“Don’t get me started on George Soros.” “The caravan, I feel that all these people are being paid off.” “I believe it’s paid for by George Soros.” George Soros, the billionaire Democratic fund-raiser who has long been villainized in certain right circles. “Billionaire George Soros bankrolls the resistance.” He’s been the target of anti-Semitic smears and is often at the center of conspiracy theories. “Who’s behind the puppets? Who’s the puppet master? George Soros.” Accused of everything from secretly influencing left-wing policy to funding a caravan of migrants going north toward the United States. “Who do you think is behind these caravans? A lot of speculation that it’s George Soros.” “George Soros —” “George Soros —” “The likes of Soros —” These fabulations have been common on the fringes for years. “George Soros’s Open Society Foundation —” But now, his name saturates nearly every corner of the G.O.P. ecosystem. You hear it from voters in small towns in Southern Illinois. “Soros, George Soros, I believe is paying all these people.” On primetime newscasts on Fox. “George Soros —” “George Soros —” “George Soros —” And even from the president himself. “George Soros —” The longtime investor and philanthropist became the target of misinformation and conspiracies starting in the 1990s. Extremists in the U.S. and Europe cast him as a central figure in a secret cabal of Jews and globalists working to take over the world. “A front man for the house of Rothschild called George Soros. Bilderberg group.” But Soros is no longer only invoked in fringe, anti-Semitic conspiracies. In 2004, he became a target for Republicans more broadly when he donated $27 million in an effort to defeat then President George W. Bush. “If we re-elect President Bush, we are telling the world that we approve his policies, and we shall be at war for a long time to come.” And now, Soros’s name has become shorthand for conservatives across all echelons of power to convince people that there are cryptic forces allied against them. From leaders of advocacy groups — “From the Soros-occupied State Department.” to state Senate candidates — “You know, Soros —” Even House representatives — “There’s three people who are trying to buy the Congress and flip it. One is Soros.” “Soros, others, may be funding this —” and sitting Senators. “Do you believe George Soros is behind all of this?” “I believe it fits in his attack mode —” and at the very top, the president. “Go to a person holding a sign who gets paid by Soros or somebody —” There is no evidence for these allegations. In fact, Fox later had to come out and condemn this guest. “The Soros-occupied State Department.” But voters, at least least some of them, seem to be buying it. “All the riots and all the marches — he’s placed ads in Craigslist paying people $15 an hour or who knows what. You know, he’ll flat out tell you that his agenda is to destroy America.”