been picked up by Breitbart News, the site once headed by President Trump’s chief strategist, Stephen K. Bannon. Less than 24 hours later, the president embraced the conspiracy in a series of Twitter posts accusing his predecessor of spying on him, setting in motion the latest head-spinning, did-he-really-say-that furor of Mr. Trump’s six-week-old presidency.

Previous presidents usually measured their words to avoid a media feeding frenzy, but Mr. Trump showed again over the weekend that he feeds off the frenzy. Uninhibited by the traditional protocols of his office, he makes the most incendiary assertions based on shreds of suspicion. He does so without consulting some of his most senior aides, or even agencies of his own government that might have contrary information. After setting off a public firestorm with no proof, he then calls for an investigation to find the missing evidence ....

And why? Trump is trying to distract everyone from his involvement with Russia, and his Republican toadies are there to help. Psssst - it's not working, guys.

Here's John Oliver's take on this ...