The term "conspiracy theory" is itself the subject of a conspiracy theory, which posits that
the term was popularized by the CIA in order to discredit conspiratorial believers, particularly critics of the Warren Commission, by making them a target of ridicule.
[56] In his 2013 book
Conspiracy Theory in America, political scientist Lance deHaven-Smith wrote that the term entered everyday language in the United States after 1964, the year in which the Warren Commission published its findings on the
Kennedy assassination, with
The New York Times running five stories that year using the term.
[57]
The idea that the CIA was responsible for popularising the term "conspiracy theory" was analyzed by Michael Butter, a Professor of American Literary and Cultural History at the
University of Tübingen. Butter wrote in 2020 that
the CIA document, Concerning Criticism of the Warren Report, which proponents of the theory use as evidence of CIA motive and intention, does not contain the phrase "conspiracy theory" in the singular, and only uses the term "conspiracy theories" once, in the sentence: "Conspiracy theories have frequently thrown suspicion on our organisation [
sic], for example, by falsely alleging that Lee Harvey Oswald worked for us."
[58]