Whoa, If True: Obama's Secret Plan to Nuke Charleston, South Carolina
The “false flag” conspiracy theory baffled Rick Santorum.
Rick Santorum, former senator of Pennsylvania, speaks during a television interview outside the Iowa Freedom Summit in Des Moines, Iowa, U.S., on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2015.
Photographer: Daniel Acker/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
This is the initial installment of "Whoa, If True," an occasional look at the conspiracy theories that migrate from the wilds of the Internet to the well-covered tundra of presidential campaigns.
On March 14, former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum joined Texas Senator Ted Cruz, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, and a whole nest of hawks for the South Carolina National Security Action Summit. It did not make much news. The AP's story on the summit consisted of 98 words, explaining that the summit was happening—and nothing else.