Dinesh D'Souza tried to use his time behind bars to bolster Epstein conspiracy theory, failed

(Image credit: Shannon Finney/Getty Images)

published 12 August 2019

Dinesh D'Souza, the conservative commentator and provocateur, was last in the news for receiving a pardon from President Trump, though he still says odd things on Fox News. Over the weekend, D'Souza tried to leverage his eight months in a federal correctional center to lend authority to the bizarre, evidently Trump-endorsed conspiracy theory that the Clintons might be responsible for Jeffrey Epstein's suicide.

Twitter wasn't having it. Some commentators said if you're going to chase conspiracy theories, the sitting president — whose Justice Department was in charge of Epstein in prison — had pretty close ties to the late alleged sex trafficker, and others said D'Souza was mostly reminding people he is a convicted felon (he pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations in 2014). Some people noted that D'Souza actually survived his incarceration unharmed, undermining his case, while others pointed out that he hardly served hard time.

D'Souza conceded that point when someone dared him to admit he served time "in prison," and that didn't go well for his argument, either:

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And when one replier tweeted, "It blows my mind this guy has an audience," D'Souza chose to respond again.

Twitter is no place for thin skin.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.