Donald Trump's rallies once drew their share of benign conservatives, offbeat libertarians and plain curiosity-seekers. But as time and Trump's act have worn on, many of them have no doubt gone the way of his poll numbers. Trump's crowds remain big and loud, but they're angrier and more malevolent, and so is Trump.

At a rally on Wednesday near Fort Lauderdale, Fla., criticizing President Obama's and Hillary Clinton's records against the Islamic State, Trump said:

"In many respects you know they honor President Obama. ISIS is honoring President Obama! He is the founder of ISIS. He's the founder of ISIS, OK! He's the founder, he founded ISIS and I would say the co-founder would be crooked Hillary Clinton. Co-founder, crooked Hillary Clinton. And that's what it's about." As the crowd erupted into cheers and chants of "Lock her up," Trump then smiled and basked in the crowd's applause.

Trump repeated the false charge on Thursday, saying he'd continue his inflammatory campaign, even if it meant losing in November. (On Friday, he said he was just being sarcastic.)

A vast majority of Americans, of course, understand that Obama did not create the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, nor does the group, which targets Western nations, "honor" him or any other American leader. Some may even recall an ISIL beheading video released last year in which a masked jihadist stood before a bound, kneeling Kurdish soldier and declared: "Know, oh Obama, that we will reach America. Know also that we will cut off your head in the White House and transform America into a Muslim province."

If Trump knows this, he doesn't care. By referring to the president by his full name, Barack Hussein Obama, he continues to wink at some of his staunchest supporters: conspiracy theorists obsessed with the false claim that Obama is a secret Muslim.

FROM AN EDITORIAL IN THE NEW YORK TIMES