Trump believes claims on conspiracy website run by 'dumbest man on the internet': report

Gateway Pundit is a right-wing conspiracy theory website whose founder, Jim Hoft, has for years been dubbed by critics as "the dumbest man on the internet."

Despite this, however, he has one very powerful and loyal reader in former President Donald Trump.

In fact, Trump insider sources tell the Washington Post that the former president came to rely on Gateway Pundit in the wake of his 2020 election loss, despite the fact that the website pushed one debunked conspiracy theory about voter fraud after another.

In fact, Trump even went so far as to shove printouts of Gateway Pundit articles at his aides to prove that his false claims about the 2020 election had validity.

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"When he was looking for evidence, Gateway Pundit was one reliable place he knew he could go for validation, and maybe even some new ideas," said one aide.

Despite Trump's enthusiasm for the website, however, even some of his own allies acknowledge that it is a poor source of information.

In fact, one former Trump administration official told the Post that citing Gateway Pundit was a surefire way to lose a debate, even in conservative circles.

"You can’t use it to make an argument," they said. "You can only use it to hear what you want to hear."

A prominent right-wing radio host who spoke on the condition of anonymity, meanwhile, told the Post that Gateway Pundit represents "a fringe segment of so-called conservative media that’s driven by conspiratorial clickbait to drive revenues to stay afloat."

The site did earn on-the-record praise from longtime Trump adviser Steve Bannon, who said that the site "isn’t afraid to take a leading edge" even in instances "where you don’t have all the facts."