01x07 - Hillary Clinton & Blood Libel

[bunniefuu]

Nice to meet you.

- Okay.
- Yes.

SACHA BARON COHEN: In Borat Subsequent Moviefilm,

I lived with two conspiracy theorists,

in character, for several days.

- Vaccines.
- Bill Gates.

- Mail-in ballots.
- Chinese virus.

- Drink their blood.
- Not nice.

SACHA: The myths and misinformation

they shared with Borat

fuel a dangerous rhetoric

that is tearing apart societies

in front of our eyes.

In this series of episodes,

we'll introduce Jim and Jerry
to world-leading experts,

doctors and academics,
who will address

some of the most dangerous
conspiracies head-on

and debunk them face-to-face.

Hello, Jim and Jerry.

This is Hillary Rodham Clinton.

The Clintons are very evil.

Extremely evil.

Supposedly, they t*rture these kids.

Well, what it does is it,

um, it gets their adrenaline flowing

- in their body.
- JERRY: Mm-hmm.

Then they take that out of
their adrenal, adrenal glands,

and then they drink their blood,
or that... that out of their...

- JERRY: I've heard about things like that.
- Yeah.

Uh, Hillary Clinton drink the,
uh, blood of children?

That's what we've heard.

NARRATOR: This conspiracy theory began

when disgraced congressman Anthony Weiner

began sexting an underage girl.

During the investigation,
the FBI seized his laptop,

which contained confidential
emails between Hillary Clinton

and her former aide,
Weiner's wife Huma Abedin.

Within hours,
a conspiracy theory website

claims a video called
"Frazzledrip"

was found on Weiner's hard drive.

To support this false claim,
heavily doctored photos,

including an image that was
ultimately sourced to have

originated on the website
of a popular D.C. restaurant,

were manipulated and put forward as proof.

The nonexistent video was said
to contain footage of Hillary

and Huma wearing the face
of a young girl

and drinking her blood.

This reference is a modern
reworking of the centuries-old,

anti-Semitic myth of blood libel

that claims that Jews used the blood

of Christian children
to make matzah for Passover.

Though completely based on falsehoods,

online videos claiming
that "Frazzledrip" is real

have been viewed millions of times,

and the conspiracy's core ideas
of ritualistic m*rder,

cannibalism and blood libel

have found a receptive
and ready audience online.

- I'm Jerry and this is Jim.
- I'm Jim.

I'm Andrew.
I'm in New York right now.

Poor guy, but okay.

NEWSWOMAN: Journalist Andrew Marantz.

NEWSMAN: Staff writer at The New Yorker

and author of the book Antisocial.

ANDREW: Thank you so much for doing this.

I-I think it's just
a really exciting opportunity.

Thank you for talking to us.

Yeah.

This thing, this "Frazzledrip"
or whatever...

What would they gain from it?

Well, the, the way the theory
goes is that they are, kind of,

addicted to this compound called
adrenochrome in the kids' blood.

- I've heard of that before.
- You've heard of that?

The adrenochroming of children...

Adrenochrome.

- Yeah.
- MINISTER: And by a show of hands,

who's heard that word before,
in this building?

JERRY: Are these people really doing this?

I mean, if they are,

what the hell's wrong with them?

Though I wouldn't put it past someone,
doing this.

You know, none of that is true.

But, throughout history,
there have been these theories

that there is a kind of
secret, powerful cabal

of elite people who do these
kind of occult rituals.

You know, going back
thousands of years,

there would be this idea
that Jews are out there

roaming around, trying to k*ll

Christian babies and drink their blood.

It's actually such a,
such a common trope that it's...

There's a name for it.

- It's called...
- I've never heard that.

- Yeah.
- It's called what?

It's called "blood libel."

In the Middle Ages
some things that happened,

that people felt they couldn't explain,

were blamed on the Jews.

Because they were a religious minority,

that they were evil, came
the idea of the blood libel.

Even up to the 20th century,
before the First World w*r,

there were trials of Jews
who were blamed for abducting

and taking the blood from young,
Christian boys.

Anti-Semitism has been at the core

of most r*cist misinformation
throughout history.

You scratch a r*cist, you find
an anti-Semite underneath.

I would go further.

In the digital world,

you often find a misogynist underneath, as well.

ALEX JONES: I mean, this woman is dangerous,

ladies and gentlemen.

She is a demon.

This is biblical.

She's going to launch a nuclear w*r.

She is an abject,
psychopathic demon from hell.

[HORN HONKS]

ANDREW: You know,

it's one thing to talk about politicians,

you know, doing corrupt things for money.

That's a pretty standard thing
throughout history.

But being involved with,
sort of, you know,

underground rituals with
children and that kind of stuff,

how do you tell, you know,
which of these, kind of,

outlandish things to believe or not?

Like, for example...

What would your estimated number be

for how many people you think

Hillary Clinton has k*lled
or has had k*lled?



And that's something
I feel serious about.

These conspiracy theorists make a leap

from the undeniable to the unbelievable.

And I think people make
the leap to the unbelievable

because it reinforces
their political values.

Because they say,
"I've always hated the Clintons,

and now I know why.

It's not only that I disagree
with their policies

and I dislike them personally,
but Hillary Clinton

is k*lling children
and drinking their blood."

This is a conspiracy theory
as, as, as a revival.

It has absolutely no basis in truth,

either in the Middle Ages or today.

Either people are trying
to discredit her

or they're expressing
their own hatred for her.

Their fundamental belief
that she is evil

in a symbolic kind of way.

PRODUCER: Jim and Jerry,
someone who couldn't partake

in this but wanted
to get you a message,

gave us a videotape that we're
going to play for you.

Hello, Jim and Jerry, this is

Hillary Rodham Clinton.

And I know

you've heard, uh, a few things

about me, uh,
that you might believe,

and I know that you're not alone.

It's hurtful.

I'll be really honest with you.
It's hurtful.

Not just to me and my family,
but, you know, to my friends

and other people who know,
uh, that, uh, this is,

uh, not just false but,
you know, sometimes

painfully false.

So, just as one American to another,

um, I hope that we can

start trying to find
some common ground again

and overcome all those forces

trying to divide us
and put us into little boxes

apart from each other, uh,
because wouldn't it be great to,

kind of, come together

instead of drift apart.

Uh, I hope that's possible.

Thank you.

I just can't stand her.

[♪♪♪]