.WHEN DONALD TRUMP uttered words "Springfield" 33 mins into the American presidential debate on September 10th, David Muir, the co-moderator, was actually readied. During that small Ohio community, Mr Trump stated, illegal aliens are "eating the canines, they're eating the felines, they're eating the family pets of individuals who reside there". Mr Muir without delay responded that, depending on to Springfield's city manager, there were actually no qualified files of pet-eating. The former president's case should have struck a lot of customers as peculiar. But lots of Mr Trump's enthusiasts were keyed for it: the accusation had been actually circulating in right-wing circles on social media, increased by Elon Musk, the manager of X. Exactly how did the town come to be at the facility of a right-wing conspiracy concept?