Talk:Pizzagate conspiracy theory

There is something important missing in this article

The origin of the "gate" portmanteau is, as most are probably aware, the Watergate scandal. There needs to be a sentence explaining this somewhere in the lede or in the first section. Also, pizza is good and almost never scandalous. 2600:1012:B060:BDFC:2C0A:91B3:6F47:8E46 (talk) 09:26, 19 July 2021 (UTC)

Pffft. You sound just like a shill for big pizza.

In all seriousness, such a statement had been in the article, IIRC, but was removed for not being sources, and no-one being able to find a source. I can't find one now with a quick search (though it's possible that a more exhaustive search could turn one up). In any case, I think it's widely enough understood that adding the "-gate" suffix to coin a neologism by which to name a scandal that it goes beyond "we don't need to source something so obvious" and ends up in "We don't need to mention something so obvious."

If some of the regulars at this page are in favor of adding it, I won't object. But I don't see it as really necessary. ᛗᛁᛟᛚᚾᛁᚱPants Tell me all about it. 12:34, 19 July 2021 (UTC)

Ok thanks for the background, that was helpful. I still think that the article is missing something important for anyone who doesn't know what Watergate is (this may actually be a serious issue when you consider a global audience that is not educated in US political history and wasn't alive in the 20th century). Explaining the etymology risks lightly endorsing that there is a scandal, but this can be alleviated if it's made clear that the name was coined by conspiracist proponents of the conspiracy theory, so these readers will learn about the name and also that it is only a "scandal" in the eyes of the conspiracists. But if there is no source for it, then that alone is reason for it to not be here. 2600:1012:B060:BDFC:2C0A:91B3:6F47:8E46 (talk) 18:09, 19 July 2021 (UTC)

Reasonable enough, I've added it. CaptainEek ^{Edits Ho Cap'n!}⚓ 18:56, 19 July 2021 (UTC)

Like I said, I don't object to the addition. I just looked through List of "-gate" scandals and controversies and saw plenty of international stuff. It's more of an English-language convention than an American one, from what I can see there. ᛗᛁᛟᛚᚾᛁᚱPants Tell me all about it. 19:05, 19 July 2021 (UTC)

That is a very amusing list, I had no idea there were so many! CaptainEek ^{Edits Ho Cap'n!}⚓ 19:11, 19 July 2021 (UTC)

I've been going through it all morning, since I looked it up while responding to the IP. You're right, it's thoroughly amusing.

Also, what do you want to bet that, at some point in the next 90 days, your edit will get reverted by someone complaining about the lack of source? It won't be me (I'm 100% convinced this is squarely within WP:SKYBLUE territory, as I mentioned above), and I'll be happy to revert and argue about that, but I feel like editors get extra pedantic about politically-charged articles. ᛗᛁᛟᛚᚾᛁᚱPants Tell me all about it. 19:18, 19 July 2021 (UTC)

Just a comment from a random wikipedia reader-- I came here to find out what the pizzagate conspiracy theory was about. That is very hard to determine from this article. There is an enormous amount of verbage being spent to describe it's lack of credibility, which is certainly interesting and relevant, but there should also be a good description of what the theory supposes. 2601:243:1400:310:C895:2BB7:7CC6:143B (talk) 17:59, 8 April 2022 (UTC)

We do its called Genisis, this is elaborated on in Debunking, where we mention each claim, and how it had been shown to be false. Slatersteven (talk) 18:03, 8 April 2022 (UTC)

• It's already summarized in several places. The second paragraph of the lead says that Proponents of the Pizzagate conspiracy theory falsely claimed the emails contained coded messages that connected several high-ranking Democratic Party officials and U.S. restaurants with an alleged human trafficking and child sex ring. One of the establishments allegedly involved was the Comet Ping Pong pizzeria in Washington, D.C.; likewise, the second paragraph of the Genesis section says that Proponents of the conspiracy theory read the emails and alleged they contained code words for pedophilia and human trafficking. Proponents also claimed that Comet Ping Pong, a pizzeria in Washington, D.C., was a meeting ground for Satanic ritual abuse. These are the key points according to the main sources that have covered it. --Aquillion (talk) 18:07, 8 April 2022 (UTC)
• I think the IP has a point in that the narrative of the conspiracy theory isn't summarized in the lede. I'm not suggesting we should repeat its claims in any detail, but a simple sentence would do it. E.g.:

"Pizzagate" is a debunked conspiracy theory that went viral during the 2016 United States presidential election cycle. It described a non-existent basement under a pizza restaurant in which Democrats supposedly engaged in ritualistic child sacrifices. It has been extensively discredited by a wide range of organizations, including the Washington, D.C. police.

That would seem to be the best possible lede, not too different from the way we treat other forms of fiction: We define it, then we very briefly describe it, then we give information to contextualize it.Happy (Slap me) 18:59, 8 April 2022 (UTC)

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