Michael Shermer on Deep State: Leans deny

The claim: A hidden network of unelected officials secretly controls US government policy.

2020-05-20: “Then you have the really far out ones about the deep state and Dr. Anthony Fauci, the voice of reason here is actually just a pawn to destroy Trump. I mean the further out you go in the extreme nature of a conspiracy theory the less likely the theory is to be true.” source
2022-06-04: “when he uses the term deep state he's not talking about some kind of satan worshiping uh pedophiles you know in a pizzeria in washington he's talking about the people in congress who as soon as they're elected they're already on the phone in some private office” source
2022-11-02: “As we know the government does certain things that the public do not know about – call that the deep state if you want.” source
2023-09-20: “Most people, when they say they believe some conspiracy theory like the deep state or QAnon or Princess Diana was murdered or whatever, they don’t mean that literally in the sense that “I checked it out myself and I believe it.”” source
2026-04-18: “I wrote about the Deep State and QAnon and the Pizzagate business—that ping pong pizzeria in Washington, D.C. Do Republicans really think Hillary Clinton and Tom Hanks and Beyoncé are running a pedophile ring out of a pizzeria?” source