Trump spent 45 minutes talking with cast of right-wing play dramatizing 'Deep State' conspiracy theories: report

The coronavirus emergency has given President Donald Trump one of the most daunting tests of his administration, with less than a year to go before he stands for re-election.

And yet in the midst of all the chaos, one thing the president found time to do on Thursday was meet with the cast of a bizarre right-wing play dramatizing the supposed "deep state" plot at the FBI to frame Trump in the Russia investigation.

According to The Daily Beast, Trump spent 45 minutes talking with the people behind "FBI Lovebirds: Undercovers," which focuses on the affair between FBI officials Peter Strzok and Lisa Page. The leading roles of Strzok and Page were played by Dean Cain, the former Superman actor, and Kristy Swanson, who played the starring role in the 1992 Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie.

According to playwright Phelim McAleer, "We went for a 15 minute meeting that took 45 minutes. We were there for 45 minutes in the Oval Office, and he loves it, he loves the play." McAleer added that Trump hasn't actually seen the play, but loved the concept of it.

Strzok and Page have long formed the basis of right-wing conspiracy theories because they were critical of Trump in private text messages, at the same time that Strzok was working on the Russia investigation. But there is no evidence either of them did anything to improperly interfere with the investigation, and former special counsel Robert Mueller removed Strzok from the case just as a precaution.