Conspir5 Bak

estb 2021 VERY LONG, MANY BIG PIX TWT CAPT 7 25

CONSPIR5725

4/22

bak fail2X

SEE CONSP 6 SIC 7 25

see disinfo

see Big lie

MERRI OK HERE

see gubmint deep state JONES INFOWARS

see trump trans 2 heddeth tulsi, rfk...

earth2

gt replacement white genocide racism -->see new world order sci-fi dystopia

see agenda term

see false flag deep state uniparty gubmint coming for your stove /dollars/ kids

see hype fear eg human traffic, pedo coming for your kids Drag

see globalist NWO

see qanon doh

see echo escalator amplify eg joe rogan tiktok FEVER SWAMP

see jesse watters fox CRM

// racism eg kamala earpiece debate bc dumb

see moral panic prophets weather manic hurric 3

rumble has ALL of them incl liz ppl and chemtrails

4 field error on 4?

hunter laptop china corruption BS?

see loomer HAITI EAT PETS

poso escalator?

SEE SOROS PAID PROTESTER WALTON REBEL DTR?

what is venn with wingnuttery/ agnotology?

see reductionism one single evil cause vs complexity

AHA CONSPIR --> RW POL VIOLENCE RADICALIZATION INFILTRATION

BAK 7 25

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aha blood libel and satan witch are foundational?occult hidden threat

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NOTE DOES NOT HAVE TO BE PLAUSIBLE IF USEFUL IE SUPPORT DOGMA

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aha not me LA fires conspr a way of dealing w fear/ world being out of control

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MMA 7 25

President Donald Trump appointed conspiracy-obsessed MAGA media favorites to the highest levels of federal law enforcement, and now those figures are coming under fire from the right-wing fever swamp for failing to confirm their bullshit.

Axios reported (https://www.axios.com/2025/07/07/jeffrey-epstein-suicide-client-list-trump-administration) on Sunday night that the Justice Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation had concluded that there was no evidence convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein “blackmailed powerful figures, kept a ‘client list’ or was murdered.” Those findings repudiated claims that had for years permeated the MAGA influencer ecosystem and been promoted (https://x.com/MattGertz/status/1732405810620219477) by the stars (https://x.com/PeteHegseth/status/1618020762127929344) of Fox News (https://www.foxnews.com/video/6319257168112) and the broader (https://www.mediamatters.org/charlie-kirk/watch-charlie-kirk-attempt-link-p-diddys-arrest-jeffrey-epstein-and-resignations-two) right-wing media.

The Trump-appointed leaders of both the FBI and DOJ had previously stoked the same conspiracy theories their agencies rejected. “As social media influencers and activists, Kash Patel (now the FBI's director) and Dan Bongino (now deputy director) were among those in MAGA world who questioned the official version of how Epstein died,” Axios noted. Moreover, Attorney General Pam Bondi had claimed (https://thehill.com/homenews/5158153-jeffrey-epstein-client-list-bondi-review/) in a February interview on Fox News that the purported “client list” was “sitting on my desk right now to review.”

While the Epstein saga is a bit of a sideshow in the grand scheme of things, what it highlights about the underlying dynamics of the MAGA movement is deeply unsettling. It demonstrates that the Trump administration is in hock to some of the most deranged conspiracy theorists imaginable, treating them as among its closest allies and devoting substantial resources to their care and feeding.

The White House brought (https://www.mediamatters.org/donald-trump-jr/maga-medias-rising-influence-trump-administration#::text=On%20February%2027%2C%20the%20White%20House%20invited%2015%20right%2Dwing%20influencers) 15 MAGA influencers in to meet with Bondi in February, sending them home with glossy binders labeled “The Epstein Files: Phase 1.” When those binders did not satisfy the MAGA faithful, the attorney general reportedly tasked (https://www.wsj.com/us-news/law/doj-jeffrey-epstein-documents-7da298dc?gaa_at=eafs&gaa_n=ASWzDAi2_u3V0r_g3mFDRPdsY-OvDja05j4Km9IIIZWcGZnwvB8qvvJvXMhAPOuWPGA%3D&gaa_ts=686bd987&gaa_sig=40f5tRN8o03E7MsIluOMEDjq6JcwSZy0aj2blwWBMAUkd3UrAI3foV9m8WMixtvRdomhpLe-e4OgfFPAqnWVCw%3D%3D) “hundreds of FBI employees” with reviewing Epstein investigation documents for release. In May, Patel and Bongino (https://www.foxnews.com/media/fbi-bosses-insist-jeffrey-epstein-killed-himself-after-reviewing-his-file) were sent to Fox to make the case, with the fervor of the converted (https://www.axios.com/2025/05/31/patel-bongino-fbi-interviews-epstein-trump), that Epstein had actually killed himself. And now the FBI and DOJ have produced a memo detailing their findings and released footage taken from outside Epstein’s cell in the hours surrounding his suicide.

The final result left Trump’s most zealous online allies with two options: They could finally acknowledge that they had been peddling nonsense for years — or they could insinuate that the Trump administration itself is part of the cover-up.

MAGA’s Epstein conspiracy theorists lash out at Bondi — and even Trump

In the hours after Axios’ story broke, several prominent MAGA influencers took the latter path, hammering the administration for failing to confirm their Epstein hypotheses.

“This new DOJ memo admits there are countless victims of Epstein on video but no client list or evidence of other rapists they can charge. Oh it claims Epstein wasn’t using videos as blackmail,” Robby Starbuck sneered (https://x.com/robbystarbuck/status/1942046282148630592) on X. “NO ONE believes this for very good reason.”

Starbuck put the blame squarely on the attorney general.

“Bondi just made it all worse with this memo,” he wrote. “What a terrible, terrible idea it was to write this memo. It’s also incredibly insulting to our intelligence.”

Noting her prior claim on Fox that she was in possession of Epstein’s “client list,” he commented (https://x.com/robbystarbuck/status/1942051481542160409), “Was she lying then or is she lying now?”

Laura Loomer also blamed Bondi.

“Blondi lied,” she posted on X (https://x.com/LauraLoomer/status/1942067257544233202), using the nickname she typically utilizes for the attorney general. “She was always lying.”

Others were less specific about who was responsible for the cover-up.

“We were all told more was coming,” Jack Posobiec lamented (https://x.com/JackPosobiec/status/1942063130202271760). “That answers were out there and would be provided. Incredible how utterly mismanaged this Epstein mess has been. And it didn’t have to be.”

Tim Pool suggested (https://x.com/Timcast/status/1942207796663005374) that the administration was protecting “the adult child rapists who were blackmailed” and floated the possibility (https://x.com/Timcast/status/1942207409159606454) that they were protecting “shareholder value” from “the economic fallout if say, hypothetically, Bill Gates was revealed to have been flying around with Epstein and then we got videos of him abusing underage girls.”

And Mike Cernovich suggested that the buck stopped with the president.

“No one is believing the Epstein coverup, @realDonaldTrump,” he wrote (https://x.com/Cernovich/status/1942048521034830100). “This will be part of your legacy. There’s still time to change it!”

The right-wing media ecosystem is built to manufacture and distribute (https://www.mediamatters.org/fake-news/right-wing-ecosystem-created-paul-pelosi-conspiracy-theory) conspiracy theories to an audience trained to believe them. Under the incentive structure this ecosystem creates, it makes sense that the Trump campaign relied on conspiracy theorists to bolster its position, that Patel and Bongino boosted their standing within that ecosystem by echoing such claims, and that Bondi kept claiming an Epstein reckoning was imminent.

But eventually, the Trump administration trapped itself. Bondi, Patel, and Bongino were unable to produce the information that the MAGA faithful demanded, and they seem unable to convince them the information does not exist. It is the nature of conspiracy theorists to insist that anything which appears to rebut their claims actually confirms it. And now they’re turning on their erstwhile allies.

The truth about Epstein and Trump

One ironic aspect of the Epstein saga is that while MAGA influencers were apparently certain that the Trump administration was going to implicate a wave of prominent individuals in Epstein’s sex crimes and, perhaps, his death, there are few figures as prominent with ties as close to Epstein as Trump himself.

Consider:

Trump was quoted (https://nymag.com/nymetro/news/people/n_7912/#print) in a 2002 profile describing Epstein as a longtime friend and “terrific guy” about whom “it is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.”

Trump was among (https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/news/local/2024/08/26/flew-on-jeffrey-epsteins-plane-trump-bill-clinton-naomi-campbell-chris-tucker-sarah-ferguson/74809605007/) the politicians and celebrities who hitched rides on Epstein’s private plane in the 1990s.

In 2019, shortly before Epstein’s arrest on sex charges, longtime Trump adviser Steve Bannon prepped Epstein (https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/12/business/media/michael-wolff-powerful-men.html) for a potential interview.

Trump chose (https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/fox-news-has-barely-covered-illegal-plea-deal-labor-secretary-alex-acosta-gave-jeffrey) for labor secretary in his first term Alex Acosta, who as a U.S. attorney oversaw a sweetheart plea deal for Epstein that a judge later ruled illegal.

Alan Dershowitz, the Trump supporter who served (https://www.mediamatters.org/trump-impeachment-inquiry/multiple-media-outlets-glossed-over-trump-lawyer-alan-dershowitzs-radical) on the president’s second Senate impeachment trial team, was one of the defense lawyers (https://www.mediamatters.org/sean-hannity/media-outlets-host-alan-dershowitz-without-asking-him-about-jeffrey-epstein) who helped Epstein secure that plea deal.

Epstein’s 2019 suicide (https://www.npr.org/2023/06/27/1184380805/jeffrey-epstein-suicide-department) occurred while he was in the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, an agency overseen (https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/ag-barr-removes-acting-bureau-prisons-chief-wake-epstein-suicide-n1043961) at the time by the Trump-appointed attorney general, William Barr.

After longtime Epstein associate Ghislane Maxwell was arrested on sex trafficking charges in 2020, Trump told (https://www.politico.com/news/2020/08/04/trump-well-wishes-ghislaine-maxwell-391274) reporters: “I’ve met her numerous times over the years, especially since I lived in Palm Beach, and I guess they lived in Palm Beach. But I wish her well, whatever it is.”

Trump waffled about whether he would “declassify the Epstein files” during a Fox interview — but the network edited out (https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/fox-news-which-routinely-edits-trump-appearances-spent-over-1-hour-covering-cbs-editing#::text=24/24%5D-,In%20June,-%2C%20Semafor%20found%20Fox) that portion of his answer.

Trump appointed as attorney general Bondi, who was (https://x.com/jkbjournalist/status/1895138335099658275?lang=en) “Florida's attorney general 2011-2109 -- a period of time when Jeffrey Epstein's plane records became public, victims' lawsuits were filed and a lot of new evidence against Epstein surfaced –” but she did not take action.

None of this is actually proof that Epstein was killed to cover up the fact that he had possessed evidence that he had sex-trafficked underage girls for Trump. He killed himself, and the idea of a “client list” was, as the reporter who exposed (https://www.npr.org/2024/01/04/1222857174/jeffrey-epstein-julie-k-brown-documents-clinton-trump-prince-andrew) Epstein put it (https://x.com/jkbjournalist/status/1894848150248046798), “a figment of the internet's imagination -- and a means to just slander people.”

But if, say, a similar set of facts linked former President Joe Biden and his associates to Epstein, you can bet that MAGA’s conspiracy corps would treat them as clear evidence. And so it will be interesting to see, as they scrounge for an explanation for the Bondi/Patel/Bongino about-face, if any of them eventually land there.

Why the right’s conspiracy theory engine matters

The Epstein saga is ultimately a minor drama. It is embarrassing for the right that so many of its leading lights pushed the conspiracy theories for so long, and it’s unnerving that some of those conspiracy theorists now occupy the highest levels of government, but on its own terms, the stakes for the public are relatively low.

But this treatment of the Epstein saga is not an anomaly — the right responds in this same fashion to every news event. Its ecosystem is constantly pumping out new conspiracy theories intended to prove the perfidity of the left, its audience is trapped in a bubble in which it is constantly bombarded by such claims, and the consequences can be real and dire.

Following MAGA media’s fervid promotion (https://www.mediamatters.org/jd-vance/jd-vance-springfield-and-how-maga-media-spun-racist-lie-out-control) in September 2024 of the racist, baseless lie that Haitians were stealing and eating pets in Springfield, Ohio, local institutions received bomb threats and residents kept their children home from school out of fear for their safety.

Officials at all levels of government seeking to respond to a devastating hurricane in North Carolina the next month were forced to spend precious time (https://www.mediamatters.org/hurricanes/it-takes-bubble) debunking that ecosystem’s deranged lies because those were the sources some victims counted on for their information.

When the Epstein conspiracy theories are firmly in the rearview, everyone involved in propagating them will retain their influence over a Trump administration that is more concerned with placating them than in acting in the public interest. And that is truly dangerous.

---

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rww 6 25 NO KINGS MARCH

06/14/2025

Peter Montgomery (https://www.peoplefor.org/spokespeople/peter)

Christian-right media outlets, which function as an unofficial public relations operation (https://americanfaith.com/trump-watch/) for President Donald Trump, set out this week to smear in advance the ‘No Kings’ (https://www.nokings.org/?SQF_SOURCE=peoplefortheamericanway) protests being held across the country on Sat. June 14 to protest Trump’s authoritarianism and defiance of the law and Constitution.

“As America prepares to honor the birthday of President Donald J. Trump on June 14,” began a screed (https://americanfaith.com/exposing-no-kings-anti-trump-machine/) that ran on the right-wing “America Faith” platform and was republished (https://charismanews.com/news/exposing-no-kings-billionaire-funded-anti-trump-machine-gears-up-for-june-14-power-grab/) by the Pentecostal-oriented Charisma News—not even bothering to sustain the official fiction that Trump’s military parade is more about honoring the armed forces than a presidential exercise in self-glorification.

The diatribe was written by right-wing (https://www.ocregister.com/2021/08/22/some-southern-california-church-leaders-pushing-political-extremes/) southern California pastor Phil Hotsenpiller, who founded (https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/california-pastor-puts-faith-in-media-with-launch-of-national-news-and-media-network-301334364.html) American Faith after Trump was defeated in the 2020 election.

In this week’s column, Hotsenpiller warned of the “disturbing agenda” of the No Kings rallies: “to crush Donald Trump’s influence, undermine constitutional authority, and destabilize American sovereignty.”

“Let’s be clear,” wrote Hotsenpiller, “this is not about preserving democracy—it’s about preventing Trump from returning to power.”

Huh? Trump has already returned to power and is flagrantly abusing that power. That’s why Americans are rallying to defend the rule of law and the constitutional checks and balances Trump’s team is working so hard to dismantle.

Hotsenpiller spun a conspiracy theory about the “Walton-Weingarten Nexus”—WalMart heiress and philanthropist Christy Walton and American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten, two “dangerous” women “merging to push a vision of America that looks more like socialist Europe—or communist China—than a constitutional republic.”

“June 14 is not just a protest,” Hotsenpiller ranted. “It’s a declaration of war—against populism, against Trump and ultimately against the America our Founders envisioned.”

While MAGA religious leaders portray themselves as the voice of American Christians, many Christians (https://faithfulamerica.org/) and other faith leaders (https://religionnews.com/2025/06/09/why-religious-communities-are-rallying-behind-the-protest-message-of-no-kings/) are urging (https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/my-no-kings-protest-is-a-message-to-donald-trump-and-the-christians-who-support-him/ar-AA1GHMcI?ocid=BingNewsSerp) Americans to participate in peaceful No Kings protests—and have been on the front lines this week protesting the brutality of the administration’s militarized anti-immigrant operations.

Trump has threatened “very heavy force (https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/trump-warns-that-military-parade-protesters-will-face-very-heavy-force/ar-AA1GsqtP?ocid=BingNewsSerp)” against anyone who protests his parade. No Kings organizers have not planned an event in D.C., encouraging locals to join a flagship rally in Philadelphia, participate in Virginia or Maryland events, or take part in DC Joy Day (https://freedcproject.org/event-list/dc-joy-day).

American Faith hosted the ReAwaken America Tour, a traveling cavalcade of far-right conspiracies, Christian nationalism, and pro-Trump propaganda. Last year, Hostenpiller’s Influence Church hosted (https://churchleaders.com/news/474506-charlie-kirk-says-seminaries-produce-weak-beta-male-overly-feminine-pastors.html) Christian nationalist MAGA activist Charlie Kirk, who used the occasion to rail against seminaries “infiltrated with wokeism, social justice nonsense” and “overly feminine ‘pastor-men.’” Hotsenpiller has also teamed up (https://www.peoplefor.org/rightwingwatch/post/sean-feuchts-super-spreader-road-show-returns-to-washington-d-c) with MAGA musician Sean Feucht.

---

benny goes false flag

: Mike Lee Is A Real Piece Of Sh*t - by Evan Hurst}:

Wonkette

https://www.wonkette.com › mike-lee-is-a-real-piece-of...](https://www.wonkette.com/p/mike-lee-is-a-real-piece-of-sht)

38 minutes ago — Elon Musk, Charlie Kirk, Mike Cernovich, they've all lied about Boelter. ... D'Souza tweet with the picture of the “No Kings” fliers ...

Well, folks, they caught the motherfucker. (https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/suspect-terrorized-minnesotas-political-leaders-deadly-shooting-found-rcna213181) We don’t know exactly what took so long to find the Christian nationalist anti-abortion activist (https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/14/us/politics/minnesota-shootings-gunman-suspect.html) Trump supporter who impersonated a cop and assassinated Democrats in Minneapolis on Friday night, with plans to target many more, but they caught him. Maybe they were just looking the wrong places? We would have checked Republican politicians’ houses first, but that’s just us.

Anyway, they found him in a field.

Again, who this guy Vance Boelter is, it’s not shrouded in mystery, and it’s been out in the open from the beginning. He’s one of them. He’s just a typical Republican voter who decided to assassinate some Democrats. You’d think MAGA would be proud of what it’s wrought. And some of them are, to be sure.

But then there are piece of dogshit Republican senators like Mike Lee who have been lying since the beginning.

(https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Feacfbd1f-3904-49ef-ac24-f492e36ca95f_1100x1360.png)caption...

Why so ashamed, bud?

You’d think considering Mike Lee’s (https://www.msnbc.com/morning-joe/watch/mike-lee-has-embraced-the-politics-of-extremism-and-division-says-evan-mcmullin-151713349872) extremist record, (https://www.sltrib.com/opinion/commentary/2022/04/21/david-burns-mike-lees/)he might already be lobbying Donald Trump for any extra pardons he’s got lying around for Boelter.

Vance Boelter is a registered Republican. (https://twitter.com/micah_erfan/status/1934270965057257522?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1934270965057257522%7Ctwgr%5E5bf003829b2a908a024720b83fa97b9e91375fb9%7Ctwcon%5Es1&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.joemygod.com%2F2025%2F06%2Fsen-mike-lee-draws-outrage-with-post-on-mn-killer%2F)He’s an anti-gay, anti-abortion pig. (https://twitter.com/micah_erfan/status/1934294414685352184?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1934294414685352184%7Ctwgr%5E5bf003829b2a908a024720b83fa97b9e91375fb9%7Ctwcon%5Es1&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.joemygod.com%2F2025%2F06%2Fsen-mike-lee-draws-outrage-with-post-on-mn-killer%2F) He’s a conservative Christian preacher. Basically all the red flag characteristics that say “Here’s a guy you shouldn’t leave your kids alone with,” but that MAGA Americans find godly and manly. Again, why is Mike Lee so ashamed? He has a lot in common with this guy! Surprised they aren’t taking up a collection for this guy’s legal defense in Mike Lee’s church. He just reminds us so much of Mike Lee (or any other white Republican loser, they really do all look alike).

As Tim Miller from The Bulwark notes, (https://www.thebulwark.com/p/maga-push-lies-as-minnesota-shooter)a bunch of Republicans and MAGA conservatives have taken this tack, instead of embracing this guy who is just like them in so many important ways. Elon Musk, Charlie Kirk, Mike Cernovich, they’ve all lied about Boelter. Previously (?) Kremlin-funded (https://www.wonkette.com/p/how-did-evil-russians-manage-to-fool) weirdo Benny Johnson claimed (https://www.startribune.com/fact-check-did-vance-boelter-suspect-in-minnesota-shootings-have-close-ties-to-gov-tim-walz/601373519) Boelter was a “left-wing Tim Walz appointee.” Today Benny is rambling (https://www.joemygod.com/2025/06/maga-podcaster-mn-killings-are-leftist-false-flag/) about how the murders are a “leftist false flag.” Also something about “I’m sorry, but these are the same agencies that brought you the Whitmer Fednapping, that brought you January 6, that brought you the Epstein cases, that brought you Ghislaine Maxwell. These are the same people. These are the same people.”

Uhhhh okeydoke. We guess Kash Patel and Pam Bondi are now card-carrying members of the Deep State voices in Benny Johnson’s head community.

Musk tweeted that “the far left is murderously violent.” Laura Loomer said that “Walz’s goons are now assassinating lawmakers who support legislation Walz opposes.” (There’s a whole conspiracy theory they made up surrounding this that involves healthcare legislation in Minnesota, it’s too stupid to type, but you can read it if you want. (https://www.startribune.com/fact-check-did-vance-boelter-suspect-in-minnesota-shootings-have-close-ties-to-gov-tim-walz/601373519))

:{:{How Did Evil Russians Manage To Fool Dave Rubin, Tim Pool, AND Benny Johnson? Wow!}:

\Evan Hurst (https://substack.com/profile/9485412-evan-hurst)

September 5, 2024

\Read full story (https://www.wonkette.com/p/how-did-evil-russians-manage-to-fool)](https://www.wonkette.com/p/how-did-evil-russians-manage-to-fool)

Mike Lee also had another tweet about it that said “Nightmare on Walz Street.” Ohio Republican Senator Bernie Moreno — another Republican dude with a lot in common with Vance Boelter (https://www.wonkette.com/p/sherrod-browns-gross-republican-opponent) — tweeted this, a retweet of another right-wing liar connecting “No Kings” fliers found in Boelter’s car with Randi Weingarten and teachers unions somehow.

(https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F11f52827-9f70-4094-a58e-153aca68c51f_1158x1874.png)

He hasn’t removed it. None of the posts and tweets we’re referencing in this post have been removed.

[

Sherrod Brown's Gross Republican Opponent Pretty Sure Women Over 50 Too Old To Vote On Abortion

\Evan Hurst (https://substack.com/profile/9485412-evan-hurst)

September 24, 2024

\Read full story (https://www.wonkette.com/p/sherrod-browns-gross-republican-opponent)](https://www.wonkette.com/p/sherrod-browns-gross-republican-opponent)

A mouthy extremist Republican state senator in Tennessee named Brent Taylor, who represents a tiny slice of Memphis, a city that otherwise cannot stand him, posted a Dinesh D’Souza (https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=697678289546370&set=a.128705103110361&comment_id=1268400931676061&notif_id=1749948147655652&notif_t=feedback_reaction_generic&ref=notif) tweet with the picture of the “No Kings” fliers, because that’s how debased and pathetic he is. He then proceeded to babble like a dementia patient for 9,000 paragraphs about leftist violence:

The Left's violence masquerading as free speech is a stain on our republic, and it’s escalating at a terrifying pace. From assassination attempts on President Trump—twice in two months—to torching cars at Tesla dealerships during Tesla Takedowns. Members of “Progressive” groups like this have now turned to a call to arms.

Los Angeles burns under their orchestrated chaos, with anti-ICE riots seeing Molotov cocktails, looted businesses, and attacks on federal agents, all while Governor Newsom and Mayor Bass fumble, blaming others for their failures. […]

This is the Left’s legacy: burning cities, targeting conservatives, and excusing violence as “resistance.” Their hypocrisy is glaring—silent on their own extremists while attempting to demonize the Right. It’s time to call this what it is: a dangerous, unhinged movement that threatens our way of life.

Ahem OK sure, pal. Below that are comments from Memphis voters telling him to go drink piss in hell, which is something Memphis voters say to Brent Taylor a lot. (He’s a big buddy (https://twitter.com/toddstarnes/status/1903530181563949368?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1903530181563949368%7Ctwgr%5E2df9767ba23437040f31f30413f25acbbdae2408%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftennesseestar.com%2Fnews%2Ftennessee-republicans-glenn-jacobs-brent-taylor-todd-starnes-support-tesla-amid-protests-over-elon-musk-and-doge%2Ftpappert%2F2025%2F03%2F24%2F) of Todd Starnes, (https://www.wonkette.com/p/todd-starnes-writes-love-letter-to-donald-trumps-penis) which should tell longtime Wonkette readers what kind of guy we’re making fun of here.)

[

Todd Starnes Writes Love Letter To Donald Trump's Penis

\Evan Hurst (https://substack.com/profile/14358125-evan-hurst)

July 27, 2015

\Read full story (https://www.wonkette.com/p/todd-starnes-writes-love-letter-to-donald-trumps-penis)](https://www.wonkette.com/p/todd-starnes-writes-love-letter-to-donald-trumps-penis)

Again, there was never any mystery who this murderous piece of shit is. The story, from the beginning, was Typical, Unremarkable Trump Voter Assassinates Democrats. He’s an anti-abortion Christian extremist, which is no surprise, because that’s a really common thing to find in a terrorist profile. There were anti-abortion extremists all over the place among the domestic extremists who attacked the Capitol on January 6. Far-right extremists are the greatest domestic terrorist threat (https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/far-right-violence-a-growing-threat-and-law-enforcements-top-domestic-terrorism-concern) to the United States, and have been for a long time, no matter how much the Trump Justice Department and Department of Homeland Security try to cover that up so they can blood libel people who aren’t white.

This is their dude, y’all.

Why they lyin’?

It couldn’t be shame causing them to do this, because white conservative Christian men and the people who serve them don’t have the capacity for that.

We guess they just find it extremely politically inconvenient right now, since everybody hates Trump (https://www.wonkette.com/p/everybody-hates-trump-and-his-little) and his agenda and his incompetent Cabinet, and Trump’s North Korean birthday parade was more poorly attended than a common wiener dog race at the county fair.

Not a great time to remind America just how much they hateall religious conservative Republican extremists, we reckon!

Everybody Hates Trump, And His Little Nazi Loser Friends Too}:

\Evan Hurst (https://substack.com/profile/9485412-evan-hurst)

Jun 12

\Read full story (https://www.wonkette.com/p/everybody-hates-trump-and-his-little)](https://www.wonkette.com/p/everybody-hates-trump-and-his-little)

Also Republican politicians are simply bad people who are going to hell when they die, and that’s why they’re doing this.

We probably needn’t try to psychoanalyze it any further.

---

sleazeball conspir projection rubber

update tim miller bulwark mike lee, dsouza....

AN 6 25 STATES N

Just hours after Minnesotans learned that Democratic House leader Melissa Hortman had been assassinated, right-wing influencer Collin Rugg, who has 1.8 million followers on X, posted a “report” that hinted (https://x.com/CollinRugg/status/1933924564419129643) that she’d been killed because of a recent vote on ending undocumented adults’ ability to enroll in MinnesotaCare, a subsidized health insurance for the working poor.

Mike Cernovich, another right-wing influencer who has 1.4 million followers on X, took Rugg’s post and amped it up (https://x.com/Cernovich/status/1933961216671490485), but in the “just asking questions” style of many conspiracy theories:

*“Did Tim Walz have her executed to send a message?”

:{:{They were deeply ignorant about the MinnesotaCare issue....}:

---

AN 6 25 STATES N

*“Did Tim Walz have her executed to send a message?”

They were deeply ignorant about the MinnesotaCare issue.

Walz and Hortman — who was instrumental in passing legislation allowing undocumented people to sign up for MinnesotaCare as speaker of the House in 2023 — negotiated a compromise (https://minnesotareformer.com/2025/05/15/senate-not-on-board-with-walz-house-budget-agreement/) with Republicans in the Minnesota Legislature to end eligibility for adults, but keep it for children. They did so to win necessary Republican support in the 67-67 House to pass a state budget. Without it, state government would have shut down on July 1.

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Both Hortman and Walz signed the compromise agreement in mid-May. This week, Hortman spoke tearfully about how difficult the vote was for her, but she was bound to vote yes on the issue because of the prior agreement.

The “theory” of Hortman’s killing was further undercut by the vote of Democratic Sen. John Hoffman — who was also targeted by the suspect — against rolling back MinnesotaCare for undocumented Minnesotans.

Rugg and Cernovich’s posts were shared widely and just the start of the disinformation.

Once law enforcement sources began revealing a suspect, right-wing influencers ran with an insignificant detail: That Vance Luther Boelter was a “Walz appointee.”

Like many states, but even more so here, Minnesota is home to hundreds of nonpartisan and bipartisan boards and commissions, which are composed of thousands of people who typically win the appointment by simply volunteering. There are currently 342 open positions (https://commissionsandappointments.sos.mn.gov/) on Minnesota boards and commissions. Boelter was appointed to the Workforce Development Council by Walz’s predecessor Gov. Mark Dayton and reappointed by Walz.

It was the equivalent of calling a Sunday school volunteer an “appointee of the bishop.”

No matter, the Murdoch media machine, specifically the New York Post, had their headline (https://nypost.com/2025/06/14/us-news/suspect-in-deadly-minnesota-shootings-identified-as-vance-luther-boelter/): “Former appointee of Tim Walz sought….”

Cernovich had his greasy foil hot dog wrapper and began constructing a hat (https://x.com/Cernovich/status/1933938770362990971):

“The Vice President candidate for the Democrat party is directly connected to a domestic terrorist, that is confirmed, the only question is whether Tim Walz himself ordered the political hit against a rival who voted against Walz’s plan to give free healthcare to illegals.”

Walz had no such plan. He had signed an agreement to end eligibility for undocumented adults.

Joey Mannarino, who has more than 600,000 followers on X, was more crass (https://x.com/JoeyMannarinoUS/status/1933901454877818973):

*“Rumor has it she was preparing to switch parties. The Democrats are VIOLENT SCUM.”

It was a ridiculous “rumor.” One of the last photos (https://x.com/mnhouseDFL/status/1933943231584325828) of Hortman alive was an image of her at the Democratic-Farmer-Labor’s big annual fundraising event, the Humphrey-Mondale dinner, which took place just hours before her assassination.

No matter, Cernovich wanted (https://x.com/Cernovich/status/1933957873270182280) his new friends in federal law enforcement to act:

*“The FBI must take Tim Walz into custody immediately.”

Finally, fresh off his humiliating defeat at the hands of President Donald Trump (https://www.alternet.org/2020/11/trump), world’s richest man Elon Musk quote-tweeted someone again falsely alleging Hortman was killed by “the left” (https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1933950533813068181) and added:

*“The far left is murderously violent.”

The suspect’s “hit list,” according to an official who has seen the list, comprised Minnesotans who have been outspoken in favor of abortion rights. CNN reported (https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/minnesota-shootings-manhunt-06-14-25) that it also included several abortion clinics, which doesn’t sound like the work of “the left.”

Right-wing influencers marred Hortman’s death and smeared Walz on a pile of lies.

In a different, saner world, they would be humiliated and slink away. But the smart money is that during the next moment of national crisis and mourning, they will again lie for profit.

Minnesota Reformer (https://minnesotareformer.com/) is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Minnesota Reformer maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor J. Patrick Coolican for questions: info@minnesotareformer.com.

---

gt REPLACEMENT CONSP THEORY

mma

### Daily Wire's Matt Walsh: “The president should use his authority to immediately terminate all migration from the Third World” (https://www.mediamatters.org/immigration/daily-wires-matt-walsh-president-should-use-his-authority-immediately-terminate-all)

06/10/25 2:01 PM EDT

### Steve Bannon: “All ten million have to go, not just the criminals and the insane asylum” (https://www.mediamatters.org/steve-bannon/steve-bannon-all-ten-million-have-go-not-just-criminals-and-insane-asylum)

:{:{06/10/25}:

### Newsmax host on Democrats: “At what point are they declared to be a terrorist organization?” (https://www.mediamatters.org/newsmax/newsmax-host-democrats-what-point-are-they-declared-be-terrorist-organization)

06/10/25 9:24 AM EDT

### Laura Ingraham says Democrats are using immigration to “resettle America with new people in order to transform it completely” (https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/laura-ingraham-says-democrats-are-using-immigration-resettle-america-new-people-order)

06/09/25 7:55 PM EDT

June 9, 2025, edition of Fox News' The Ingraham Angle

LAURA INGRAHAM (HOST): And Biden and Mayorkas, they basically tacitly agreed. They opened the border and they gave benefits to 10 million illegal aliens. The goal? Well, made a lot of those protesters happy, right? Those organizations, but the goal was to resettle America with new people in order to transform it completely in ways that you really can't do at the ballot box, at least when you're that radical. So, what they essentially believe is that all of us need to do penance for the sins of taking this land from native people, for slavery, for what we did to women and so on and so forth. And, by the way, the penance never ends.

### Sean Hannity says Gavin Newsom “should be arrested” (https://www.mediamatters.org/sean-hannity/sean-hannity-says-gavin-newsom-should-be-arrested)

06/09/25

---

aha

an 6 25

Several senior officials in President Donald Trump's administration are now finding themselves in the crosshairs of Trump's MAGA base, who are upset with their inability to follow through on promises to get to the bottom of unproven conspiracy theories.

According to a Sunday report (https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/politics/justice-department-fbi-trump-conspiracy-theories.html) in the New York Times, Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel and FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino have all experienced MAGA's wrath on multiple occasions since they were confirmed to their positions. Bondi was lambasted (https://www.alternet.org/doj-maga-epstein/) for giving far-right, pro-Trump activists binders full of material that was teased as new revelations about the late convicted child predator Jeffrey Epstein, only to disappoint them once it was found that there was no new information contained in those binders.

Similarly, Bongino acknowledged that Epstein did indeed take his own life in a prison cell (https://www.alternet.org/bondi-patel-bongino-trump/#) while awaiting trial in 2019 (though a DOJ Office of the Inspector General report issued in 2023 found that there were numerous failures by staff (https://oig.justice.gov/reports/investigation-and-review-federal-bureau-prisons-custody-care-and-supervision-jeffrey) to prevent his death by suicide). This deflated conspiracy theorists who had argued — as Trump himself has insinuated (https://www.cnbc.com/2020/08/04/ghislaine-maxwell-case-trump-suggests-jeffrey-epstein-was-killed.html) — that Epstein was murdered by someone connected to his client base of rich and powerful people.

READ MORE:Republican rep. warns the GOP is following Trump 'off a cliff' — and he won't go with them (https://www.alternet.org/gop-rep-republicans-trump/)

As for Patel, conspiracy theorist Alex Jones accused him of "gaslighting" the American public (https://x.com/RealAlexJones/status/1931146443252732134) for failing to deliver promised results about the Epstein case during a recent interview with podcaster Joe Rogan. Jones asserted that the FBI director was "committing political suicide" by maintaining that Epstein alone was responsible for his own death.

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The Times reported that the MAGA faithful have been more vocal in their condemnations of Bondi, Bongino and Patel in response to their handling of the Epstein case. Trump (https://www.alternet.org/2020/11/trump) supporter Suzzanne Monk – who has repeatedly bemoaned the treatment of participants in the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol — said that Trump's base is divided between "Camp Be Patient" and "Camp Demand Results," and that she is firmly on the side of the latter.

Patel and Bongino have since announced new investigations (https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/fbi-reopens-investigation-cocaine-white-house-leaked-dobbs/story?id=122204145) into three high-profile cases: The discovery of cocaine at the White House in 2023, the leaking of the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization (https://www.oyez.org/cases/2021/19-1392) Supreme Court opinion that overturned Roe v. Wade and the discovery of pipe bombs left outside of the Democratic National Committee and Republican National Committee buildings on January 6. But former Newsmax White House correspondent Emerald Robinson criticized those new investigations as a distraction.

"Dan Bongino & Kash Patel know they destroyed their credibility by claiming that ‘Jeffrey Epstein killed himself’ so now they’re trying to offer up three investigations you don’t care about to misdirect you from the Epstein files you do care about," Robinson wrote. "Sad!"

READ MORE:'Don't have a violin small enough': Critics mock DOGE staff worried about losing jobs (https://www.alternet.org/doge-staff-worried-jobs/)

Click here (https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/politics/justice-department-fbi-trump-conspiracy-theories.html) to read the Times' full report (subscription required).

---

TROLLING?

AN 6 25

President Donald Trump (https://www.alternet.org/2020/11/trump) is being criticized for sharing a post containing a debunked conspiracy theory that former President Joe Biden died in 2020. Trump reposted a message on his Truth Social platform claiming that Biden was "executed" in 2020 and that a clone replaced him.

"There is no #JoeBiden (https://truthsocial.com/tags/JoeBiden) - executed in 2020. #Biden (https://truthsocial.com/tags/Biden) clones doubles & robotic engineered soulless mindless entities are what you see. >#Democrats (https://truthsocial.com/tags/Democrats) dont know the difference," read the post Trump shared (https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/114605660077722777) on Saturday night.

Social media users reacted to the post, saying that the president's act of sharing it was concerning

Political scientist Norman Ornstein wrote on the social platform X: (https://x.com/normornstein/status/1929020322881159355?s=46) “Not to worry, Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson are on the case. Oh, wait……”

READ MORE:Signs the tide is turning on Trump (https://www.alternet.org/signs-the-tide-is-turning-on-trump/#)

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Researcher Alex Kaplan noted (https://x.com/AlKapDC/status/1929036234803855373): “Claims that Biden has been replaced by a clone have been a thing over the years in the QAnon community. This post Trump amplified was quoting a post from a QAnon group on Truth Social as well.”

“Donald Trump just shared a post on Truth Social that claims Joe Biden was executed in 2020 and replaced with a clone that is “robotic engineered.” Trump is absolutely out of his mind. He’s clearly unstable and unwell. This is very concerning,” said Democratic influencer Harry Sissonin a post on X (https://x.com/harryjsisson/status/1929025338232676383).

“If Joe Biden posted something like this Hannity would be roused from his sleep to anchor special coverage. But Trump posts apes___ conspiracy theories and the mainstream press yawns. His craziness has been completely normalized,” said progressive influencer Aaron Rupar.

“It always gets worse with this guy. Always,” wrote another user.

READ MORE:Outrage grows over a single paragraph buried deep in Republicans' 'Big Beautiful Bill' (https://www.alternet.org/trump-executive-power-2672244222/)

“So there was no cognitive decline?” tweeted another.

---

AN 5 25

London-based journalist Phil Tinline, who spent 20 years as a BBC reporter and authored the 2023 book "The Death of Consensus: 100 Years of British Political Nightmares," (https://www.amazon.com/Death-Consensus-British-Political-Nightmares/dp/1805260359) is known for his expertise on authoritarian movements. And he doesn't exclude the United States and the MAGA movement from his scrutiny.

During a Q&A interview with Salon's Chauncey DeVega (https://www.salon.com/2025/05/07/save-democracy-sounds-like-save-the-status-quo-how-everything-became-a-conspiracy-theory/) published on May 7, Tinline discussed President Donald Trump's second term and where he believes it fits in with anti-democracy movements around the world.

"Trying to keep up with the new Trump (https://www.alternet.org/2020/11/trump) Administration and the implications of its actions is disorientating and exhausting," Tinline told DeVega. "I've spent a lot of time over the last 20 years researching the history of the fear that democracy is about to die, mainly in the U.K., but also, in the U.S. Historically, we have worried about this many times without our nightmares coming to life. This led me to be very wary of people airily predicting that democracy was finished, and made me alive to the way that, paradoxically, such nightmares can actually damage democracy."

READ MORE:'You see falls in politics — but not like this': DeSantis' star imploding amid fraud scandal (https://www.alternet.org/ron-desantis-future-fraud/)

Tinline continued, "But since Trump’s speech at the airport in Waco, Texas, two years ago, and especially since January this year, I've been forced to the conclusion — as many others have — that constitutional democracy in America really is now under severe threat. I hope that, as has happened before, this crisis will force politicians to break free from old taboos and find more effective ways to restore ordinary Americans' trust that democracy can make their lives better — and then to actually deliver on that."

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During the interview, Tinline discussed the role that conspiracy theories play in far-right movements. According to Tinline, conspiracy theories are "one of the warning lights on the dashboard of democracy."

"They express how people feel about power," Tinline told DeVega. "More people who care about democracy should have seen those lights flashing red and acted accordingly much earlier. But now here we are. The only way that I can see America recovering from this situation is for democratically elected politicians to show that they can and do make ordinary people’s lives better."

Tinline added, "The problem is that, meanwhile, conspiracy theories are a very useful way for other politicians to stoke distrust and division in pursuit of power."

READ MORE:'Be more relatable': GOP begs Trump to stop talking about dolls (https://www.alternet.org/trump-doll-statement/)

*Chauncey's DeVega's full interview with Phil Tinline for Salon is available at this link (https://www.salon.com/2025/05/07/save-democracy-sounds-like-save-the-status-quo-how-everything-became-a-conspiracy-theory/).

---

YYY 00000

---

“CROSSING THE STREAMS” WAS THERE A TIPPING POINT WHERE RT LOST ITS MIND?

JAN 6 QANON VAXX CROSS-FERTILIZE ANTI-GUBMINT

ROLLING STONE

On Christmas Eve, Steven Brandenburg, a Milwaukee-area pharmacist, attempted to destroy more than 500 doses of coronavirus (https://www.rollingstone.com/t/coronavirus/) vaccine, because, he admitted, he feared the Moderna drug would “alter the recipient’s DNA.” Described in law-enforcement documents as a “conspiracy theorist,” Brandenburg, 46, had reportedly warned his wife that “the world is crashing down around us” and that “the government is planning cyberattacks and plans to shut down the power grid,” according to divorce-court documents.

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If you’re surprised that a scientifically educated medical professional, trusted with dispensing lifesaving medicine, could suffer a rebellion against reason and give himself over to discredited conspiracy theories (https://www.rollingstone.com/t/conspiracy-theories/), you haven’t been paying attention. In the America of the 2020s, respectable men and women surrender to this kind of unreal thinking every day. (Brandenburg pleaded guilty to federal tampering charges in January; his lawyer would not discuss Brandenburg’s conspiratorial beliefs.) The phenomenon is known as “red-pilling” — a reference to a scene in The Matrix where Keanu Reeves’ character chooses to take a red pill and discover the hidden truths of the world — and it affects those whose once-rational skepticism swallows them whole, pulling them into a networked community of like-minded conspiracy theorists. While the public record does not indicate Brandenburg traveled this far, many find a home in the big-tent conspiracy of QAnon (https://www.rollingstone.com/t/qanon/), whose members increasingly see vaccination as part of a diabolical plot by the “deep state” to enslave humanity.

:{:{Why has the nation become gripped with conspiracy theories — including so many revolving around the shots that could end this devastating pandemic? “It’s precisely because we’ve had 450,000 deaths, and so much uncertainty and so much fear, that there’s fertile ground for this stuff to take hold,” says Ashish Jha, a physician and dean of Brown University’s School of Public Health. The pandemic is also occurring in the context of a 20-year decline of American trust in institutions, says Ethan Zuckerman, who formerly directed the Center for Civic Media at MIT.}:

He describes the QAnon cult as a reservoir at the bottom of that slippery slope. “Q is what happens when you take that mistrust in a really damaging direction,” he says. “It’s usually people who lost trust in one institution and then found a coherent worldview that says, ‘Don’t just mistrust this one institution — mistrust all the institutions. All of them are in it together.’ ” This full rejection of confidence in doctors and drug companies, in media and philanthropy, in politicians and government agencies, Zuckerman says, is “how the anti-vax movement underwent almost a merger with QAnon.”}:

For most Americans still grounded in reality, the arrival of safe, effective inoculations against Covid-19 has sparked hope. The nine-month dash to design, test, and begin to administer inoculations against the devastating pandemic was an unprecedented medical triumph. The rollout of these drugs has already delivered protection for millions of the elderly and medically vulnerable. For younger, healthier people awaiting their shots, vaccination promises a -ticket out of social isolation and back to a life of packed concerts, subway trains, restaurants, and nightclubs.

At present, America’s great challenge is ramping up supply to meet overwhelming demand. But experts caution the country will, sooner than later, confront a formidable wall of vaccine resistance that could block our return to “life as normal.” A Pew poll in December found that only 60 percent of Americans intend to vaccinate and nearly 20 percent — or roughly 50 million adults — are dead set against it.

If that many Americans abstain from vaccination, the coronavirus will continue to circulate, and to mutate, posing a grave ongoing threat to public health.

Vaccine hesitance can be rooted in reasonable concerns, says Jha. Were the new vaccines (https://www.rollingstone.com/t/vaccines/) rushed to market too quickly? Did the Trump administration’s overt politicization corrupt the approval process? Are side effects severe? Will our notoriously racist health system prioritize and safeguard communities of color that have been hardest hit by the pandemic? “We win no battles by minimizing” these worries, Jha says, “or suggesting that those people are being unreasonable or anti-science or anti-vaxxers. They’re raising legitimate concerns that should be addressed.”

But for millions of others, dread about vaccines defies logic or reason, and bleeds instead into belief systems of what Zuckerman has dubbed “the unreal” — that we’re pawns in a diabolical global game run by ruthless elites and that vaccines are somehow not medicine but poison. “Concerns about -safety have been absorbed into this other way of viewing the world,” says Jack Bratich, a Rutgers professor and author of Conspiracy Panics. “It’s about a plan to inject people with controlling substances. That’s where QAnon overlaps with the anti-vax movement.”

As demonstrated by the January 6th storming of the Capitol (https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/united-states-of-qanon-capitol-insurrection-riot-conspiracy-theory-1110622/), perpetrated by many Americans immersed in the QAnon cult, this red-pilling can have deadly, destabilizing consequences, and not just for conspiracy-theory believers. “This may be the most important public-health issue of our time — misinformation, disinformation,” Jha insists. And unlike the coronavirus, the contagion of conspiracy theory is one against which we’re largely defenseless. “We have been blindsided,” he says. “We as public-health people have to figure out how to counter it in a way that’s effective. And we don’t have the tools.”

Exploring conspiracy theories and mass delusion can inadvertently popularize misinformation. So inoculate yourself with facts: The novel vaccines produced by Pfizer and Moderna are revolutionary and take advantage of our own cellular machinery to safeguard recipients against future coronavirus infection.

If you’ve seen computer renderings of the coronavirus, you know its surface is covered by spike proteins that create the “crown” that gives coronaviruses their name. Humans get infected with Covid-19 when these spike proteins pierce healthy cells, allowing the virus to invade, infect, and begin replicating.

Traditional vaccines have relied on exposing people to an inactivated (killed) or attenuated (weakened) virus. As the immune system reacts to a non-threatening inoculation, it gains the ability to fight off infection from the real pathogen. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines don’t include any virus at all. Instead, they use genetic code — messenger RNA or mRNA — to activate a few of our own cells to become spike-protein factories. The vaccine consists of tiny strands of mRNA encased in fat — a lipid particle — that allows them to slip inside a cell without being attacked. Once inside, the mRNA functions roughly like computer code, instructing cells to begin assembling coronavirus spike proteins out of amino-acid building blocks already in our bodies.

The presence of these strange proteins triggers our immune systems to create antibodies to neutralize them. Our immune system also summons T-cells to attack and shut down cells that were coded to produce spike proteins. Together, these immune responses prepare the body to fight off a real potential coronavirus infection. “It’s very elegant,” says Jha of the vaccine design. “It’s also de-risked it a lot. There’s no physical way to get Covid from this thing.” As for the conspiracy theory that an mRNA vaccine alters your own genes? “It literally doesn’t,” he says. “It doesn’t become part of your DNA.”

An anti-vaxxer at a MAGA rally in Washington, D.C. A Pew poll in December found roughly 50 million Americans are planning to abstain from vaccination, threatening herd immunity.Erin Scott/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Taming the pandemic will require both individual immunity — as produced by the vaccines — and community-level “herd immunity” created when a critical mass of individuals are resistant to infection. Herd immunity is like a firewall in public health; a localized flare-up of infection among a few individuals will be unable to spread broadly, instead burning itself out.

So far, the drugs appear to be living up to their billed efficacy of 95 percent protection from infection. And apart from some rare (and treatable) allergic reactions, the side effects seem well tolerated. But vaccine avoidance is already emerging as a troubling trend, particularly among health care and nursing-home workers on the front lines of the pandemic. Through mid-January, the CDC reported that only 32 percent of eligible nursing-home workers nationwide had chosen to get vaccinated.

Distrust (https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/covid-vaccine-black-americans-1107657/) of the vaccine is also high among communities of color. The reasons for this, while complex, are not difficult to understand. American public-health history is marred by institutional racism (https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/racism-public-health-crisis-1014162/), including the horrific 40-year “Tuskegee Experiment,” in which hundreds of black men with syphilis were promised treatment that was, in fact, deceptively withheld, leading to 128 deaths. Our current health care system produces wildly disparate outcomes for people of color, including a maternal death rate (https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/shaasia-washington-death-woodhull-hospital-black-maternal-mortality-rate-1026069/) that’s 2.5 times higher for black women than for white women. In the pandemic, communities of color have been hardest hit (https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/political-commentary/coronavirus-black-death-racism-donald-trump-mike-pence-981707/). These Americans disproportionately work in frontline positions, live in more crowded housing, have poorer access to doctors, and higher incidence of comorbidities. Meanwhile, crucial technologies like pulse oximeters, which use light to measure blood oxygenation and guide treatment, have been found to routinely malfunction on dark skin.

The hard truth is that returning to the point where Americans can go back to work or enjoy a night out at a crowded bar and be confident no one is going to get sick will require persuading millions to overcome their fear of vaccination and take a jab for the team. The 60 percent of Americans currently intending to get vaccinated is simply not good enough to establish herd immunity. “We’ve got to address the issues that help us get closer to 80 percent vaccination,” Jha says. “I’d love to get up to like 90, 95 percent.”

The larger the group of unvaccinated individuals, the more chance the virus can mutate to pose a danger, even to the already vaccinated. “Large outbreaks anywhere can give rise to variants that can escape vaccines everywhere,” Jha writes. “It’s the nightmare scenario of a never-ending pandemic.”

Long before the coronavirus hit, America had been gripped by a fierce anti-vaccine (https://www.rollingstone.com/t/anti-vaccine/) movement, which had itself become increasingly unmoored from scientific critique and drifted into conspiratorial waters.

Vaccines have always inspired popular fear. Decades ago, it was justified: The rollout of the polio inoculation in the 1950s tragically infected 40,000 children, paralyzing hundreds, and killing 10, because of botched manufacturing that failed to disable the live virus. Even with modern safety advances, vaccination campaigns expose a particularly American tension between personal choice and public safety. “In the U.S., there’s this suspicion or refusal around bodily sovereignty,” Bratich says. “People don’t like stuff stuck in them.”

Contemporary anti-vax culture took root in the late 1990s and early 2000s, when a startling rise in autism was hypothesized to be connected to childhood vaccinations. Robust science has since debunked any relationship between vaccination and autism. But at the time, the specter of vaccine injury sparked real concern among reasonable people.

In 1998, the prestigious British medical journal The Lancet published an article purporting to link the measles/mumps/rubella (MMR) vaccine to “developmental regression in a group of previously normal children.” In the U.S. a year later, a federal review of mercury in drugs highlighted that a mercury-based preservative in childhood vaccines could expose infants, over the first six months of life, to a potentially harmful quantity of the neurotoxic metal. Out of an abundance of caution, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended that the preservative, thimerosal, be phased out of vaccines. In 2005, Rolling Stone and Salon co-published a Robert F. Kennedy Jr. piece, “Deadly Immunity,” that helped push the provocative hypothesis that thimerosal triggered autism into wider circulation. The piece drew swift criticism and required significant corrections, including to a key statistic about childhood mercury exposure.

By the turn of the decade, both hypotheses had collapsed under the weight of scientific evidence. In 2009, a paper inClinical Infectious Diseases (https://academic.oup.com/cid/article/48/4/456/284219)cited “20 epidemiologic studies” to conclude that “neither thimerosal nor MMR vaccine causes autism.” The Lancetretracted its MMR paper in 2010, with the journal’s editor saying he felt he’d been deceived, while calling the paper “utterly false.” In 2011, Salon retracted the Kennedy piece, writing, “The best reader service is to delete the piece entirely.” The story no longer appears on Rolling Stone’s website.

Fear of vaccination, however, didn’t disappear because scientists said it should. Instead, anti-vax beliefs spread widely, popularized by celebrities (https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/celebrities-anti-vaxxers-jessica-biel-847779/) like actress Jenny McCarthy and then-Apprentice star Donald Trump, who infamously tweeted in 2014: “Healthy young child goes to doctor, gets pumped with massive shot of many vaccines, doesn’t feel good and changes — AUTISM. Many such cases!” In a 2016 survey, 77 percent of parents who chose not to vaccinate their children cited a feared link to autism, and 71 percent cited fear of vaccine additives.

That same year, faced with a public-health threat from schools where up to 40 percent of kids were unvaccinated, California eliminated a “personal exemption” to vaccination, effectively requiring shots for all kids to attend public school. Measles had been eliminated in the U.S. in 2000, but declining vaccination rates contributed to outbreaks infecting more than 1,200 across dozens of states in 2019. That year, the World Health Organization listed vaccine hesitance as one of its top “10 threats to public health.”

Today’s anti-vax movement has grown increasingly cozy with theories about dark agendas, ruthless profit motives, and powerful enemies, reserving peculiar animus for billionaire Bill Gates, whose foundation promotes vaccination globally. For his part, Kennedy continues to promote unfounded links between vaccines and autism, even though thimerosal has been phased out of childhood vaccines: “They replaced it with aluminum,” he says, “which is almost as bad.” (Aluminum salts have been safely used in vaccines for more than seven decades, according to the CDC.) “People like me get vilified and ridiculed,” he says, “but I will debate anybody about this.”

Kennedy now runs the nonprofit Children’s Health Defense, where last April he published an article titled “Gates’ Globalist Vaccine Agenda: A Win-Win for Pharma and Mandatory Vaccination.” The piece purports to be grounded in science, but Kennedy gets the facts twisted. He claims, for example, that a 2010 Gates Foundation-funded trial (https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejmoa1102287) of a malaria vaccine was responsible for “killing 151 African infants and causing serious adverse effects, including paralysis, seizure, and febrile convulsions, to 1,048 of the 5,949 children.” In reality, the trial was not implicated in the death of any child, and only 13 malaria-vaccine recipients had significant side effects. The trial was conducted in a region of Africa with high child morbidity and mortality, and the terrifying numbers Kennedy touts come from tallying up every health crisis experienced by the kids in the trial — both malaria-vaccine recipients and those in control groups — and brazenly attributing every dark outcome to the jabs. This includes deaths from head injury, HIV, malnutrition, and drowning. (Confronted with these facts, Kennedy admits error: “One can never definitively say that a particular death was or was not caused by a vaccine,” he says. But he adds without evidence that every death was “plausibly attributed to the vaccines,” while also baselessly alleging that the use of different vaccines, rather than placebos, in the control groups was “an act of fraud that appears designed . . . to mask death rates in the study cohort.”)

The rest of Kennedy’s piece paints Gates as a reckless and unaccountable billionaire pulling the strings of global institutions. He points to a TED Talk that Gates delivered boasting that expanded vaccine use “could reduce population.” This is meant to sound nefarious, but Gates has long spoken of reducing childhood mortality as a key to stabilizing populations in the developing world. As the conspiracy-debunking site Snopes (https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/bill-gates-vaccinations-depopulation/) explains: “Gates is not interested in using vaccines to reduce the population by using them as an agent of death or a tool to sterilize unsuspecting masses. Rather, Gates is interested in keeping more children alive in order to reduce the need for parents to have more children, thus limiting the overall population growth rate.”

If Kennedy dabbles in the Bill Gates conspiracy waters — writing that the coronavirus has given Gates “an opportunity to force his dictatorial vaccine programs” on all Americans — millions of others are performing cannonballs. A gee-whiz proposal, supported by the Gates Foundation, to use tiny subdermal markers for patients in the developing world to track their vaccination history, without needing a clinic to keep the paperwork, has morphed into a widely embraced conspiracy theory that Gates wants to microchip the citizens of the world. A YouGov poll last May found that 28 percent of Americans believed Gates wants “to use a mass vaccination campaign against Covid-19 to implant microchips in people that would be used to track people with a digital ID.” The belief rose to 44 percent of Republicans and to 50 percent of dedicated viewers of Fox News.

Conspiracy theories have been part of the lifeblood of American politics for centuries. In the 1820s, so many Americans were convinced that a shadowy and perhaps satanic cabal threatened the republic that they formed the Anti-Masonic Party and elected dozens of members to Congress. In the Red Scare of the 1950s, the far-right John Birch Society accused President Dwight Eisenhower of being “a dedicated, conscious agent of the Communist conspiracy.”

Trump rose to political dominance promoting the birther conspiracy theory that Barack Obama had been ineligible to hold office. And he won and sustained the presidency by encouraging his white, working-class supporters to blame their social woes on the merciless “globalists” of the “deep state.” Conspiratorial thinking, academic research shows, often takes root in groups, like many in Trump’s base, that are experiencing economic or social dislocation. “People often turn to conspiracy theories when bad things are happening around them,” says Karen Douglas, a professor of social psychology at the University of Kent in England. “They are looking for ways to cope, people to blame,” she says. “If people believe that powerful, secret forces are responsible, then it isn’t their fault that things are bad for them,” and they can make themselves feel better without having to “tease apart the complex reasons for their disadvantage.”

The outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 created a “perfect storm” for new conspiracy theories (https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/coronavirus-china-bat-patent-conspiracy-theory-942416/) to take root, says Bratich, the Rutgers professor. The pandemic overwhelmed government institutions, creating enormous fear and economic uncertainty. Lockdown life also created super-spreader conditions for paranoia, with Americans searching for answers in online forums where unreal ideas circulated unchecked. New converts were then able to spread these ideas, in real life, to their pods of close family and friends under lockdown.

Eric Oliver is a political-science professor at the University of Chicago who has studied conspiracy theories since the 1990s. He argues that conspiracy belief helps conquer anxiety by giving people a feeling of “I understand what’s happening in the world. I have a narrative that explains things.” They also root free-floating fear in something that feels solid: “ ‘The reason I’m feeling anxious is there’s a secret cabal doing something terrible. And now I’ve identified it.’ ” A reinforcing factor is “a certain narcissism,” he says. “The conspiracy theory gives them a sense of special knowledge: ‘I know something that’s going on that nobody else does.’ It feels empowering to them.”

A protester holds an anti-vaccination sign as supporters of President Donald Trump rally to reopen California as the coronavirus pandemic continues to worsen, on May 16, 2020 in Woodland Hills, California.David McNew/Getty Images

A paradox of conspiracy theories is that they’re not full flights of fancy. They involve imagined and invented connections between real people, phenomena, and events. There’s a structure to the irrational belief. “Conspiracy theories are not the product of a disordered mind; they’re the product of an overly ordered mind,” insists Zuckerman. “Conspiracy theories happen when you have an enormous need for order in a disordered universe.” Zuckerman quit his post at MIT in protest of the university’s links to disgraced sex-criminal financier Jeffrey Epstein and now teaches at University of Massachusetts, Amherst. “I do not subscribe to the theory that Epstein was killed in prison,” he says, but points to the myriad conspiracy theories surrounding Epstein as a case in point: “Having a genuine villain out there is really important for conspiracies to root themselves sufficiently in reality so that we continue to pay attention to them.”

This search for order has taken millions of Americans to a dark place — the nihilistic worldview of QAnon. The QAnon belief system is a crossover between a conspiracy theory and a religious cult, and its ideology takes strands of many past conspiracies and weaves them into a big tent where priors are welcome and almost any theory can find safe harbor.

The core of Q is familiar. It posits that the surface world of respectable politicians, well-intentioned government institutions, and a media seeking to hold them accountable, is an illusion. The real power in the world is wielded by shadowy power brokers in the government, Hollywood, and the media called “the cabal” or the “deep state.” QAnon takes this conspiratorial boilerplate to wild extremes. The “deep state” is alleged to be insatiable in its thirst for power, and willing to do anything — from launching wars to spreading pestilence — to move closer to global domination. The Q ideology has no room for subtlety. The conspirators are believed to be the embodiment of evil, actual “luciferians” and pedophiles.

The theory may sound lunatic, but QAnon is no longer relegated to the fringe: A Civiqs tracking poll finds that even after the attack on the Capitol, 10 percent of Republicans describe themselves as “supporters” of QAnon. Tenets of the Q belief system are even more widely held: An NPR poll released at the end of 2020 found 17 percent of Americans rated as “true” the statement that: “A group of Satan-worshipping elites who run a child sex ring are trying to control our politics and media.”

In the Q mythology, the heroes fighting to expose the deep state include an alleged intelligence officer, known as Q, for the “Q-level” clearance he or she is alleged to hold. The conspiracy has elements of a massive role-playing game. For years, the anonymous “Q” dropped cryptic hints or “crumbs” on message boards like 8chan and 8kun, which QAnon adherents then sought to “bake” into coherent narratives about coming events. The community also revered Donald Trump as a lonely fighter, seeking to undermine, arrest, and vanquish the deep state.

How did the anti-vax movement — which thrives in far-left communities like Portland, L.A., and Marin County, California, — get mixed up with a quasi-religious cult that held up Donald Trump as its savior? “It was very surprising to see the anti-vax community cross the streams” with QAnon, says Zuckerman. “Anti-vaxxers are people who often identify as leaning politically left. They often come to this stance because they’re anti–corporate, and they’re really concerned about Big Pharma making money.”

American political ideology is most often conceptualized as a straight line running from left to right. But an alternate visualization presents the spectrum instead as a horseshoe, where the left and right extremes bend back toward one another. Conspiracy theories can bridge these far ends like a powerful electric spark.

Oliver’s research has shown that openness to conspiracy theory is correlated to intuitive thinking over evidence-based thinking. Conspiratorial beliefs take hold in people who make gut-level decisions and place disproportionate weight on symbolic costs. He offers a questionnaire that helps tease out the personality trait.

Would you rather: Stab a photograph of your family five times with a sharp knife? Or stick your hand in a bowl of live cockroaches?

Would you rather: Sleep in laundered pajamas once worn by Charles Manson? Or pick a nickel off the ground and put it in your mouth?

Would you rather: Grind your heels into an unmarked grave? Or stand in line for three hours at the DMV?

A person avoiding actions with high symbolic costs (stabbing a family photo, sleeping in Manson’s PJs), he says, “is a very strong predictor of believing in conspiracy theories — regardless of where they are on the ideological spectrum.”

Oliver points out that conservative religious Americans — “evangelical or orthodox communities” — tend to have very high intuitionism scores, and receptivity to conspiracy theory. But so do New Age communities associated with the American left. “People who believe in conspiracy theories also believe that GMOs are bad,” he says. “They tend to like organic food or natural health remedies.”

The leap from anti-vax theories to QAnon is less mysterious, Zuckerman says, when you “think about how lonely it is to be an anti-vaxxer. You have the small group of friends who are willing to listen to you talk about mercury in vaccines,” he says. “But suddenly you have a whole group of people” in QAnon adherents “who say, ‘Oh, yeah, not just this, but did you know about this?’ You may be willing to go further, and say, ‘Sure I’ll buy this next part of the conspiracy.’ ” Finding such affirmation and community in the unreal, he says, makes it easy to surrender your hold on fact-based beliefs. “Red-pilling,” he says, “is when you move from your origin conspiracy theory to this full-conspiracy worldview.”

The anti-vax and Q movements began to merge with the release of a viral video last May. “We saw it in earnest around Plandemic,” says Zuckerman. Plandemic is the project of Mikki Wills, a 53-year-old self-described “investigative filmmaker” with piercing blue eyes and a salt-and-pepper goatee, who works from the coastal California enclave of Ojai, halfway between Santa Barbara and Los Angeles.

Willis is politically liberal and his bio touts him as “a virtuoso of positive energy.” He tells Rolling Stone that he was inspired to shoot Plandemic because of his concern over the Trump administration’s Operation Warp Speed. “The idea that [the] administration was going to rush an experimental vaccine to market, then have it distributed to the masses by way of the U.S. military,” Willis says, “felt insane and reckless at best. I felt compelled to shine a little light on it.”

The slickly produced 26-minute video centers on discredited former federal scientist Judy Mikovits, whom Willis platforms as an Erin Brokovich-style whistleblower. Mikovits claims without evidence that her career was derailed by a federal conspiracy directed by Anthony Fauci. And she makes myriad wild, false, and unsubstantiated claims, including that the coronavirus was released from a lab and that mask wearing causes illness. The film baselessly insinuates that Fauci, Gates, and others have enormous financial interests in the pandemic. In one key exchange, Willis poses to Mikovits: “If we activate mandatory vaccines globally, I imagine these people stand to make hundreds of billions of dollars that own the vaccines.”

The film was roundly debunked, including by Science (https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/05/fact-checking-judy-mikovits-controversial-virologist-attacking-anthony-fauci-viral), which said in part: “Science fact-checked the video. None of these claims are true.” Major social media companies banned the video, but not before it was viewed millions of times. Willis insists he’s “absolutely not” a conspiracy theorist and knows “very little” about QAnon. But his video became a cause célèbre among the Q set. “In many ways, Plandemic is much more of an anti-vax video than it is a QAnon video,” Zuckerman says. But it fits with the nihilistic Q worldview that elites are not simply misguided or incompetent, but so evil as to unleash a global pandemic and then seek to profit from a vaccine. “The Q community loves it. Right?”

The film hit the bull’s-eye of what Bratich describes as the overlapping “Venn diagram of the antivax movement and QAnon.” At the margins, he says, anti-vaxxers have long feared there exists a dark agenda behind inoculations, and these people have found in QAnon a “ready-made, tight narrative — it’s about the great reset, it’s about a new world order, it’s about Bill Gates — that explains the vaccinations.”

The full convergence of the anti-vax movement and QAnon belief can be seen in the trajectory of Larry D. Cook — a onetime healthy-lifestyle guru who became a high-profile anti-vaccine activist before he red-pilled, choosing to anchor his beliefs in the open harbor of QAnon.

Cook is 56 but looks perhaps a decade younger. He has a lanky runner’s build and an open, calm, somewhat flat affect when he speaks. He has made his home in Los Angeles for the past 15 years, and a profile picture on his personal website shows him beaming at a farmers market, holding aloft a bunch of kale in each hand.

In 2005, Cook wrote The Beginner’s Guide to Natural Living, touting the optimal conditions to express “the divine intelligence flowing through us.” He describes having become a vegan in 1990 and preaches the virtues of organic food, yoga, and alternative healing. There are seeds of distrust in Cook’s writing: He encourages readers to “question toxic medicine” that “makes more money by keeping us slightly sick.” But little in Cook’s rhetoric would have been out of place in a left-coast magazine like Mother Jones from the same era. He urges caution of “mainstream media . . . owned and controlled by its advertisers,” and of a government that can be “hoodwinked into allowing harmful products onto the market.”

Cook’s career path is nontraditional. He jumped from “being a sound guy in Hollywood” to a gig as executive director of the California Naturopathic Doctors Association. Cook did not respond to interview requests but told a radio interviewer that his fear of vaccines took root when he was researching a book about attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and “came across some information that mercury in vaccines cause autism.” As a side gig around 2010, he started creating YouTube videos interviewing doctors who pushed the thimerosal hypothesis and parents whose children were allegedly harmed by vaccines.

The hobby would become a calling, and a conviction, for Cook in 2015, when California proposed ending the personal-belief exemption from public-school vaccination requirements. Cook started a site called Stop Mandatory Vaccination to oppose this and future legislation and describes how this anti-vax activism got him “fired” from his executive-director post and led to his becoming a full-time activist. “I found my voice,” he said. The deeper he dove into the anti-vax world, the more distrustful Cook became, decrying what he calls the “cover up” of children who die after being vaccinated as “a medical mafia conspiracy.” (No serious science suggests vaccination is secretly killing kids.) In 2016, Cook voted for Trump, he explains in a recent court document, because of Trump’s own claims that vaccines were linked to autism.

To popularize his anti-vax beliefs, Cook came up with a “system,” which involved raising money on GoFundMe to pay for alarming Facebook ads that he’d target at young mothers. “I was doing things in a certain way,” Cook explained. “Grabbing attention of parents and driving them into my Facebook group, where they could get their questions answered.” The idea was to spur the young moms to “go anti-vaccine. . . . Once they learn the truth,” he said, “they become activists.” A 2019 study by the journal Vaccine revealed that Cook was second only to Kennedy in promoting anti-vax sentiment on Facebook. “Many advertisements featured stories of infants allegedly harmed by vaccines,” the study reports, “using tag lines like, ‘Healthy 14 week old infant gets 8 vaccines and dies within 24 hours.’ ”

The social media giant didn’t have qualms about taking tens of thousands of dollars from Cook to promote the outrageous claim that vaccines kill babies until it was called out in a letter by Rep. Adam Schiff, who demanded information from Mark Zuckerberg in February 2019 about the company’s practice of monetizing and promoting misinformation about vaccines. Facebook soon tweaked its algorithms to stop recommending anti-vax content, which was instead downgraded on the platform. The move decimated Cook’s online reach from 2 million views a month to about 100,000. Facebook also turned off his ability to advertise on the site. YouTube likewise demonetized his channel.

This throttling by social media giants only appears to have pushed Cook further away from the mainstream. As he described his own conversion, in February 2020, Cook read a QAnon book titled Calm Before the Storm that opened his mind to the Q worldview. And he “red-pilled,” as he described in an hour-long video posted last July, in which he appears flanked by a giant Q in one corner and an American flag underscored with the hashtag #WWG1WGA — short for the Q battle cry of “Where We Go One We Go All!” — in the other.

Cook described how discovering QAnon suddenly gave him a context for his distrust of mainstream medicine and his sense of being persecuted and silenced by social media. “When you wrap your head around the idea that it’s the deep state that is facilitating the vaccine mandates,” he said, “all of a sudden it makes complete sense.”

Cook cast mandatory vaccinations as just one expression of the deep state’s “luciferian” agenda of “controlling everyone on the planet.” The mandates are “all part of the deep-state plan,” he claimed, because “when you inject poison into someone, you can incapacitate them very quickly, especially if you’re doing it at birth . . . as soon as a soul comes in — incarnates.” He called vaccination of children a “deliberate assault designed to suppress their consciousness, designed to shut off their connection to God.” But there’s hope, he insisted: “If you take the deep state down completely, we take down the vaccine mandates.”

Through the same jaundiced lens, Cook sees the coronavirus pandemic as part of the deep state’s sinister plot: “It’s a plandemic,” he said, borrowing Willis’ coinage. “It was planned, it’s a false flag. . . . Q would say these people are sick. They want complete control of our planet . . . And if that means killing . . . millions of people, they could care less.”

For Cook, as for most QAnon adherents, the fight is overtly political. “Democrats are lockstep with the deep state,” he insisted. “Our role is to educate the rest of humanity . . . who’s on the side of justice and truth and who’s on the side of God.” The good guys, for Cook, are Trump and the “Q Team.” And he celebrates the promise of redemption: “You shut down the deep state and we can have heaven on Earth,” he said, adding: “We are in the throes of the final battles.”

The attack on the Capitol on January 6th was a wake-up call for America that online conspiracy theories and QAnon’s nihilism are a serious threat not just to the mental health of individual believers but also to innocent life, not to mention the functioning of our democratic government.

The mass delusion of conspiracy-theory belief also constitutes a public-health crisis. As the WHO put it last fall, an “infodemic” is “endangering countries’ ability to stop the pandemic,” adding that “misinformation costs lives,” and that a lack of trust in science will cause immunization campaigns to “not meet their targets, and the virus will continue to thrive.”

Public-health experts say the addictive appeal of conspiracy theories has left them exasperated, but with few solutions. “I really had this mental model,” Jha says, that “you get the evidence, you speak it in plain, simple terms, and share with people what is true — and that’s it. Like, you win the game,” he says. “I have learned very much the hard way, from April on, that that is just naive.”

In January, a mob (https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-01-31/protest-dodger-stadium-vaccination-site-angers-city-leaders-security-questions) of anti-vax protesters briefly shut down a mass inoculation site at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, holding up signs like “COVID=SCAM,” “Don’t be a lab rat,” and “Tell Bill Gates to Vaccinate Himself!” The inability to respond effectively to this kind of mass delusion, Jha says, is a “huge liability in the public-health community. We should try to engage with people,” he insists. “But it is not done by giving them facts. They’re not actually lacking in facts; they don’t believe.”

Zuckerman says the core obstacle with QAnon is that its doctrine of blanket distrust leaves few avenues for intervention: “ ‘Scientists? Oh, they’re all at universities; they’re all part of the deep state. What about the media? Oh, my God. The media actually run the deep state.’ That’s epistemic closure,” he says.

Social media companies that had profited from allowing such conspiracies to run riot have recently booted (https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/facebook-qanon-ban-deplatforming-social-media-1071802/) QAnon and anti-vaxxers from their platforms. But that also creates problems, says Bratich. “It’s just riled up the radical emerging right that sees themselves as being not just censored, but persecuted,” he says. This brings with it notions of a “dangerous self-sacrifice and martyrdom” and risks “more conflagrations before it subsides.”

Shortly after the election, Cook found himself completely de-platformed. In mid-November, he was kicked off Facebook as part of the social network’s purge of QAnon. Twitter shut down his account simultaneously. Cook has attempted to launch his own social media properties: Covid-19 Refusers — which features a 14-part video indoctrination on why to reject vaccination — as well as Medical Freedom Patriots: a $5-a-month, subscription-based group he touts as “Anti Vaccine, Pro Alternative Medicine, QAnon friendly.” Cook makes plain he’s seeking to spread the gospel of QAnon: “We are in an INFORMATION WAR,” he writes. “The first step is for us all to be informed — I am giving you the path to that — and then to share it yourself with others.”

As with many, many Q believers (https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/qanon-joe-biden-inauguration-donald-trump-1116733/), Trump’s election loss has been hard for Cook to absorb. On December 7th, he posted on Parler that Americans should consider fleeing to “Republican held states” to avoid forced vaccination. “This is war,” he wrote. “We don’t need to be up front getting the kill shots when we know there’s Higher Ground.” In late January, he posted to Telegram his belief that the military would help Trump reseize control of America: “I have now seen enough pieces of the puzzle to believe that THE PLAN is in fact going EXACTLY as it was PLANNED to go for our US Military and President Trump to secure the United States of America and thereby end the Deep State’s rule over us once and for all,” he wrote. “In fact I do believe it will be BIBLICAL.”

Zuckerman argues that what’s required to reach the far edges of the anti-vax and QAnon communities resembles cult deprogramming (https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/ex-qanon-followers-cult-conspiracy-theory-pizzagate-1064076/). “The question that I think everyone would love to have a definitive answer to is, ‘Can people be unpilled?’ ” he says. He points with encouragement to forums on Reddit for people who have escaped Q and are trying to help others. “They talk about the incredible damage — that this is a belief system that ends marriages, ends friendships.” Bratich likens these groups to “QAnon recovery” and suggests that “the deprogramming that happens might be as networked and distributed as the way these people [originally] came together.”

But Bratich cautions that the pull of QAnon remains devilishly strong, and that the conspiracy theory has shown itself to be incredibly plastic and adaptable. He warns that as the notion of Trump as superhero fades, the fight against vaccination may well open up as the organizing battle in QAnon’s resistance against the deep state. “If Trump goes away or goes to the margins,” he says, “I think this will be the next thing that becomes front and center.” The far edge of the anti-vax movement, he says, “keeps talking about how the vaccine is ‘the beginning of the end.’ For QAnon there’s a code in there,” he warns. “It’s the beginning of the end of America, right?”

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In this article:

anti-vaccine, (https://www.rollingstone.com/t/anti-vaccine/)

Capitol Riot, (https://www.rollingstone.com/t/capitol-riot/)

conspiracy theories, (https://www.rollingstone.com/t/conspiracy-theories/)

coronavirus, (https://www.rollingstone.com/t/coronavirus/)

direct, (https://www.rollingstone.com/t/direct/)

long reads, (https://www.rollingstone.com/t/long-reads/)

qanon, (https://www.rollingstone.com/t/qanon/)

RSreports, (https://www.rollingstone.com/t/rs-reports/)

vaccines (https://www.rollingstone.com/t/vaccines/)

February 10, 2021

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nyt

Far-Right Extremists Move From ‘Stop the Steal’ to Stop the Vaccine

Extremist organizations are now bashing the safety and efficacy of coronavirus vaccines in an effort to try to undermine the government.

By Neil MacFarquhar (https://www.nytimes.com/by/neil-macfarquhar)

March 26, 2021

Adherents of far-right groups who cluster online have turned repeatedly to one particular website in recent weeks — the federal database showing deaths and adverse reactions nationwide among people who have received Covid-19 vaccinations.

Although negative reactions have been relatively rare, the numbers are used by many extremist groups to try to bolster a rash of false and alarmist disinformation in articles and videos with titles like “Covid-19 Vaccines Are Weapons of Mass Destruction — and Could Wipe out the Human Race” or “Doctors and Nurses Giving the Covid-19 Vaccine Will be Tried as War Criminals.”

If the so-called Stop the Steal movement appeared to be chasing a lost cause once President Biden was inaugurated, its supporters among extremist organizations are now adopting a new agenda from the anti-vaccination campaign to try to undermine the government.

Bashing of the safety and efficacy of vaccines is occurring in chatrooms frequented by all manner of right-wing groups including the Proud Boys; the Boogaloo movement, a loose affiliation known for wanting to spark a second Civil War; and various paramilitary organizations.

These groups tend to portray vaccines as a symbol of excessive government control. “If less people get vaccinated then the system will have to use more aggressive force on the rest of us to make us get the shot,” read a recent post on the Telegram social media platform, in a channel linked to members of the Proud Boys charged in storming the Capitol.

Image

A “Stop the Steal” rally at the Pennsylvania State Capitol in November.Credit...Gabriela Bhaskar for The New York Times

The marked focus on vaccines is particularly striking on discussion channels populated by followers of QAnon, who had falsely prophesied that Donald J. Trump would continue as president while his political opponents were marched off to jail.

“They rode the shift in the national conversation away from Trump to what was happening with the massive ramp up in vaccines,” said Devin Burghart, the head of the Seattle-based Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights, which monitors far-right movements, referring to followers of QAnon. “It allowed them to pivot away from the failure of their previous prophecy to focus on something else.”

Apocalyptic warnings about the vaccine feed into the far-right narrative that the government cannot be trusted, the sentiment also at the root of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. The more vaccine opponents succeed in preventing or at least delaying herd immunity, experts noted, the longer it will take for life to return to normal and that will further undermine faith in the government and its institutions.

Last spring, a common purpose among far-right activists and the anti-vaccination movement first emerged during armed protests (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/03/us/coronavirus-extremists.html) in numerous state capitols against coronavirus lockdown measures. That cross-pollination expanded over time.

On Jan. 6, while rioters advanced on the Capitol, numerous leading figures in the anti-vaccination movement were onstage nearby, holding their own rally to attack both the election results and Covid-19 vaccinations.

Events overshadowed their protest, but at least one outspoken activist, Dr. Simone Gold of Beverly Hills, Calif., was charged with breaching the Capitol. She called her arrest an attack on free speech. She was one of several doctors who appeared in a video last year spreading misleading claims (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/28/technology/virus-video-trump.html?searchResultPosition=1)about the coronavirus. Mr. Trump shared a version of the video (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/28/technology/virus-video-trump.html), which Facebook, YouTube and Twitter removed after millions of viewers watched it.

Image

Dr. Simone Gold in a video for America’s Frontline Doctors, an organization accused of spreading misleading information about the coronavirus and possible treatments. She was later charged with breaching the Capitol.

In the months since inoculations started in December, the alliance grouping extremist organizations with the anti-vaccination movement has grown larger and more vocal, as conspiracy theories about vaccines proliferated while those about the presidential vote count receded.

With their protests continuing, far-right groups deployed many of the same talking points as the vaccination opponents. Prominent voices in both the “Stop the Steal” and the anti-vaccination movements helped to organize scattered rallies on March 20 against vaccines, masks and social distancing in American cities including Portland, Ore., and Raleigh, N.C., as well as in Australia, Canada and other countries around the world.

In April, a conference with the tagline “Learn How to Fight Back for Your Health and Freedom,” is set to bring together Trump allies like Michael Flynn and Sidney Powell along with high-profile members of the anti-vaccination effort.

Maligning the coronavirus vaccines is obviously not limited to extremist groups tied to the Capitol riot. There is deep partisanship over the vaccines generally.

One third of Republicans surveyed in a CBS News poll (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/covid-19-vaccines-optimism-pandemic-opinion-poll/) said that they would avoid getting vaccinated — compared with 10 percent of Democrats — and another 20 percent of Republicans said they were unsure. Other polls found similar trends.

About 100 members of the House of Representatives (https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/19/us/politics/congress-coronavirus-vaccine.html), roughly one-quarter, had not been vaccinated as of mid-March, according to Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, the House minority leader.

It is unclear where Mr. Trump will fit into the vaccine battle. The former president, who has been vaccinated, endorsed getting the shot recently, provoking some disbelief in QAnon and other chatrooms. “I would recommend it, and I would recommend it to a lot of people that don’t want to get it, and a lot of those people voted for me frankly,” he said in an interview with Fox News.

Image

Protesters at anti-vaccination demonstrations are using similar imagery as those at “Stop the Steal” rallies.Credit...Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images

Across right-wing channels online, certain constant memes have emerged attacking the vaccine, like a cartoon suggesting that what started with mask mandates will end with concentration camps run by FEMA for those who refuse vaccinations.

Numerous channels link to the government website called VAERS, (https://vaers.hhs.gov/) for Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, to energize followers. It had reported 2,216 deaths among people vaccinated for the three months before March 22, with 126 million doses administered. The Covid-19 vaccines in use, like most vaccinations, are considered overwhelmingly safe, but inevitably a small percentage of recipients suffer adverse reactions, some of them severe. The deaths have not been directly linked to the vaccinations.

The raw, incomplete VAERS statistics are meant for scientists and medical professionals, but are widely used among extremist groups to try to undermine confidence in the vaccine. One video consisted of a person reading the details from the chart aloud barking “Murder” where the chart said “Death.”

On Telegram, channels frequented by tens of thousands of QAnon followers are full of videos warning of the dire consequences of taking the vaccine.For example, David Icke, a British serial conspiracy theorist, posted a video called “Murder by Vaccine” saying that it transformed the nature of the human body. (The claims that the vaccines change human DNA are false.)

Mr. Icke was previously best known for pushing the idea that the world was controlled by shape-shifting alien lizards who inhabited a global network of underground tunnels.

The general proliferation of conspiracy theories by QAnon followers for years has helped to create a shared vocabulary among far-right organizations, experts said, which smoothed the way for spreading false information about the vaccines. “The last year with Covid has just been a perfect storm that whatever your crazy conspiracy belief is, there is someone who has a Covid conspiracy to match it,” said Melissa Ryan, chief executive of Card Strategies, a consulting firm that researches disinformation.

Image

Anti-vaccine protesters shouted and waved signs at health care workers waiting in line to enter the Super Bowl in Tampa, Fla., in February.Credit...Zack Wittman for The New York Times

The vaccines are sometimes referred to as a “potion,” sometimes as a “bioweapon,” and there are claims that vaccinated people are “shedding mutant viruses.”

Telegram is the locus of much of the disinformation and fear mongering. On one channel, there are claims that the vaccine is an instrument of depopulation. “A massive death wave will be witnessed later this year among those who took the vaccine,” read one posting.

In Idaho, the far-right activist Ammon Bundy helped to push for a proposed state law to ban any mandatory vaccines, although work stalled after the legislature suspended its work on March 19 for more than two weeks because too many lawmakers contracted the coronavirus.

The question is where this newly forged alliance goes from here. Some analysts believe its life span will prove limited, with the far right pivoting to some other issue, like immigration. Eventually, hundreds of millions of Americans will be vaccinated, they noted, and vaccine skepticism is not the same thing as being anti-vaccination. Some doubters will soften if time proves the vaccines effective.

A new report (https://networkcontagion.us/reports/a-contagion-of-institutional-distrust/)by the Network Contagion Research Institute at Rutgers University noted, however, that although the de-platforming of extremist groups made their campaigns harder to follow, the alliance has the potential to meld disparate factions into a large anti-government movement united around public health issues.

“It increases the opportunity for a big tent enemy,” said Joel Finkelstein, a fellow at Rutgers who runs the institute. “If you are feeling dispossessed, like all these right-wing groups are, boy do I have a tent for you.”

Ben Decker contributed research.

Neil MacFarquhar is a national correspondent. Previously, as Moscow bureau chief, he was on the team awarded the 2017 Pulitzer Prize in International Reporting (https://www.nytimes.com/series/russias-dark-arts). He spent more than 15 years reporting from around the Mideast, including five as Cairo bureau chief, and wrote two books about the region.

:{:{A version of this article appears in print on , Section A, Page 1 of the New York edition with the headline: Moving On From ‘Stop the Steal,’ Far Right Now Vilifies Vaccines}:

See more on: U.S. Politics (https://www.nytimes.com/section/politics)

---

4 25 duck qanon vaxx

(https://duckduckgo.com/?q=qanon%20vaccine+site:www.rollingstone.com&atb=v353-1)

Rolling Stone

https://www.rollingstone.com › culture › culture-features › qanon-anti-vax-covid-vaccine-conspiracy-theory-1125197 (https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/qanon-anti-vax-covid-vaccine-conspiracy-theory-1125197/)

QAnon: How the Anti-Vaxxers Got Red-Pilled - Rolling Stone (https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/qanon-anti-vax-covid-vaccine-conspiracy-theory-1125197/)

The full convergence of the anti-vax movement and QAnon belief can be seen in the trajectory of Larry D. Cook — a onetime healthy-lifestyle guru who became a high-profile anti-vaccine activist ...

}}:

---

afp

Los Angeles fires spark 'smart city' conspiracy theories

:{:{Published on January 21, 2025}:

{By Daniel Patrick GALGANO (https://factcheck.afp.com/daniel-patrick-galgano), AFP USA (https://factcheck.afp.com/afp-usa)}:

As a string of wildfires hit Los Angeles County, social media users spread claims that authorities purposefully set the blazes to encourage the development of so-called "smart cities." While America's second-largest city does have long-term plans to implement digital technologies to improve services, experts say the claims have no merit and that razing neighborhoods would not accomplish these goals.

"And then I find this document and it all begins to connect the dots. You have a fire, things burn down, you rebuild it and you make it a smart city," says a January 9, 2025 X post (https://perma.cc/758T-W24X) with thousands of interactions.

"And you have the government, the insurance agents and the electric companies all into it together."

Image

Screenshot from X taken January 16, 2025

The same claim has circulated elsewhere (https://perma.cc/9Z7M-2CY4) on X (https://perma.cc/5AW6-JTF6), Facebook (https://mvau.lt/media/826a41ec-839e-4520-a2d4-b4db0b9a872a), Instagram (https://mvau.lt/media/ebec1e47-d091-42c0-954d-5293a8a28a9b), Threads (https://perma.cc/8LQU-RD7R), TikTok (https://perma.cc/H8GS-2KPC), Bluesky (https://perma.cc/3H7E-6A8Q?type=image), Rumble (https://perma.cc/87GH-5P3K) and Gettr (https://perma.cc/2W3U-Y26B).

The posts are the latest describing conspiracy theories linking natural disasters (https://factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com.33R74F2) to smart city plans that frequently crop up (https://www.rfi.fr/en/business-and-tech/20230909-conspiracy-theories-falsely-link-wildfires-to-smart-cities) in the United States (https://factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com.34KX9UW) and Canada (https://factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com.33TC3K7).

Several wildfires near Los Angeles have claimed (https://phys.org/news/2025-01-weary-la-firefighters-brace-dangerous.html) more than two dozen lives and billions of dollars in property damage. The largest of the two, which have enveloped neighborhoods in the Palisades and the nearby city of Pasadena, were spurred on (https://www.kake.com/fire-wrecked-los-angeles-gets-a-break-as-winds-drop/article_85dcb3cc-1c50-55fb-bfd0-c3ef490132af.html) by destructive high winds as firefighters attempted to limit their spread.

The posts claim officials and investors set the fires to make room for a "smart city," an urban planning concept (https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/smart-city) that uses a wide range of technology to monitor traffic patterns, electricity and utility consumption and criminal activity to improve public services and cut greenhouse gas emissions.

Other users conflate (https://mvau.lt/media/ad190c46-c5d4-489e-ac1b-68169e4ee53c) smart cities with "15-minute cities (https://unfccc.int/news/the-15-minute-city)," a different philosophy that involves rezoning cities to place most day-to-day amenities, such as shops, parks, medical services and schools, within walking distance of residential areas.

SmartLA 2028

In December 2020, city officials announced an infrastructure investment plan called SmartLA 2028 (https://ita.lacity.gov/sites/g/files/wph1626/files/2021-05/SmartLA2028%20-%20Smart%20City%20Strategy.pdf), which proposes using technology to monitor electricity usage, integrating city services onto a mobile app and installing sensors that can alert emergency services to potential crimes and housefires (archived here (https://perma.cc/E3G7-U974)).

Los Angeles is due to host (https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/olympics-us-olympians-celebrate-la-2028-now-its-real) the Summer Olympics and Paralympics in 2028, spurring hopes (https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20240813-olympic-flag-arrival-kicks-off-2028-pressure-for-los-angeles) that the city will be able to ease its notoriously dense traffic, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve emergency services.

The plan does not call for razing entire neighborhoods or rebuilding portions of the city from scratch. Instead it focuses on efforts including installing devices to monitor traffic patterns and gathering data on air quality, crime, road conditions and other things to help improve local services.

"Technology enables the City of Los Angeles to efficiently and ethically improve the quality of life for our residents, businesses, and visitors," Ted Ross, chief information officer for the City of Los Angeles, says in a video (https://youtu.be/23NaWMzkkSU) explaining the strategy (archived here (https://perma.cc/E62F-W3HK)). vid]

IFrame Content (https://youtu.be/23NaWMzkkSU?si=jE9OW2Vg0QIxFqx8)

The SmartLA 2028 plan also only applies to the City of Los Angeles (https://lacity.gov/) and does not outline a scheme for the rest of the county, which includes other fire-affected cities such as Pasadena (https://www.cityofpasadena.net/).

AFP reached out to Ross for further information, but a response was not forthcoming.

Disaster recovery is expensive

Susan Winter (https://ischool.umd.edu/directory/susan-winter/), the associate dean of research at the University of Maryland (archived here (https://perma.cc/8G5L-XYTG)), said causing destruction is not a "rational way to approach urban planning."

The cost to the government to rebuild areas devastated by fires could quickly surpass the economic benefits of adding smart technology to those regions, she noted.

Winter added that city planners have worked to address some public concerns about smart technology infringing on residents' privacy by anonymizing gathered data and restricting where information is stored to reduce the risk of a breach.

"There's nothing in that city of Los Angeles plan that looks at all shady or nefarious to me," she said on January 13.

Several home and fire insurance companies have scaled down or entirely withdrawn (https://www.euronews.com/green/2025/01/13/la-fires-1000s-had-insurance-cancelled-in-the-months-before-the-disaster-whats-the-climate) their operations in California amid concerns over the frequency of climate change-fueled disasters in the region, reportedly leaving thousands of Los Angeles residents without private home insurance ahead of the fires. The State of California created an insurance carrier of last resort (https://www.cfpnet.com/) for homeowners unable to secure private insurance that offers more limited coverage options.

The carrier reportedly could face losses (https://www.sfchronicle.com/california-wildfires/article/fair-plan-insurance-losses-20025263.php) of as much as $24 billion due to the Los Angeles fires, while total property damage could surpass (https://www.foxla.com/news/california-wildfires-cost-estimate) $250 billion.

Image

Homes smolder near the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, California on January 9, 2025 (AFP / JOSH EDELSON)

Hussam Mahmoud (https://www.engr.colostate.edu/ce/people/hussam-mahmoud/), a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the Colorado State University (archived here (https://perma.cc/833U-RLPT)), said US cities have been investing in systems designed to spot wildfires early to prevent them from spreading too widely.

"I highly doubt that anyone would say, 'let's wipe the area by doing this,'" he said on January 14.

Investigators are still attempting to uncover (https://www.thedesertreview.com/news/national/federal-probe-begins-into-deadly-los-angeles-fires/article_02609e0e-02b2-5411-9da4-1ef8e3e35e62.html) what caused (https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/palisades-fire-start-investigators-comb-scorched-slope-solve-mystery-rcna187712) the fires. Lawsuits (https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/southern-california-edison-accused-lawsuits-prevent-eaton-fire-rcna187479) have placed some blame for the Eaton fire on Southern California Edison for failing to de-energize its equipment. However, there is no evidence government agencies deliberately sparked the infernos.

AFP has debunked (https://factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com.36TZ8BB) other claims (https://factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com.36U894L) about the Los Angeles fires (https://factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com.36TF3F4).

Addressing the spread of conspiracies

By coincidence, on the day the wildfires started, Facebook announced (https://about.fb.com/news/2025/01/meta-more-speech-fewer-mistakes/?ref=platformer.news) it was ending its third party fact checking program and loosening its automated systems that police policy violations, instead relying more on users to report issues before they take action. The platform is adopting a crowdsourced "community notes" system, similar to Elon Musk's X.

Dancy said conspiracy theorists are "benefitting from the information revolution" we live in. "It's an attention economy, and conspiracy theories get attention," Dancy said.

He advocates for regulating social media algorithms that prioritize sensational content.

Richards, who wrote a thesis (https://edepot.wur.nl/590388) about climate conspiracy theories circulating on TikTok, agreed.

The Storm Is Coming: Climate Change and Conspiracy Theories on TikTok Written by Abbie Richards 1048585 MSc. Thesis Environmental Policy Group Supervisor: Dr. Mattijs Smits December 2022

590388 (https://edepot.wur.nl/590388)

DL file:///C:/Users/patmc/OneDrive/Documents/BOOK/storm_is_coming_climate_change_and_conspiracy_the-groen_kennisnet_590388.pdf

"You're fighting against algorithms that are designed for profit and not for creating a well-informed and healthy society," she said.

We demand rigidly defined areas of doubt and uncertainty! -Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

Climate Action Against Disinformation coalition and to Friends of the Earth for their support. Many thanks to the kind researchers at the Algorithmic Transparency Institute who allowed me to use their tool Junkipedia. Special thanks to Dr. Rhianna Rogers for her mentorship. To EcoTok, thank you for teaching me about the power of community.

Abstract

:{ :{Conspiracy theories are sense-making tools that frequently arise during periods of high anxiety and uncertainty. It is a reasonable assumption that they may proliferate in response to the increasing devastation caused by anthropogenic climate change. While previous research into climate change conspiracy theories has explored the relationship between conspiracy theories and climate change denialism, little is known about their broader relationship with climate change as an experience of the material and social worlds.}:

:{To examine this interaction, this thesis provides a qualitative analysis of 96 socio-ecological conspiracy theories on the social media platform TikTok. Collected via a user-centric, exploratory research methodology, these videos were found to contain:{ six dominant themes: anti-oil, weather manipulation, fear of a “green agenda,” supply control, science rejection, and apocalypse. }:

Further analysis found that conspiracy narratives related to climate change in either cause, significance, effect, or response. These conspiracy theories were found to provide a means of interpreting climate change outside of a climate science framework.}:

This conspiratorial framework of interpretation seemingly allowed users to experience climate change without attributing it to anthropogenic causes such as the dependence on fossil fuels. Using theoretical elements from political ecology as well as system justification theory from social psychology, these major themes were largely found to dismiss the need for urgent systemic climate action. While the consequences of climate change were recognized, users frequently attributed them to scapegoated groups or higher powers rather than to systems in which they are complicit.}:

... By applying system justification theory to the conspiracy themes

identified, I examined the conspiracy narratives’ relationship to support for climate action. I

:{:{found that these narratives provided users with a framework for experiencing and processing climate change outside of a climate science framework.}:

Furthermore, most of these conspiracy}:

narratives implicitly rejected the need for climate action and frequently offered alternative

solutions to climate change such as scapegoating or spiritual solutionism.

Using a political ecology framework to interpret this phenomenon within a socio-ecological

context, I identified the implementation of conspiracy frameworks as means of interpreting

:{:{climate change outside of the scope of climate science.}:

These frameworks allow for the lived}:

experience of anthropogenic climate change to coexist while still justifying a societal

dependence on fossil fuels. In this sense, these frameworks serve as extensions of traditional

climate denialism.

As climate change continues to impact society to increasingly devastating degrees, causing

feelings of existential threat, conspiracy frameworks of interpretation may become a means of

sense-making. These frameworks may provide mEANING AND CERTAINTY IN THE FACE OF

existential threat while simultaneously relieving believers’ feelings of complicity and

responsibility. Furthermore, the tendency of the conspiracy narratives in the data set to blame

environmental problems on an out-group is extremely concerning, both for the implications for

support of climate action as well as for potential harm to vulnerable groups. Conspiratorial

scapegoating during moments of societal crisis has historically been a motivating factor for

violence committed by individuals as well as by state governments...

...

6.3.3 Spiritual Solutionism

One interesting theme which tied together seemingly unrelated conspiracy theories was

spiritual solutionism. Regardless of whether the narratives feature the Earth shifting into a new

universe, an Anunnaki alien princess warning of climate catastrophes (Figure 24), or language

about “awakenings” and “spiritual warfare,” their relationships to climate action are similar.

While these narratives may present climate change as real (though often not anthropogenic),

the solution they offer is one of internal contemplation and the spiritual unification of humanity.

While this sounds lovely, it alone does not address any causes of climate change. Presenting

spirituality as the solution to the climate crisis may address some of the anxiety of the climate

crisis, but it may also discourage participation in solutions.

Spiritual solutionism seemingly allows for believers to experience anthropogenic climate

change but attribute it to the actions of some higher power. This framework of interpretation

functions as a reinforcement to the fossil fuel status quo. If the effects of climate change are

attributed to an act of God, intergalactic energetic forces, or a shift into a higher dimension,

then they must also be interpreted as beyond humanity’s control. Not only do these conspiracy

theories appear to negate the role of fossil fuels in climate change, but they comprehensively

reject the possibility for mitigative action through legislation. No international environmental

policy, no matter how vast, could change the planet’s fate as determined by God (or aliens or

galactic rotations or lapses into parallel universes PIX OF UFO PRINCESS BABE...

SAMPLE SEARCH TERMS:

Climate change conspiracy theory: “climate change hoax” or “global warming hoax” or

“climate change fake” or “global warming fake” or “climate conspiracy” or “Great Reset”

or “green scam” or “chemtrails” or “direct energy weapon” or “DEW” or “flat Earth” or

“hollow Earth” or “NASA lies” or “unknown planet” or “ninth planet” or “Nibiru” or

“firmament” or “local sun”

Conspiracy rhetoric: “conspiracy” or “conspiracy theory” or “conspiracy tiktok” or

“conspiracytok” or “spiritualitytok” or “woketok” or “conspiracies coming true” or “open

your eyes” or “awake” or “awakened” or “awakening” or “great awakening” or “wake up”

or “spiritual awakening” or “end times” or “media lies” or “matrix” or “redpill” or

“blackpill” or “truth seeker” or “deep state” or “illuminati” or “new world order” or “NWO”

AND

Socio-ecological component: “Climate” or “climate change” or “global warming” or

“weather” or “snow” or “rain” or “storm” or “hail” or “drought” or “flood” or “heat” or “heat

wave” or “high temperature” or “gas” or “gasoline” or “red meat” or “animal agriculture” or

“food shortage” or “water shortage” or “blackouts” or “power outage” or “ESG” or

“Agenda21” or “Agenda 2030” or “United Nations” or “HAARP” or “green agenda” or

“LED lights” or “electric vehicle” or “green energy” or “renewable energy” or “power” or

“electricity” or “renewable” or “recycle” or “plant-based” or “vegan” or “geoengineering”

or “weather modification” or “weather manipulation” or “cloud seeding” or “block out the

sUN...

...

2.2 System-justifying function of conspiracy theories

To understand the political ecology of conspiracy theories, I employ system justification

theory. System justification theory posits that our assessments of social systems and institutions

are influenced by epistemic, existential, and social needs (Feygina, Jost, & Goldsmith, 2009).

People are drawn to conspiracy theories when they promise to satisfy these needs (Douglas,

Sutton, & Cichocka, 2017; Douglas et al., 2019). Though intuition, popular belief, proponents,

and some scholars suggest that conspiracy theories challenge power and subvert social systems

(Sapountzis & Condor, 2013), research suggests that conspiracy theories may reinforce the

status quo (Jolley, Douglas, & Sutton, 2017). Conspiracy theories identify a small group of

wrongdoers, a tangible group who are responsible for the ills of society. These wrongdoers are

not representations of social issues; rather, they are perceived as what is wrong with society.

In this sense, conspiracy theories deflect blame for societal problems to small evil groups often

with nearly supernatural power. By attributing problems to malevolent individuals, conspiracy

theories appear to divert people away from questioning the inherent limitations of their society

and toward accepting the status quo (Jolley, Douglas, & Sutton, 2017). This acceptance of the

status quo also aligns with Douglas and Sutton’s (2014) findings that exposure to conspiracy

theories weakens political engagement. After all, what is the point in voting if the outcome is

already decided by reptilian overlords?

The reality of anthropogenic climate change is not only a threat to our safety and well-being

but also to our identities. It challenges the belief systems of those who have benefited the most

from the fossil fuel status quo and see the existing political and economic structures as fair.

Daggett (2018) and Nelson (2019), argue that it is therefore no coincidence that white,

politically conservative men, at all socioeconomic levels, have consistently been found to

endorse climate change denial more than members of any other demographic in the United

:{:{States.}:

Accepting the reality of a changing climate also requires accepting that the political,}:

social, and economic beliefs and norms that govern our world are imperfect and require change.

For those whom this fossil-fueled society most serves, it may be easier to accept conspiracy

theories than to change their political and economic worldview. In this sense, conspiracy

theories, like all discourse, are a means of enacting power upon socio-ecological systems.

These rhetorical devices tug on the political-ecological web of connections, shaping everything

from consumer habits to global climate policy....

.3 Anti-oil conspiracy theories

I defined anti-oil conspiracy theories as any conspiracy theories which positioned the fossil

fuel industry as actors in a malicious and secretive plot. Some of the most popular videos within

the data set (three videos with a cumulative engagement of over 37 million views) were free-

energy-suppression narratives (conspiracy theories that posit that technologically feasible,

pollution-free, zero-cost energy sources are being withheld from the public). These three videos

promoted the narrative that oil companies murdered an individual who invented a car engine

was killed for his invention of a “water fuel cell.” The myth of a miracle water-powered car is

a long-standing hoax known to reappear whenever gas prices rise (Moseman, 2022). Shortly

before his death, Meyer was found guilty of fraud in an Ohio court case brought by his

investors. His patents are expired and now exist within the public domain (Nguyen, 2021).

The third video adapted the same conspiracy theory to apply to the death of Aaron Salter Jr., a

security guard at Tops Supermarket in Buffalo, NY, who was killed in a racially motivated

...

4.5 Fear of a ‘‘green agenda’’

Another frequent conspiracy theory narrative positions climate policies and green technology

as a means of oppression by a tyrannical elite. I summarize all social, political, economic, and

technological pro-environmental measures as the “green agenda.” This discourse appears to be

most concerned with specific notions of freedom, such as the freedom to drive a gasoline-

powered car or the freedom to eat meat. Believers view pro-environment policies and

technologies as a means of government overreach. This is sometimes incorporated into a

broader conspiratorial belief in which these measures are a set of tools used by a malevolent.

evil group to work toward their goal of world domination. This framework considers LED

lights a tool for spying on civilians, electric cars a means to control people’s mobility, and

carbon footprint calculators a pretense for tracking individuals’ every move.

Many of these videos either directly mentioned or indirectly referred to components of the

“Great Reset” conspiracy, a narrative which emerged from “The Great Reset” initiative, an

economic recovery plan created by the World Economic Forum (WEF) to reduce global

inequality and advance environmental initiatives in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The

“Great Reset” is not so much a singular conspiracy narrative as an umbrella term for a loose

grouping of conspiracy theories, sometimes described as a “conspiracy smoothie” (Klein,

2020). However, the core theme is that Klaus Schwab and the WEF are acting as a

Machiavellian hidden hand, using the pandemic and climate change as an excuse to advance

their interests and potentially implement a tyrannical global regime. While “Great Reset” may

not be explicitly referred to in each of these narratives, it serves as a unifying theme under

which many of these conspiracy narratives exist.

Figure 13: A TikTok user films the sun shining through clouds as evidence of a geoengineering conspiracy.

The video depicted in Figure 14 offers an imagined future scenario in which criticizing the

government results in citizens losing access to their electric vehicles. Here, green technology

serves as a support mechanism for an oppressive regime.

The TikTok, which is composed of blocks of text sequentially shown over a cityscape

background and instrumental music, reads:

The year is 2030.

You try to start your electric vehicle but…

you recently questioned the new government mandates.

Your car won’t start for 48hrs.

Your social credit score isn’t high enough now.

The government has frozen your bank account.

You’re no longer the ideal citizen of the new world order.

Your freedoms are now ‘limited.’

Maybe next time… you will just comply.

Look how far complying has gotten you.

If you just comply you will get your freedoms back.

They promised us that after 2 weeks to flatten the curve.

They don’t have any reason to lie to us…. Right?

Figure 14: Great Reset video paints image of a near future in which EVs are a means of punishing civilians for dissent.

Several of the videos in the data set were concerned with loss of freedom with regard to eating

meat. In this sense, the green agenda threatens individuals’ perception of choice over the food

they eat. A video of internet personality Andrew Tate also featured a future scenario in which

green policy is used as a means for control. Tate says:

You can’t drive your car past 8 p.m. anymore because of the environment. You can’t

eat meat anymore because of the environment. Stay home. Eat the bugs. Be a slave. Be

a slave. Be a slave.

Another video referred to the conspiracy theory of “climate lockdowns,” a narrative which

emerged in response to COVID-19 lockdowns. According to this conspiracy theory,

governments will implement further lockdowns, supposedly to reduce greenhouse gas

emissions.

If the whole pandemic narrative is not what some of the evil powers that be are looking

for it to become, they will begin to cause ... and I'm going to say this again ... I've been

saying this for months, but there's going to be climate change. Now this sounds wild,

but listen to me ... lockdowns. You're going to see some of this begin to unfold, and you

say "climate change lockdowns?" Yep, I think that they'll begin to say all the urgency

Figure 15: Internet personality Andrew Tate claims that "You can't eat meat anymore because of the environment."

of the greenhouse gases and all the things that are happening are so severe that we

need to do this for the good of humanity.

While this genre of climate change conspiracy theory does not overtly deny the existence of

climate change, it considers climate policy to be a veiled attempt to implement oppressive

governmental regimes.

4.6 Supply control

Another prominent theme within this data set was an anxiety surrounding access to basic needs

like food, water, and electricity. This discourse featured food shortages, water shortages, and

power outages. Rather than depicting these problems as the results of a global market impacted

by climate, politics, economics, or technologies, this discourse considers these events

intentional. They are viewed as a means through which the powerful elite attempt to exert

control over the populace. These conspiracy theories offer alternative explanations for

ramifications of climate interacting with societY...

---

cbs

U.S. (https://www.cbsnews.com/us?ftag=CNM-16-10abg0d)

Wildfire conspiracy theories are going viral again. Why?

Laura Doan,

Erielle Delzer

January 16, 2025 CBS News

While investigators work (https://www.atf.gov/news/press-releases/atf-national-response-team-mobilizes-to-investigate-cause-pacific-palisades-fire)to find out what caused multiple wildfires in the Los Angeles area, some conspiracies about the fires' origins have spread on social media platforms.

Posts about baseless theories — ranging from celebrity involvement to secret government weapons — have racked up millions of views.

Despite fact-checking efforts, researchers say conspiracies of this kind regularly emerge after large wildfires.

"I think that the more emotionally overwhelming it is, the more likely we are to just see high volumes of conspiracy theories to cope and make people feel like they have control," said misinformation researcher Abbie Richards.

Directed energy weapons conspiracy resurfaces

Misleading videos have fueled false claims that directed energy weapons, often referred to as DEWs, ignited the flames. The conspiracy theory suggests that governments or secret organizations use lasers or microwave systems to ignite fires.

Experts have (https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-conspiracy-blue-items-maui-wildfires-11831914977) repeatedly (https://factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com.34KT3KK) debunked (https://factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com.33TB6CK) these claims, attributing irregular burn patterns to natural factors like wind, terrain and vegetation.

While the U.S. (https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-23-106717) has developed and tested DEWs for military applications — such as disabling enemy drones or missiles — there is no credible evidence of DEWs being employed in civilian settings, including for igniting wildfires.

The DEW theory also surfaced during the California wildfires of 2018, with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene claiming in a now-deleted social media post the fires could be caused by lasersfrom space (https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/bay-area-lawmakersmarjorie-taylor-greene-camp-fire-jewish-space-laser-conspiracy-theory/). And online users spread the conspiracy during other disasters including the Canadian and Maui fires (https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-maui-hawaii-wildfires-dew-explosion-russia-185319331205) in 2023 and the Texas Smokehouse Creek wildfire in 2024.

"Most people will see this sort of stuff and completely reject it because it doesn't match with how they already view the world. But there are people who view the world through a conspiratorial lens," said Joseph Uscinski, co-author of "American Conspiracy Theories (https://www.amazon.com/American-Conspiracy-Theories-Joseph-Uscinski/dp/0199351813)."

Claims that weather is manmade

Claims have circulated that the government could have geoengineered rain to stop the Los Angeles wildfires.

Theories that the government has some control over the weather have surfaced after several natural disasters, including hurricanes (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hurricane-helene-conspiracy-theories-lithium-mining-weather-control-fact-check/) Helene and Milton. And meteorologists (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/government-not-controlling-the-weather/) and agencies including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (https://www.noaa.gov/news/fact-check-debunking-weather-modification-claims) have debunked these claims.

People blame the government or company executives because it's easier than facing structural problems, like drought conditions," Geoff Dancy, a political science professor at the University of Toronto, told CBS News.

"That is more attractive to people that are desperate for order amid catastrophe," Dancy said.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office said in a December assessment (https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-25-107328.pdf) on cloud seeding at least nine states are using the technology, which is "primarily funded at the state level or below" and there is little federal intervention.

For cloud seeding to be effective, the atmosphere around greater Los Angeles would have required more moisture in the clouds for water vapor to be condensed, Katja Friedrich, a cloud physics expert and professor at Colorado University at Boulder, told (https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2025/jan/15/threads-posts/cloud-seeding-can-cause-rain-but-not-somewhere-as/) PolitiFact.

"The L.A. area is currently so dry that there is not enough water that you could condense," Friedrich said.

Land grab conspiracy

Another unfounded claim shared (https://x.com/TPV_John/status/1876881137772990953) on social media suggests the Southern California wildfires were started to clear land so officials could make way for what are called "smart cities," aligned with United Nations' goals.

The U.N.'s agenda (https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/21252030%20Agenda%20for%20Sustainable%20Development%20web.pdf?gl=11re30y4gaMTIyNjIwNTQ0LjE3MzYzNTY0Mjk._ga_TK9BQL5X7Z*MTczNjM1NjQyOC4xLjEuMTczNjM1NjU1NC4wLjAuMA..) to cut global emissions includes making cities more sustainable. And the Los Angeles Area's SmartLA 2028 (https://ita.lacity.gov/sites/g/files/wph1626/files/2021-05/SmartLA2028%20-%20Smart%20City%20Strategy.pdf) initiative suggests renovating the city's transportation systems, among other technological changes, to make the city greener — but the plan does not involve mass demolition or rebuilding.

This conspiracy also gained traction after the wildfires in Maui, when a video of Hawaii's governor was clipped (https://www.poynter.org/fact-checking/2023/maui-city-smart-project-state-lands-josh-green/), taken out of context and shared to bolster the false claim the state was aiming to create a "smart city" on scorched land. And similar theories were debunked after wildfires in Canada (https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2023/aug/30/facebook-posts/canada-wildfires-linked-to-record-heat-and-drought/) and Spain's Canary Islands (https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2023/aug/25/facebook-posts/tenerife-wildfire-has-no-connection-to-smart-city/).

Celebrity crime cover-up conspiracy

Some posts that reached millions of people (https://www.mediamatters.org/tiktok/tiktoks-algorithm-appears-be-boosting-la-wildfire-misinformation) on TikTok falsely claim the wildfires were sparked to destroy evidence in the sex trafficking case (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/sean-diddy-combs-arrested-federal-custody/) against Sean "Diddy" Combs — falsely claiming his mansion was consumed in flames.

In reality, Combs' mansion remains intact and outside the evacuation zone (https://lacounty.gov/emergency/) as of Jan. 16.

His home was raided (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/sean-diddy-combs-homes-raided-possible-sex-trafficking-investigation/) in March by federal agents who seized evidence on the property, and People reported (https://people.com/diddy-officially-lists-usd60-million-l-a-home-raided-by-police-8709069) the home was listed for sale in September.

In an aerial view, the home of Sean "Diddy" Combs is seen during a raid by federal law enforcement agents on March 25, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. MEGA/GC Images/Getty Images

False claims about celebrity homes (https://www.verifythis.com/article/news/verify/wildfires-verify/maui-wildfires-oprah-winfrey-jeff-bezos-barack-obama-celebrity-homes-spared-far-from-fire/536-9f97f082-31d5-423c-850f-1b34dc772a18#::text=Oprah%2C%20Bezos%20and%20Obama%20homes,claims%20hinting%20at%20a%20conspiracy.) also spread after the Maui wildfire, with some users sharing baseless claims that Oprah Winfrey helped start those fires.

Addressing the spread of conspiracies

Dancy said conspiracy theorists are "benefitting from the information revolution" we live in. "It's an attention economy, and conspiracy theories get attention," Dancy said.

He advocates for regulating social media algorithms that prioritize sensational content.

Richards, who wrote a thesis (https://edepot.wur.nl/590388) about climate conspiracy theories circulating on TikTok, agreed.

"You're fighting against algorithms that are designed for profit and not for creating a well-informed and healthy society," she said.

Western Wildfires}:

More (https://www.cbsnews.com/feature/california-wildfires/?intcid=CNI-00-10aaa3a)

---

mma

April 23, 2025, edition of Loomer Unleashed on Rumble

LAURA LOOMER (HOST): And we're also going to address the recent allegations coming out of the Department of Defense that there is a soft coup taking place against Pete Hegseth, our defense secretary. And this is something that I've been reporting on. As we know, there were a lot of GOP senators who didn't want to necessarily confirm Pete Hegseth for his position of defense secretary.

I've always been an adamant supporter of Pete. He's somebody that I've known for a long time. He's a personal friend of mine, and I think he's going to do a great job as defense secretary. But it's not a surprise to anybody, or it shouldn't be a surprise at least that the deep state and all of these RINO obstructionist senators want to have control over the military industrial complex.

---

YYY 0000

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an 4 25

TALLAHASSSEE — If you’re one of the 900 new people who move to Florida every day, you may not know this crucial secret of Florida government. I’m a Florida native, so let me clue you in. Lean in close and I’ll whisper it in your ear. Are you ready?

The Florida Legislature contains more cuckoos than a Swiss clock factory.

Now that you’re aware of this fact, how are you holding up? How’s your blood pressure? Can you handle the truth?

You want some evidence? Just last year, a legislator claimed his new anti-bear bill was necessary because there were bears on crack invading people’s houses. (https://floridaphoenix.com/2024/06/13/bill-that-says-its-ok-to-shoot-bears-breaking-bad-fashioned-in-fiction/) This was, of course, a complete fantasy. Yet his colleagues didn’t question his sanity or call the paramedics. They just passed the bill. It’s the law now!

This year there’s one that’s even kookier. I am referring to the so-called “chemtrails” bill.

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IFrame Content (https://imasdk.googleapis.com/js/core/bridge3.692.0_en.html#fid=goog_514055340)

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In case you’re unfamiliar with that debunked conspiracy theory, the folks who believe in “chemtrails” are convinced the government (or maybe it’s the Illuminati (https://www.indy100.com/news/what-is-the-illuminati-2667360265)) is dispatching planes to fly over us unsuspecting Americans and spray chemicals on us.

Why? The chemtrails can change the weather, say the diehards. Or maybe they can control people’s minds. Or maybe they’re just going to poison everybody they don’t like. Who knows? After all, it’s a secret, like the 1947 UFO crash landing in New Mexico. (https://condenaststore.com/featured/roswell-nm-1947-pat-byrnes.html)

Anyway, there’s a bill in the Legislature to track and attack chemtrails. Instead of being laughed out of the Capitol building, as it deserves, the bill was just passed by the full Senate, because that’s what our state’s elected leaders are like right now. I wish I could tell you the “Looney Tunes” theme song (https://youtu.be/g1edqWrtXMo?si=gwCYRnHWazi7uSYo) played while they voted.

“The measure (SB 56 (https://www.flsenate.gov/Session/Bill/2025/56)), sponsored by Miami Republican Ileana Garcia (https://www.flsenate.gov/Senators/s36?pref=full), would prohibit the injection, release, or dispersion of any means of a chemical, chemical compound, substance, or apparatus into the atmosphere for the purpose of affecting the climate,” my colleague Mitch Perry reported in the Phoenix (https://floridaphoenix.com/2025/04/03/florida-senate-approves-ban-on-geoengineering-and-weather-modification/) last week. “Any person or corporation who conducts such geoengineering or weather modification activity would be subject to a third-degree felony charge, with fines up to $100,000.”

The bill would require the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to set up a hotline so anyone concerned about streaks in the sky can call and report them. I’m sure the DEP will jump right on those reports, just the way the agency has jumped on reports of rampant water pollution that fuels toxic algae blooms, kills seagrass, and leaves manatees to starve. (https://project.tampabay.com/investigations/wasting-away/florida-manatees-pollution-water-lagoon-starvation-seagrass/)

I tried calling Sen. Garcia to ask her some questions about her bill. While I waited to talk to her, I was struck by a subversive thought:

What if the chemtrails bill becomes law and we folks who still live in the real world use it to flip the script? What if we employ its provisions to go after the people who really ARE changing the weather — with their greenhouse gas emissions?

A healthy skepticism

The most shocking thing about this chemtrails bill is not that it was filed — filed, I should add, by a senator who won her seat by just 32 votes, thanks to an illegal ghost candidate scheme (https://floodlightnews.org/florida-gop-ghost-candidate/) backed by Florida Power & Light.

Nor is the most shocking thing that it passed one house of our Legislature by a vote of 28-9 and now is headed for the other.

No, what’s shocking is that it was endorsed by Senate President Ben Albritton and Gov. Ron DeSantis, two allegedly well-educated people. At this rate, they’ll next endorse a taxpayer-funded expedition to explore how we ended up living inside a Hollow Earth. (https://www.gi.alaska.edu/alaska-science-forum/hollow-earth-theory)

Actually, DeSantis’ endorsement isn’t that much of a surprise. He’s happy to appease the Tinfoil Hat Brigade if it gets him a mention on Fox News or its imitators.

Remember, DeSantis is the guy who appointed as his surgeon general the world’s biggest vaccine skeptic (https://www.politico.com/news/2023/04/24/florida-surgeon-general-covid-vaccine-00093510) and now lets him run around the state trying to convince everyone to stop preventing children’s tooth decay (https://adanews.ada.org/ada-news/2024/november/ada-objects-to-florida-surgeon-general-s-stance-on-water-fluoridation/). I sometimes wonder if he and RFK Jr. share a brain worm.

But Albritton’s comments threw me. He’s a longtime citrus man (https://www.benalbritton.com/about-ben) who’s familiar with the need for accurate weather forecasts. Yet he actually called this lunacy “a great piece of legislation” that would address “real concerns from our constituents.”

If some of those constituents also think their elected politicians are all lizard people (https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/girlfriend-nashville-bomber-warned-police-he-was-building-explosives-2019-n1252536), presumably he’d be fine with legislation requiring a reptilian DNA test before administering the oath of office.

“I have heard the conspiracy theories out there,” Albritton said about Garcia’s bill, “but the fact is we should not be shutting down legitimate concerns. Healthy skepticism is important. There’s a lot we don’t know in this field of science and people are rightfully concerned.”

Because I grew up in Florida, I have a healthy skepticism toward anything Florida politicians say. (https://slate.com/human-interest/2013/07/florida-political-scandals-phallic-buildings-fraud-gambling-voodoo-and-alligator-wrestling.html) Albritton’s statement suggests that I’m right to be skeptical because there’s a lot that’s wrong with his comments.

We actually know quite a lot about the weather modification attempts. We know they don’t work and have mostly been discontinued.

Florida law currently requires anyone who wants to modify the weather to get a permit first. A Senate bill analysis of SB 56 points out, “There have been no applications for weather modification licenses in the past 10 years.”

Four years ago, eight Western states tried cloud seeding to produce rains to end a lengthy drought. However, Scientific American reported (https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/eight-states-are-seeding-clouds-to-overcome-megadrought/), “there is little evidence to show that the process is increasing precipitation.”

Yet “weather modification” is what our Legislature chooses to tackle instead of lowering property insurance rates (https://floridaphoenix.com/2025/03/03/heres-what-lawmakers-could-change-about-property-insurance-in-the-next-two-months/), boosting educational test scores (https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/florida-lawmakers-push-to-lower-graduation-test-score-requirements/), or any one of a dozen more important issues. Maybe they’re under some bizarre mind control method that requires them to be ineffective at good governing.

Legitimate concerns

Albritton’s statement about people being “rightfully concerned” about chemtrails sounds like he’s endorsing the bogus claims that spread last year that the government steered two hurricanes to clobber specific communities ahead of the election.

Those rumors were, of course, lies spread by the unscrupulous to fool the gullible. They became so pervasive that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration had to put out a press release denying it. (https://www.noaa.gov/news/fact-check-debunking-weather-modification-claims)

“NOAA does not modify the weather, nor does it fund, participate in or oversee cloud seeding or any other weather modification activities,” it said.

Given how Elon Musk is rapidly dismantling the agency now (https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/5199121-noaa-federal-workforce-cuts/), I doubt they can control the thermostat in their office buildings, much less the weather.

I wish Albritton were as supportive of the “legitimate concerns” many of us Floridians feel about climate change.

We’re on the front lines of it, with our rising sea levels (https://floridaphoenix.com/2024/05/30/sea-level-rise-makes-florida-beach-renourishment-projects-more-frequent-and-expensive/), more intense hurricanes (https://floridaphoenix.com/2024/10/03/florida-politicians-climate-denial-draws-destructive-response-from-helene/), higher storm surges, and increased temperatures (https://floridaphoenix.com/2023/07/13/the-heat-is-on-in-florida-as-climate-change-lands-us-all-in-hot-water/) even at night. It’s hurting everything from our seafood industry (https://floridaphoenix.com/2023/12/07/as-ocean-turns-more-acidic-florida-officials-ignore-warning-signs/) to our sea turtle nesting. (https://floridaphoenix.com/2022/11/17/sea-turtles-hatching-on-florida-beaches-are-feeling-the-heat-from-warming-climate/) Heck, it’s even hurting Albritton’s own industry, agriculture (https://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/mrec/2024/03/18/navigating-climate-change-in-florida-agriculture/).

Hard-headed property insurance companies (https://floridaphoenix.com/2024/10/24/florida-could-be-doing-so-much-more-to-counter-climate-change-if-desantis-would-allow-it/) recognize the dangers and disruptions of climate change. Why can’t our state officials?

“If lawmakers want to protect Floridians by addressing substances affecting the temperature, weather, and climate, they should hold power companies and the oil and gas industry accountable,” said longtime Florida climate activist Susan Glickman (https://www.floridatrend.com/article/23136/clean-energy-advocate-susan-glickman-is-rolling-with-the-punches/) of the CLEO Institute (https://cleoinstitute.org/who-we-are/), a non-profit dedicated to climate education and advocacy. “The pollution they release is warming the climate in increasingly extreme and deadly ways.”

But last year the Legislature voted to delete most references to climate change from state law (https://floridaphoenix.com/2024/02/29/by-deleting-mention-of-climate-change-florida-legislators-try-to-hide-from-the-problem/) under the well-known scientific theory of “If We Don’t Talk About It, Surely It Will Go Away.” Given how we were all beaten up by intense hurricanes and big storm surges last year, I don’t think it went away.

Fortunately, I see a way to take this “chemtrails” bill and turn it into a “let’s fight climate change” bill. Let me explain.

Contrail confusion

I have a confession to make: Every time I read someone’s rants about chemtrails, I always crack up. That’s because I always picture Cary Grant fleeing the evil crop-duster in the movie “North by Northwest,” (https://youtu.be/HXusXh-hVz8?si=lrEKXB-eKTTdvl4b) which is the silliest and most inefficient murder method ever attempted.

Was the pilot supposed to crash into Cary and kill himself too? Cut Cary’s head off with the propeller, which would make the plane stop flying? Or maybe force him to cough up a lung because of all the pesticide he was inhaling? None of these options seem practical.

Similarly, the whole chemtrails theory falls apart on practical questions. How often and how much do you need to spray those chemicals in the sky to affect everyone? There are 23 million people in Florida alone. That’s a lot of folks to spritz with your mind-control concoction.

Seems to me you’d need WAAAAAY more chemical spraying than what we’re seeing if you plan to coat every single one of us with the goop. You’d need to dump it out in quantities like the helicopter pilots dropping[pix]

Nope, what we’re seeing up in the sky are simple contrails — droplets of water vapor clinging to particles of soot that were emitted by an airplane’s engine.

So imagine my surprise when Rafe Pomerance of Rethink Energy Florida (https://www.theinvadingsea.com/2018/08/18/rafe-pomerance-a-climate-change-pioneer-is-continuing-his-crusade-here-in-florida/) told me, “Water vapor is a greenhouse gas.”

“Say what now?” I replied, displaying my usual incisive intellect.

“You warm up the earth, and one of the effects is an increase of water vapor in the atmosphere,” he explained. Then the vapor traps heat in our atmosphere just like carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases do. The heat that created the vapor gets amplified by the vapor.

When I expressed that old healthy skepticism, he referred me to a scientist named Adam Boies of Stanford University (https://me.stanford.edu/people/adam-boies). He’s an expert on contrails. He confirmed that chemtrails are bogus and also confirmed what Pomerance told me.

Some of the contrails disappear in minutes after the plane that created them leaves the area, Boies said. But some, say about 20%, linger longer. Those are the dangerous ones that can trap heat in the atmosphere.

Airplane engine manufacturers are worried about this so they are working on engine designs that will stop producing contrails, he said.

“The airlines are so concerned about this that they’re willing to try new fuels or rerouting flight patterns to try to avoid them,” Boies told me.

Thus, for once, the Legislature might do the right thing for the wrong reason — asking people to report something that actually is a cause of climate change. That’s why I think we should embrace this silly chemtrails bill and join DeSantis and Albritton in pushing it forward.

Then, once the bill passes, I say we all start contacting that DEP hotline to report, say, Florida Power & Light and its fellow utilities for burning fossil fuels to produce electricity. They’re building a lot of solar farms now (https://floridaphoenix.com/2024/06/27/while-fl-politicians-push-expensive-fossil-fuels-utilities-are-building-lots-of-solar-farms/), but they ought to replace their older plants too.

The same goes for all the municipal incinerators (https://floridaphoenix.com/2023/05/25/new-florida-study-says-recycling-can-help-combat-climate-change/) across the state, too, and the Big Sugar companies burning their fields and sending billows of thick smoke into the communities south of Lake Okeechobee. I say we report every one of these folks messing up our state.

“Hello, DEP,” we can say, “there’s a chemical plant in Pensacola (https://floridaphoenix.com/2022/12/01/this-florida-chemical-plant-is-the-biggest-greenhouse-gas-polluter-in-the-state/) that’s altering the weather with its nitrous oxide emissions. The clouds of pollutants are going up in the atmosphere and trapping heat here! You should do something about that, pronto.”

Or how about, “Hello, is this the DEP? I want to report someone for altering the weather. It’s the Florida DOT. They’re building a lot of roads for heavily polluting cars and trucks and doing nothing for mass transit. No electric vehicle charging stations, either. (https://floridaphoenix.com/2024/07/18/florida-sits-on-federal-ev-money-that-could-provide-more-chargers/) Can you get after them for that?”

By the way, I never did reach the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Garcia. It’s too bad. I was ready to congratulate her for doing more to combat climate change than either DeSantis (https://floridaphoenix.com/2023/09/28/desantis-betrays-florida-insists-the-solution-to-climate-change-is-burning-more-fossil-fuel/) or his predecessor, Rick Scott. (https://floridaphoenix.com/2021/01/28/rick-scott-now-acknowledges-climate-change-but-still-wont-do-anything-about-it/) Of course, to hear me speak, she’d first have to unwrap all that tinfoil from around her head.

YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE. SUPPORT (https://floridaphoenix.com/donate/?oa_referrer=midstorybox)

Florida Phoenix (https://floridaphoenix.com/) is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Michael Moline for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com.

---

04/08/2025 rww

Kyle Mantyla (https://www.peoplefor.org/post_author/kyle-mantyla)

Ian Millhiser @ Vox (https://www.vox.com/scotus/407511/supreme-court-trump-jgg-deportations-el-salvador): The Supreme Court just made it easier for Trump to deport people

On Monday night, the Supreme Court handed down a 5-4 decision tossing out a closely watched district court decision, which blocked President Donald Trump’s attempt to use a 227-year-old law — the Alien Enemies Act — to deport many individuals without due process. The Court largely voted along party lines, although Republican Justice Amy Coney Barrett crossed over to dissent with the three Democratic justices.

Angry White Men (https://angrywhitemen.org/2025/04/08/candace-owens-the-beatles-was-totally-a-psychological-operation/): Candace Owens: ‘The Beatles Was Totally A Psychological Operation’

In an interview with antisemitic conspiracy theorist Ian Carroll, Candace Owens claimed that The Beatles “was totally a psychological operation.” Owens also called Volodymyr Zelensky a “literal actor” who was trained by the CIA, and said Emmanuel Macron was “installed as president of France with the Rothschilds behind him.”

Jesse Eisinger @ ProPublica (https://www.propublica.org/article/history-income-tax-history-16th-amendment-trump-tariffs-great-depression): No, President Trump, the Income Tax Wasn’t A Mistake. But It Was an Accident.

While instituting the largest tariff increase in modern history, Trump claimed that the income tax was passed for “reasons unknown to mankind” and caused the Great Depression. Here’s the real history.

Travis Gettys @ Raw Story (https://www.rawstory.com/christian-nationalist-2671695120/): 'Gay beam machine': Right-wing pastor makes startling claim about airport scanner

Andrew Isker, who co-hosts with C. Jay Engel what he calls "the number one Christian nationalist podcast in the world," shared his unconventional and homophobic views on the Transportation Safety Administration's security scanners.

Kiera Butler @ Mother Jones (https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2025/04/christian-theobros-are-building-a-tech-utopia-in-appalachia/): Christian “TheoBros” Are Building a Tech Utopia in Appalachia

A couple of years ago, Andrew Isker, a pastor and father of six, made a big decision. He would move his family away from Minnesota, where six generations of his ancestors had lived before him, to a rural community in Tennessee.

---

aha:

stock dump bc of tariffs, trump blamed globalists [then 4d chess to drop dollar to screw china

trump infallible bc picked by god; brilliant bizman thus if stocks go down, must be powerful nefarious manipulation thus deep state.

rww

03/10/2025

Kyle Mantyla (https://www.peoplefor.org/post_author/kyle-mantyla)

Since the MAGA cult cannot accept that Trump's policies are tanking (https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/10/investing/us-stocks-drop-after-trump-says-he-wont-rule-out-a-recession/index.html) the economy, Bill Mitchell says (https://bsky.app/profile/rightwingwatch.bsky.social/post/3lk2bqy5pic2f) something "fishy as hell" must be going on: "Is this the deep state fighting back?"

NBC 3 25

Major stock (https://www.cnbc.com/2025/03/05/stock-market-today-live-updates.html) indexes dropped sharply this week, as rattled investors (https://www.cnbc.com/2025/03/06/trump-says-hes-not-even-looking-at-stock-market.html) struggled to get a handle on President Donald Trump (https://www.cnbc.com/donald-trump/)’s sweeping and shifting tariff (https://www.cnbc.com/2025/03/06/trump-tariffs-live-updates-businesses-warn-of-ripple-down-effects-from-tariffs-because-of-rising-costs.html) policies.

But when asked in the Oval Office on Thursday whether he thought it was his tariffs that were scaring the markets, Trump pinned the blame elsewhere.

“Well, a lot of them are globalist countries and companies that won’t be doing as well,” Trump replied, “Because we’re taking back things that have been taken from us many years ago.”

Trump did not elaborate on what those things were.

“We’ve been treated very unfairly as a country,” he continued. “We protect everybody. We do everything for all these countries, and a lot of these are globalist in nature.”

It was not clear what was globalist in nature, but NBC reported Thursday that the Trump administration is considering an overhaul of how it interacts with NATO allies.

Later in the same press event, Trump again blamed globalists for the market downturn. “I think it’s globalists that see how rich our country’s going to be, and they don’t like it.”

Over the course of an hour, Trump used “globalist” to describe people, companies and countries, making it difficult to pin down specifically what he was talking about.

But during his first term, Trump repeatedly (https://www.thetrumparchive.com/?searchbox=%22globalist%22) denounced a set of ideas he called “globalism (https://news.un.org/en/story/2018/09/1020472),” and labeled some of his political opponents globalists, as he pushed his nationalist, isolationist worldview.

The word has drawn condemnation from critics who say it is linked to antisemitic conspiracy theories (https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/03/the-origins-of-the-globalist-slur/555479/) about Jewish people.

According to the American Jewish Committee, the term globalist is used today as “a coded word for Jews who are seen as international elites conspiring to weaken or dismantle ‘Western’ society using their international connections and control over big corporations.”

It was unusual for Trump to use the term globalist as a catchall for what he claimed was driving day-to-day movements of the stock market.

The White House did not immediately reply when asked for additional context about Trump’s invocation of the term.

The Oval Office remarks came as Trump, just two days after imposing 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico, issued temporary exemptions for many goods coming into the U.S. from the two neighboring countries.

He denied that those pauses came in response to the market rout.

Amid an influx of reported drone sightings and viral social media posts, officials have said that many are lawful drones, planes, or stars

At least 5,000 reported sightings of drones or unidentified aircraft have been reported in New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, Massachusetts, and New York since November. Many of these alleged sightings have been spread on social media along with theories about who’s behind the drones. Though the FBI has received thousands of reports of sightings, the agency noted that only about 100 have resulted in “tips.” Reuters, \12/16/24 (https://www.reuters.com/world/us/what-we-know-about-us-drone-sightings-causing-an-online-frenzy-2024-12-16/); NBC News, 12/16/24 (https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/drones-new-jersey-us-sightings-what-know-rcna184367); USA Today, [12/17/24 (https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/12/17/drones-new-jersey-sightings-updates/77042220007/)]

White House spokesperson John Kirby stated in a press conference that many of the drones spotted were “a combination of lawful commercial drones, hobbyist drones and law enforcement drones as well as manned fixed wing aircraft, helicopters, and even stars that were mistakenly reported as drones.” The FBI has warned that people should not take action against drones. Pilots have reportedly been hit in the eyes with lasers and officials are concerned about people shooting down manned aircraft. WHYY, \12/16/24 (https://whyy.org/articles/donald-trump-mar-a-lago-press-conference-new-jersey-drones-vaccines/); USA Today, 12/17/24 (https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/12/17/drones-new-jersey-sightings-updates/77042220007/); 404 Media, [12/18/24 (https://www.404media.co/we-are-getting-lasered-nearly-a-dozen-planes-lasered-last-night-during-new-jersey-drone-panic/)]

Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas stated on December 15 that “there’s no question that people are seeing drones,” but cautioned that sightings may be overreported, and that in some cases manned aircraft could have been falsely identified as drones. Mayorkas additionally noted during an appearance on CNN’s The Situation Room that “we know of no foreign involvement with respect to the sightings in the Northeast, and we are vigilant in investigating this matter.” Forbes, \12/19/24 (https://www.forbes.com/sites/stephenpastis/2024/12/17/mystery-drones-saga-federal-agencies-say-sightings-are-mix-of-legal-drones-aircraft-and-stars-updated/); CNN, [12/16/24 (https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/16/us/drone-reports-monday/index.html)]

Mayorkas also noted that in 2023 the Federal Aviation Administration changed a rule to allow drones to fly at night.In an interview with ABC News’ This Week on December 15, Mayorkas suggested that the rule change “may be one of the reasons why now people are seeing more drones than they did before." Newsweek, \12/15/24 (https://www.newsweek.com/biden-admin-official-offers-reason-mystery-drone-sightings-2001049); Vox, [12/17/24 (https://www.vox.com/politics/391335/391335)]

Right-wing media figures and social media users have speculated that the government was looking for a “dirty bomb” that was smuggled into the country

Following claims (https://www.newsweek.com/missing-nuclear-material-drone-sightings-new-york-new-jersey-2001189) on social media from Saxon Aerospace CEO John Ferguson — and an X user who picked up the claim and earned millions of views — that the drones could be looking for a “gas leak” or “radioactive material,” right-wing pundits have taken that theory and used it to suggest that the radioactive material stems from a potential nuclear weapon known as a dirty bomb (https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/fact-sheets/fs-dirty-bombs.html).

X user Jersey Futures picked up Ferguson’s theory and speculated that the drones were “american made HPGe nuclear detector drones,” earning 2.7 million views. Jersey Futures, who claimed to have “spent 1/3 of my career as an RF engineer,” speculated that the drones were “collecting information in how public will react (PsyOp) and testing their ability to sweep a port city like NY for dirty bombs.” X, [12/13/24 (https://x.com/JerseyFutures/status/1867758492209061930)]

ZeroHedge, a far-right blog that is known for trafficking in conspiracy theories, picked up Jersey Futures' claim and wrote a post about it. ZeroHedge, \12/16/24 (https://web.archive.org/web/20241218032442/https://www.zerohedge.com/military/latest-theory-drone-sightings-could-be-nuclear-sniffers-amid-elevated-radiation-readings); Vanity Fair, [6/16/20 (https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/06/google-ads-bans-zero-hedge-federalist-facebook-far-right)]

Far-right figure Laura Loomer picked up Jersey Futures' claim, replying, “Interesting thread.” X, [12/15/24 (https://x.com/LauraLoomer/status/1868457259413766439)]

JerseyFutures’ account was allegedly deleted, and later reinstated, after the thread was posted, with users on both X and Reddit noting the account’s supposed removal.\12/14/24 (https://x.com/dyversityhire/status/1867806003854741538), 12/15/24 (https://x.com/dyversityhire/status/1868454682861203490); Reddit, [12/14/24 (https://www.reddit.com/r/WayOfTheBern/comments/1he62tq/this_account_was_deleted_jerseyfutures_yet_its/)]

Real America's Voice's Grant Stinchfield posted a podcast in The Gateway Pundit titled “The search for a dirty bomb?”An accompanying blog noted: “There is one plausible explanation. The drones are searching for something, possibly radiation or traces of chemical emissions. The no other theory makes any sense.” The Gateway Pundit, [12/16/24 (https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/12/what-is-behind-mystery-drones-one-plausible-theory/)]

Right-wing commentator Bill Mitchell shared Jersey Futures' post.Mitchell: “This drone CEO says he thinks the drones are looking for nukes or dirty bombs! This is scary and actually explains why the government wouldn't want to say what they are doing - to prevent a mass panic.” Twitter/X, [12/16/24 (https://x.com/mitchellvii/status/1868642058094989639)]

Alex Jones questioned, “Are UAVs Across America Looking For Smuggled/Stolen Dirty Nuclear Bomb?”Twitter/X, [12/16/24 (https://x.com/RealAlexJones/status/1868727676220936282)]

On Truth Social, right-wing radio host Wayne Allyn Root claimed, “This is DESPERATE search for radiation because CIA believes a nuclear dirty bomb has been smuggled into USA.”Root added, “this is all because of Biden-Kamala open borders. Terrorist cells & now nuclear device in USA.” Truth Social, [12/14/24 (https://truthsocial.com/users/realwayneroot/statuses/113652066784242722)]

On X, right-wing outlet The Conservative Brief suggested that a U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission notice of missing radioactive material could be “a possible explanation for the mysterious drones seen all over the east coast?!” On December 5, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued an alert that a piece of medical equipment with trace amounts of radioactive material had been lost in transit in New Jersey. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection stated that the material “has been located” and that drones were not used to locate the material. Twitter/X, \12/16/24 (https://x.com/ConservBrief/status/1868640376334303582); ABC News, [12/17/24 (https://abcnews.go.com/US/fact-check-radioactive-material-triggered-drone-theories-missing/story?id=116884712)]

Vicki McKenna, a conservative radio host, shared the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission notice, adding, “The hell is going on here?” Twitter/X, [12/16/24 (https://x.com/VickiMcKenna/status/1868683932239368316)]

Some right-wing media figures suggested aliens could be responsible for the drones

Fox News guest and former Navy pilot Ryan Graves suggested that the drones are UFOs and are “beyond our state of the art.” Graves: “Well, for a number of years, people have been reporting what is known as unidentified anomalous phenomena, which are unattributed, unknown objects of unknown intent that seem to be exhibiting performance characteristics that are beyond our state of the art. … The whole behavior in general doesn't leave very much room for other options if it is not a foreign adversary.” Fox News, The Story with Martha MacCallum, [12/12/24 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4026352)]

Noting that Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) has “better information” than other people,OutKick’sClay Travis asked, “Based on the information that you’ve seen, what’s a reasonable hypothesis about what’s going on?”Mace argued that it needs to be “on the table” that the drones could be from “outer space” or “outside the universe.” Mace also stated, “I pray that they’re ours, but we should also know why they’re out there. Are they looking for radiation? Are they looking for a missing nuclear warhead?” Mediaite, [12/17/24 (https://www.mediaite.com/politics/nancy-mace-goes-full-area-51-speculating-about-drones-has-to-be-on-the-table-that-they-could-be-from-outside-the-universe/)]

On Newsmax, host Rob Finnerty teased, “Could these be UFOs? Could these be from another planet? Think about it.”He added, describing his own supposed sighting, “It was kind of eerie too. It moved east to west faster than anything I’ve ever seen before, which means one of two things: Either our technology, the U.S. military, is well beyond anything the public is aware of, or this was something not from this planet. It’s that simple.” Newsmax, Finnerty, [12/16/24 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4026354)]

Right-wing media figures said the drone sightings are a government “psyop,” with some claiming it’s intended to target Trump

Right-wing media figures have used a grab bag of conspiracy theories to suggest the drones are deceiving the American people and the government is performing a psychological operation on its citizens, with some saying the goal is to target Trump or gain power.

Some contend the drones are part of a government plot to fake an alien invasion. This idea mirrors the “Project Blue Beam (https://www.newsweek.com/what-project-blue-beam-conspiracy-theory-erupts-over-drones-2001051)” conspiracy theory alleging global elites will create an alien invasion to justify authoritarian control.

The National Desk’sArmstrong Williams suggested that the drones are an attempt by the “deep state” to cancel Trump’s inauguration.Williams claimed intelligence officials have told him that “the government is purposely creating confusion,” adding, “If you have all these drones out of nowhere, some of the drones, definitely from our government, other drones we have no idea where they're coming from. Can you imagine if this continues that there would be an attempt to cancel the inauguration?” Sinclair Broadcast Group, The National Desk, [12/16/24 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4026355)]

The Gateway Pundit’s Paul Serran suggested that the drone sightings are “a Psyop to have the country in a bad shape” and to “break the climate of national love story with the incoming Trump administration.” Serran also asserted that “given the fact that the US has not unleashed its assets to deter this phenomenon … the explanation that makes more sense is that it’s American drones.” The Gateway Pundit, [12/15/24 (https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/12/great-big-drone-psyop-who-is-running-uav/)]

Finnerty speculated on Newsmax that the drones could be “a government psyop to keep forever wars going and double or triple or quadruple the U.S. Defense budget on Joe Biden’s way out the door.” He also suggested that the drones were “probably launched to divert our attention from what else might be happening in the skies.” Newsmax, Finnerty, [12/17/24 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4026353)]

Right-wing podcaster Benny Johnson suggested that the government is “gonna stage a fake alien invasion” to “steal Trump's swagger and create a emergency.” He added, “You can't cut government spending, right, if there's — if the aliens invade.” YouTube, The Benny Show, [12/11/24 (https://www.mediamatters.org/benny-johnson/benny-johnson-suggests-there-may-be-fake-alien-invasion-steal-trumps-swagger)]

Far-right blogger Patrick Howley suggested claims of “aliens” may be used to undermine Trump’s inauguration.He wrote: “They're going to do ‘aliens’ before the inauguration, aren't they? That said, UFO's are 100 percent real but I don't believe for a minute that the Feds are clueless about what they are.” Twitter/X, \12/11/24 (https://x.com/HowleyReporter/status/1866953277285486653); Daily Dot, 1/27/24 (https://www.dailydot.com/debug/patrick-howley-joe-biden-far-right/); The Daily Beast, [4/29/22 (https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-alex-jones-conspiracy-empire-has-kept-itself-going-even-while-being-banned-from-social-media/)]

Alex Jones posted a video and wrote, “Researcher Dr. Steven Greer Accurately Predicted Rollout Of Project Blue Beam That's Happening Now.”Twitter/X, [12/11/24 (https://x.com/RealAlexJones/status/1866910659205603829)]

Former Fox News producer Kyle Becker shared a video of Fox News’ Jesse Watters discussing the drone sightings, adding, “The Biden administration started with an illegal alien invasion and is ending with an actual alien invasion.”Twitter/X, [12/18/24 (https://x.com/kylenabecker/status/1869372689724666097)]

Becker also claimed in a social media post that “the Feds want to use these ‘lawful drone’ sightings as a pretext for new legislation that will undoubtedly empower the government.”He added, “I think we got our answer on why these drones are being allowed to operate instead of being blown to smithereens. Just another government power grab.” Twitter/X, [12/12/24 (https://x.com/kylenabecker/status/1867302308054184057)]

Far-right podcaster and Trump ally Laura Loomer posted, “Are they drones? Or is this project blue beam?”She added, “What if this is a project blue beam effort to psyop Congress into increasing defense spending?” Twitter/X, [12/13/24 (https://x.com/LauraLoomer/status/1867743214255456516)]

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mma trump said govt knows but will not say

Right-wing media use reported drone sightings to push conspiracy theories](https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/right-wing-media-use-reported-drone-sightings-push-unhinged-conspiracy-theories)

12/20/24

mma Trump’s pick for secretary of defense has a history of spreading conspiracy theories as a Fox News host (https://www.mediamatters.org/pete-hegseth/trumps-pick-secretary-defense-has-history-spreading-conspiracy-theories-fox-news-host)

11/15/24

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mma

### “Donald Trump is using Fox News as a staffing agency”: Matt Gertz discusses with On The Media the revolving door between Fox and the second Trump administration (https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/donald-trump-using-fox-news-staffing-agency-matt-gertz-discusses-media-revolving-door)

11/18/24 11:42 AM EST

### The Trump administration is planning on deporting millions and millions of immigrants. Fox News is pretending the focus will be much narrower. (https://www.mediamatters.org/immigration/trump-administration-planning-deporting-millions-and-millions-immigrants-fox-news)

11/18/24 11:19 AM EST

### Angelo Carusone on MSNBC: Pete Hegseth “sees the world through crusader terms” (https://www.mediamatters.org/angelo-carusone/angelo-carusone-msnbc-pete-hegseth-sees-world-through-crusader-terms)

11/18/24 11:06 AM EST

### Pete Hegseth repeatedly argued against women in combat roles by citing the military’s sexual assault crisis (https://www.mediamatters.org/pete-hegseth/pete-hegseth-repeatedly-argued-against-women-combat-roles-citing-militarys-sexual)

11/18/24 9:13 AM EST

### Angelo Carusone on MSNBC's The Weekend: “The new norm is a bunch of Alex Jones in waiting that we will have to grapple with” (https://www.mediamatters.org/angelo-carusone/angelo-carusone-msnbcs-weekend-new-norm-bunch-alex-jones-waiting-we-will-have)

11/16/24 9:43 AM EST

### Trump’s pick for secretary of defense has a history of spreading conspiracy theories as a Fox News host (https://www.mediamatters.org/pete-hegseth/trumps-pick-secretary-defense-has-history-spreading-conspiracy-theories-fox-news-host)

11/15/24

President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for secretary of defense, Fox News co-host Pete Hegseth, has a history of spreading baseless conspiracy theories on the network and on social media.

He has promoted anti-immigrant conspiracy theories, including the white nationalist “great replacement” myth; spread misinformation about COVID-19; and used terms like “the deep state” to spread conspiracy theories about “the establishment.”

Trump said his secretary of defense nominee will be Fox host Pete Hegseth, who has complained about women in combat, claimed the military is too “woke,” attacked Muslims, and lobbied Trump to pardon war criminals

On November 12, Trump announced that he will nominate Fox News host and Army veteran Pete Hegseth to serve as secretary of defense. According to CNN, sources close to Trump confirmed that the president-elect’s longstanding relationship with Hegseth was a factor in the selection. CNN, 11/12/24 (https://www.cnn.com/2024/11/12/politics/pete-hegseth-secretary-of-defense/index.html); Truth Social, [11/12/24 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4025914)]

Hegseth has made a number of bigoted and baseless claims, including complaining about women in combat and saying the military is too focused on being “woke” to be effective. Hegseth has also advocated against veterans’ benefits and attacked Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) after she resisted calls to privatize the Department of Veterans Affairs, and he has repeatedly championed aggressive military actions — including war crimes. In his book, Hegseth also fearmongered about “Muslims’ birth rates,” and fearmongered about the “assimilation” and “integration” of Muslims. Media Matters, 11/13/24 (https://www.mediamatters.org/pete-hegseth/trump-picked-fox-friends-weekend-co-host-pete-hegseth-be-secretary-defense-heres-some), [11/12/24 (https://www.mediamatters.org/pete-hegseth/pete-hegseths-book-includes-complaints-about-muslims-birth-rates-praise-crusaders-who)]

Hegseth used his Fox presence to successfully lobby then-President Trump to pardon several individuals convicted of war crimes. Hegseth said that the possibility of pardons is “very heartening for guys like me,” adding that it “could’ve been me” on trial for war crimes. Trump pardoned Army 1st Lt. Clint Lorance, who was found guilty of two counts of second-degree murder, and Army Maj. Mathew Golsteyn, who was set to stand trial for the extrajudicial killing of a detained combatant. Hegseth also pushed for action in the case of Navy SEAL Edward Gallagher, who was acquitted on several charges related to the murder of a prisoner of war. Media Matters, 11/15/19 (https://www.mediamatters.org/pete-hegseth/after-being-urged-fox-news-host-donald-trump-pardons-war-crimes), 11/8/19 (https://www.mediamatters.org/pete-hegseth/foxs-pete-hegseth-has-been-repeatedly-advocating-looser-accountability-war-crimes); Politico, [11/15/19 (https://www.politico.com/news/2019/11/15/trump-pardon-war-crimes-071244)]

Hegseth has a history of spreading anti-immigrant conspiracy theories, including the white nationalist “great replacement” theory

The “great replacement” is a white nationalist conspiracy theory positing that elites, such as Democrats, are importing nonwhite immigrants in order to “replace” white citizens and change the electorate. Media Matters, [3/4/24 (https://www.mediamatters.org/immigration/right-wing-media-are-spreading-baseless-conspiracy-theory-democrats-are-trying-import)]

Hegseth suggested that Democrats were “going to open the border” as part of a longstanding “plan … to turn Texas blue.” Hegseth added, “There's a lot of failure but there's some intentionality there, too.” Fox News, Hannity, [9/8/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/fox-news-host-says-biden-administrations-border-policy-aims-turn-texas-blue)]

Hegseth posted that “George Soros and NGOs are a HUGE reason we have a crisis at the Southern Border!” Hegseth additionally posted that “George Soros is funding our border crisis.” Twitter/X, 2/3/23 (https://x.com/PeteHegseth/status/1621632617136234496), [2/2/23 (https://x.com/PeteHegseth/status/1621303498993278976)]

Hegseth argued that Democrats were “ignoring the border,” adding, “It doesn't affect them, except they hope in the future at the ballot box.” Hegseth claimed that Democrats “only care about protecting themselves, their political position, and their livelihood.” Fox News, Fox News Primetime, [9/20/21 (https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/fox-host-democrats-only-care-about-protecting-themselves-their-political-position-and)]

Hegseth said of the Biden administration: “They want more illegals." He also warned viewers that migrants were being flown “to the destination of their choice, maybe your hometown.” Fox News, Fox News Primetime, [9/23/21 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3972186)]

Hegseth has pushed misinformation and conspiracy theories about the COVID-19 pandemic

Hegseth claimed onFox News Primetimethat the omicron variant of COVID-19 was “another liberal cover-up for Joe Biden's ongoing and many failures.” He also accused Democrats of using the variant to “jam through their pro-lockdown anti-freedom agenda.” Fox News, Fox News Primetime, [12/1/21 (https://www.mediamatters.org/coronavirus-covid-19/pete-hegseth-claims-new-omicron-variant-another-liberal-cover-may-help)]

In another edition ofFox News Primetime, Hegseth speculated, “Could the left be using omicron to continue their forced vaccine push on freedom-loving Americans?” He also suggested that Democrats were using omicron to “create a panic and try to exploit it.” Fox News, Fox News Primetime, [11/30/21 (https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/fox-host-could-left-be-using-omicron-continue-their-forced-vaccine-push-freedom-loving)]

Hegseth suggested that COVID-19 testing data could “be the type of thing that leaders can also manipulate.” Hegseth argued that “if the leaders say well we’ve got more positive tests, therefore, we need to delay [reopening] even further — that doesn't make sense to people.” Fox News, Fox & Friends, [5/10/20 (https://www.mediamatters.org/coronavirus-covid-19/fox-friends-host-downplays-need-testing-suggests-data-can-be-manipulated)]

Hegseth accused “the Democrats” and “the media” of “rooting for coronavirus to spread” in order to “drag down the presidency of Donald Trump.” Hegseth later doubled down, adding that “Democrats are cheering for a virus because they hate Donald Trump so much.” Fox News, Fox & Friends, [2/28/20 (https://www.mediamatters.org/coronavirus-covid-19/foxs-pete-hegseth-democrats-and-media-are-rooting-coronavirus-spread)]

## Hegseth has spread conspiracy theories about “the establishment” and railed against the “deep state”

Hegseth claimed “the D.C. bureaucratic deep state” has been “trashing [Trump] since 2015.” He argued that “Trump destroyed the Clinton dynasty, rearranged the Republican Party, and changed American politics forever. He’s the first candidate and president to call out endless foreign wars, to end unabated and cheap illegal immigration that big business secretly wants, and take on the D.C. bureaucratic deep state. Because he doesn't owe them anything. And they don't control him. And because of that fact — they're all about control — they’ve been trashing him since 2015.” Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, [8/15/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4025859)]

Filling in as host ofJesse Watters Primetime, Hegseth claimed that “the establishment will do whatever it takes to keep Biden in the White House.” He added that “the deep state” had worked to “kneecap Joe's primary opponents.” Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, [4/28/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/fox-news-host-says-deep-state-trying-kneecap-rfk-jr-protect-joe-biden-democratic-primary)]

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Hegseth speculated that “every inconvenient story for the Left DISAPPEARS!” In the post, he cited the “SCOTUS leaker,” “Epstein client list,” “DNC pipe bomber,” and “Paul Pelosi attack details” as supposed examples of stories that have “gone COLD!” Twitter/X, [1/24/23 (https://x.com/PeteHegseth/status/1618020762127929344)]

Hegseth posted, “They covered up the Hunter Biden story. They interfered with the 2020 election. They’ll try to do it again.” Twitter/X, [4/23/23 (https://x.com/PeteHegseth/status/1649995236540575746)]

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an 11 24

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) predicted that former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) would prosecute vaccine-related "crimes against humanity" if he becomes President-elect Donald Trump's next attorney general.

During a House Oversight Committee hearing on pandemic preparedness on Thursday, Greene accused the federal government of using "the American people's hard-earned tax dollars to create viruses that can be unleashed on the world like COVID-19 was."

"Dr. [Anthony] Fauci lied to the American people, abusing his power and position and role, a very powerful role paid for by the American tax people," she said. "He lied, and many, many people died."

"Now vaccines have been mandated on the population in order to work, go to school, and live as functioning citizens in the United States," she continued. "I can tell you when you talk about vaccine hesitancy, as one sitting before you that never took the COVID vaccine, nor will I take it, thank God. I'm so glad I didn't take it."

Greene falsely suggested (https://time.com/5175704/andrew-wakefield-vaccine-autism/) other vaccines were linked to "the rise of autism, learning disabilities, neurological problems, and so much more that children are suffering from today."

ALSO READ:The one belief that predicted Trump voters with scary accuracy (https://www.rawstory.com/raw-investigates/the-one-belief-that-predicted-trump-voters-with-scary-accuracy/)

"Preparing for the next pandemic is actually recognizing that the last pandemic resulted in crimes against humanity," the lawmaker opined.

"People that perpetuated and continue to perpetuate these crimes need to be prosecuted, and that needs to be starting in the next administration, and I'm pretty sure our next attorney general will do that, and I look forward to seeing that happen," she added.

Watch the video at this link. (https://www.rawstory.com/marjorie-taylor-greene-crimes-against-humanity/)

---

MMA

Fox News interviews fringe conspiracy theorist Dom Lucre, calling him a “journalist”

Weeks ago, Lucre baselessly accused an assistant FBI director of being complicit in a Trump assassination attempt. Fox News is now hosting him as a “journalist.”

Written by Courtney Hagle (https://www.mediamatters.org/author/courtney-hagle)

Research contributions from Alex Kaplan (https://www.mediamatters.org/author/alex-kaplan)

Published 11/12/24

On November 8, a Fox News “straight news” program interviewed content creator Dom Lucre, referring to him as a “journalist.” Lucre has a history of pushing QAnon-related conspiracy theories, spreading outlandish claims about high-level Democrats, and pushing 2020 election denial.

Dominick McGee, known online as Dom Lucre, has a history of pushing baseless conspiracy theories as a right-wing internet personality. Lucre capitalized (https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/14/opinion/facebook-far-right.html) on 2020 election denial conspiracy theories to build a platform geared toward the right, and he went to Washington, D.C. to protest the 2020 election results on January 6, 2021. Since then, he has used (https://www.mediamatters.org/twitter/elon-musks-twitter-rewards-far-right-conspiracy-theorist-ad-revenue-even-after-posting) his platform to push a slew of conspiracy theories, occasionally putting real people in the crosshairs of his claims.

Following President-elect Donald Trump’s attempted assassination this past July, Lucre claimed (https://x.com/dom_lucre/status/1812387365576393058) that a prophet predicted the assassination attempt 3 months in advance, and said that “this has been biblical since day one.”

Lucre also accused (https://thedispatch.com/article/fbi-disputes-unsupported-claim-from-youtuber-about-trump-assassination-attempt/) assistant FBI director Janeen Diguiseppi of “giving the shooter instructions” based on his analysis of a video from the shooting, where he claimed a woman sitting behind Trump was Diguiseppi. This was debunked by the FBI.

Lucre also consistently pushes QAnon-related conspiracy theories, spreading outlandish claims about (https://x.com/Shayan86/status/1787821018406428977?t=lvoGvSQy8PTF4aE-d_IRoQ&s=19) high-profile Democrats committing sex crimes and online e-commerce website Wayfair being used to traffick (https://x.com/Shayan86/status/1785015561761775667) children.

In 2023, he tweeted (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4025832), “Adrenochrome is real and I can prove it,” referencing a conspiracy theory that Forbes said (https://www.forbes.com/sites/conormurray/2023/07/27/twitter-suspends-then-unsuspends-popular-right-wing-user-who-tweeted-image-of-child-sexual-abuse/) has been “embraced by QAnon.” The adrenochrome conspiracy theory “promotes the idea that wealthy people, Hollywood elites, and Democrats consume a chemical called adrenochrome, which is supposedly harvested from the blood of young children.”

Lucre also claimed (https://www.mediamatters.org/qanon-conspiracy-theory/here-are-right-wing-figures-who-demanded-elon-musk-reinstate-twitter) that former President Barack Obama was responsible for the drowning death of his personal chef.

Last Friday, anchor Trace Gallagher hosted Lucre on Fox News @ Night, introducing and labeling him simply as a “journalist.” Lucre claimed that Democrats ran a campaign that was “false” and “complete propaganda from day one.” Lucre also highlighted Gen Z and the “rise of streamers” made a difference in Trump’s campaign, arguing that Vice President Kamala Harris is the “past, she does not have the future, which we are pushing forward. Trump was the way forward.” Lucre concluded that this space is “controlling the culture, and I believe it is shifting towards conservatism.” Gallagher thanked Lucre for the “great information.”

---

MMA Alex Jones calls for “Nuremberg two”: “It's not avengeance, it's justice” (https://www.mediamatters.org/alex-jones/alex-jones-calls-nuremberg-two-its-not-avengeance-its-justice)

11/08/24

BALD?

November 7, 2024, edition of Infowars' *The Alex Jones Show

ALEX JONES (INFOWARS HOST): We have, just like the communists do but we do it as patriots, truth and reconciliation commissions. It's all over television for years, and we destroy the Democratic Party, we destroy the U.N., we destroy the NGOs, and we regain America's soul at the same time. Now that's my plan, and I can tell you that's a common sense plan. And I can tell you that that is the plan that is being prepared right now. And you heard Flynn say, yeah, Alex. Let's, let's not tell 'em too much. We don't wanna be caught flat footed. They know.

And I'm gonna say this again. If we don't hit them hard with this, A, it's the right thing to do, God's watching. We weren't given this victory, God's hand wasn't on Trump for nothing. We then morally are now aiding and abetting this. We don't go all the way. And if we don't get the enemy off balance and defeat them now, they're gonna reconstitute and they're coming after all of us. So, yeah, they're right. When we got into office, we are coming for you. It's true. Because you've committed mass crimes. It's not avengeance, it's justice, and we can't let you commit it again.

Now, you already see the Border Patrol, and the DHS, and the NGO people that were contractors going public all over the place for years, saying we're not part of this. Those people are heroes. And so it's not the Border Patrol, it's not mostly even the employees -- they hate it -- then they hand them off to people literally on airfields, and in fields, and in parking lots at Walmarts at 3:00 AM, and there's not paperwork.

And so that's where the investigation starts. And so, those whistleblowers are all in Congress, more whistleblowers, hearings. You bring it out, and then Trump will have control of the Justice Department. And then these criminals that have been hijacking the government that committed these crimes just like the Nazis, they have to learn they're not above the law. Nuremberg two.

Because if Trump goes after little stuff like Hunter Biden and all the things the media tries to get us to focus on, that's a diversion. Sure. Put him in prison too, but we'll get to him later. Trump says we're gonna find the missing children, and that's what the task force is going out or doing when they're going out with the gangs and the human traffickers.

---

YYY 000

---

// hurric BS?

alternet-

Extremists posing as aid workers urge NC locals to tear down cell towers and hit military

Michael Lewis Arthur Meyer booking photo from 2018

Michael Lewis Arthur Meyer booking photo from 2018 (Courtesy Tucson Police Department)

Jordan Green November 02, 2024

A group of anti-government extremists who showed up in western North Carolina promising to provide disaster relief after Hurricane Helene is now threatening to destroy cell-phone towers and sabotage military vehicles.

The group, Veterans on Patrol, attracted attention by setting up a disaster relief staging area in the parking lot of the Ingles grocery store in Lake Lure, about 50 miles from Asheville.

But locals, including some who initially cooperated with the group, began to complain about threats and harassment.

Over the past three weeks, members of the group, which falsely claims that Helene was caused by a “weather weapon,” have been making conspiracy-driven claims that the U.S. military is attempting to kill U.S. citizens with “directed energy weapons.”

ALSO READ: Inside the grift that could cost Donald Trump the election

Veterans on Patrol’s channel on the encrypted social-media platform Telegram posted a message on Thursday displaying photos of what appears to be a cell tower on a mountaintop. The message asserted that locals “are in Live Exercises where the United States Military is permitted to destroy your homes, bodies and minds,” while suggesting that equipment on the tower “is solely for providing the U.S. military the means to murder Americans.”

“Focus on tearing down their weapons,” the message reads. It continues, “All it takes is one weapon tower being toppled with the stated reason spoken boldly.”

Another message posted in the group’s Telegram channel appears to advocate for sabotaging military vehicles and assets.

“Simple acts of pouring sugar into fuel tanks of military equipment, backup power systems, and personal vehicles of military personnel can wreak havoc on those who murdered all these people out here,” reads the message, which was posted on Wednesday.

Soldiers from Fort Liberty and Fort Campbell have deployed to western North Carolina to assist in the disaster response, along with National Guard members from nine states.

Veterans on Patrol is led by Michael Lewis Arthur Meyer, who has a long history of anti-government extremism, dating back at least 10 years. Meyer, according to the extremism watchdog group Southern Poverty Law Center, is not a veteran.

Reached by phone on Friday, Meyer doubled down on the threats.

“Jesus used bullwhips and flipped tables,” he told Raw Story. “We’re going to use our bullwhips and topple towers.”

At first during the interview, Meyer argued that the Telegram messages weren’t advocating for targeting cell towers, saying instead that the group would “surgically” remove the supposed “directed energy weapons." He went on to say that they would provide Appalachian residents with generators and Starlink boxes so they could maintain power and communication links.

Asked about the message referencing “pouring sugar into fuel tanks,” Meyer told Raw Story: “We’re going to destroy your tanks…. You want to get dirty? That’s what we should be doing.”

Veterans on Patrol has promoted multiple conspiracy theories based on false claims since arriving in western North Carolina.

One message posted on Telegram on Oct. 22 claimed that “Helene was a Weather Weapon steered to destroy the area, while also claiming that the investment fund BlackRock is attempting a “land grab” and describing the storm and its aftermath as “an act of war perpetrated against the People.”

As the final day of voting in the presidential election approaches, posts on the group’s Telegram channel have taken on an increasingly urgent tone.

The Oct. 22 post claimed that “stolen elections” are a real phenomenon, along with “weather weapons,” “Satanic pedophiles” and “adrenochrome," which refers to a QAnon conspiracy theory that a cabal of elites tortures children to extract a chemical from their bodies which is then used as a recreational drug.

In another post last week, a Veterans on Patrol member nicknamed “Shepherd” claimed that the U.S. Air Force command is instructing pilots “to deploy additional weather weapons.” The post goes on to say, “These people don’t have 2 weeks to wait for vote and 3 months to hopefully wait for a Regime change.”

Another message on the group channel that was published on Wednesday suggests without basis that Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff is the beneficiary of BlackRock’s supposed landgrab.

Speaking to Raw Story, Meyer seemed to all but dare law enforcement to intervene.

“For people to go and do something to prevent weapons from being deployed — that’s not a crime,” he said. “If they want to bring this to court and charge us with conspiracy, then let’s go.”

The FBI did not respond to an inquiry about Veterans on Patrol's activities, but Meyer told Raw Story in an email that he "would imagine the FBI knows full well what we are attempting through Operation Leaning Tower."

Meyer told Raw Story that he notified the office of Gov. Roy Cooper about his "operation." Cooper's office did not immediately respond to a voicemail message from Raw Story.

Phone calls from Raw Story for this story to officials in Lake Lure and Rutherford County, which surrounds the town, went unreturned.

Meyer’s history of extremism dates back to the Bundy Ranch standoff, when armed militants faced down the FBI and other federal agencies in 2014 during a dispute over rancher Cliven Bundy’s refusal to pay grazing fees. Meyer’s involvement in the Bundy Ranch standoff came to light later, when the Oregonian reported that he and a group of friends got into a brawl with other anti-government extremists during the standoff at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, which Bundy and a group of armed supporters had occupied.

Meyer founded Veterans on Patrol in Arizona in 2015, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. Prior to presenting itself as a disaster response group in the aftermath of Helene, Veterans on Patrol has claimed its efforts were directed towards rescuing children from sex trafficking, addressing veteran suicide and dubious claims that the military is maliciously harming civilians. Meyer’s activities have frequently landed him in trouble with law enforcement.

Meyer was arrested twice in 2015 after emergency responders talked him down from a light pole in Surprise, Ariz. in 2015.

In 2018, was arrested by the police in Tucson, Ariz. for trespassing and an outstanding warrant for an assault charge, after occupying a tower on an industrial property. A press release from the Tucson Police Department claimed that Meyer “found an abandoned homeless encampment” on the property, “and fictitiously declared, without evidence or corroboration, that the area was the site of a sex-trafficking ring.”

The Tucson police said they received complaints from Tucson residents that Meyer and his followers had threatened and intimidated them, and Meyer made “multiple threatening and hostile remarks directed towards various elected and appointed officials” through social media.

In the summer of 2024, before Hurricane Helene, Veterans on Patrol was active in Spokane, Wash. In Telegram message from July 2, 2024, Veterans on Patrol announced to the police that it “would no longer be safe” for one of its officers “to work his beat.” The channel also posted the home addresses of city council members.

NOW READ: Fox News is the reason the race is close

---

alternet-no lnx

Conservatism is dead. Conspiracism is dancing on its grave

Lindsay Beyerstein October 31, 2024

Conspiracist ideology has consumed the Republican Party. At his rally at Madison Square Garden, Trump pledged to demolish the deep state, drive out the globalists, and rout the fake news media. Speaker after speaker referenced the Great Replacement conspiracy theory, a dogma that was once confined to the manifestos of mass shooters, but which is now the Trump campaign’s closing argument for the presidency.

Former Fox host Tucker Carlson, who promoted the Great Replacement over 400 times on his now-defunct show, told the crowd at Madison Square Garden that the political class “despises [the people] and their values and their history and their culture and their customs really hates them to the point that it’s trying to replace them.”

The former president’s son, Donald Trump, Jr, was even more explicit.

“The Democrat[sic] Party has forgotten about Americans. Rather than cater to Americans, they decided, “You know what? It would just be easier to replace them with people who will be reliable voters.”

"Our elections are bad, and a lot of these illegal immigrants coming in, they're trying to get them to vote," Trump Sr., said last month.

The Republican National Committee under Lara Trump is claiming that millions of undocumented migrants could vote next week. A vast body of research, including recent audits by Republican-controlled states like Georgia, has found that voting by non-citizens is essentially non-existent.

By hyping this fake threat, Republicans are creating a pretext to challenge the election if Trump loses, putting a racist spin on their perennial allegations of voter fraud, and creating excuses for Republican governors to purge their voter rolls.

However, this obsession with non-citizen voting goes deeper than that. The lie of mass voting by undocumented migrants is the conceptual glue that binds the three major components of their conspiracist ideology: The Deep State, the Big Lie, and the Great Replacement.

Let’s review their delusional belief system:

The Deep State is a shadowy network of elites inside and outside of government who supposedly direct the course of history. This cabal is responsible for everything from Trump’s impeachments and prosecutions to voting laws and immigration policy. Some say it controls the weather.

The Big Lie is the debunked claim that voter fraud cost Donald Trump the 2020 election. Trump kicked off his Madison Square Garden rally by vowing to “totally obliterate the Deep State.”

The Great Replacement is the charge that the Deep State is deliberately importing migrants in order to replace white Americans, a process sometimes known as “white genocide.” The lie of massive noncitizen voting explains why the Deep State is supposedly importing all these migrants to commit election fraud.

These beliefs meld seamlessly into a paranoid whole. Trump told rally-goers in Atlanta that the only reason Democratic immigration policy must be the result of evil or stupidity. “Well, they’re not stupid because anybody that can cheat on elections that good is not stupid,” Trump told rally-goers in Atlanta. “But I never really talked about the third reason because it’s so sinister, but they want to sign these people up to vote, and if they do that, this country is destroyed.”

Trump has been blaming migrants for his political failures for years. In 2016, Trump lost the popular vote and blamed it on millions of illegal voters. Incredibly, Trump claimed that he would have won deep blue California – a state he lost by 30 points and 4 million votes – if not for those improbably civic-minded migrants. Trump convened a special commission to investigate voter fraud, which fizzled without finding evidence of the conspiracy.

Conservative ideology as we knew it is dead.

Conspiracism is all.

---

rupar PN 10 24

...RFK Jr. having so much power is a horrifying thought, as he touches all the bases when it comes to full-fledged conspiracy-mongering.

Besides his anti-vax stance, he that 5G phone networks are being used for mass surveillance, that wifi causes chronic illness (https://substack.com/redirect/79959133-5bd5-42dc-8e2c-a0b5c870999b?j=eyJ1IjoiN3ltancifQ.i0HJl3aVWG8sHp566T-pebMssFGKcgvxVOFLuZyEDpw), that chemicals in drinking water are turning people trans (https://substack.com/redirect/8110f4f1-72a7-4332-bbab-e6d80a276fcc?j=eyJ1IjoiN3ltancifQ.i0HJl3aVWG8sHp566T-pebMssFGKcgvxVOFLuZyEDpw), and that school shootings are increasing because kids take antidepressants.

...believes (https://substack.com/redirect/79959133-5bd5-42dc-8e2c-a0b5c870999b?j=eyJ1IjoiN3ltancifQ.i0HJl3aVWG8sHp566T-pebMssFGKcgvxVOFLuZyEDpw)

---

note conspir, projection, since pol violence needed when trump beaten.cheaTED

mma

Trump ally Wayne Allyn Root: Democrats may undertake “a false flag mass shooting or supposed domestic terrorist attack” to stop Trump (https://www.mediamatters.org/wayne-allyn-root/trump-ally-wayne-allyn-root-democrats-may-undertake-false-flag-mass-shooting-or)

10/30/24

---

note mult intertwined conspir eg deep state, big lie ,media bias...

mma

Project 2025 partner blog: “If Kamala Harris does win, it will, as of today, be because of a stolen election”

The Claremont Institute's Brian Kennedy: “Americans can be a very rough lot of people when they want to be. You can rig one election before their eyes, but can you rig two?”

Written by Madeline Peltz (https://www.mediamatters.org/author/madeline-peltz)

Published 10/28/24

A Project 2025 partner blog published (https://americanmind.org/salvo/what-if-harris-gets-away-with-it/) an op-ed titled “What if Harris Gets Away with It?” claiming Vice President Kamala Harris could win the 2024 election only if it is “stolen,” which would turn the United States into “an ungovernable country” that might involve “political disintegration."

In The American Mind, published by Project 2025 partner (https://www.project2025.org/about/advisory-board/) the Claremont Institute, Claremont senior fellow and board member Brian Kennedy claimed, “Over the past two decades we have been living through a slow-motion Communist revolution,” and the “corruption of our election system” has been “the most devastating."

He continued:

So, if Kamala Harris does win, it will, as of today, be because of a stolen election. Under these circumstances, America will become an ungovernable country. Large groups of Americans will believe their vote no longer counts. We have the experience this summer of Venezuela, where it was clear the opposition party won—so said the Biden Administration—only to have the Maduro regime keep hold of power by affirming the fraudulent results and gutting it out publicly against domestic and world opinion. One imagines the Harris campaign learned a lesson from that.

Kennedy then imagined a violent civil war scenario that might follow:

Americans can be a very rough lot of people when they want to be. You can rig one election before their eyes, but can you rig two? And can you rig the second one so openly and brazenly, and expect that the American people will not push back? How they push back is another matter, but it would serve the interest of America’s enemies to face a nation even more deeply divided than ours already is. Violence is not an option. But a political disintegration of Red America from Blue America is not impossible.

He recommended potential preventative measures to guard against a Harris win, including a “whistleblower program that offers a multi-million dollar reward for real evidence of” election fraud, “either through counterfeit mail-in ballots, fraudulent election day ballots, overseas ballots, or cyberattacks against our electronic voting system.”

He also suggested:

A second tactic could be to create a “Decision Desk 2024” on X both in Spaces and on the “America” video platform. It cannot be left to the legacy broadcast media to announce the winner of the election as if they have some divine authority. The mainstream media, from Fox News to MSNBC, ABC, NBC, and CBS, have devolved into pure propaganda arms of the American Deep State. As such, they have disqualified themselves.

Elon Musk can build a team of respected journalists and analysts to perform their own calculations and judgments about who won the election. He and his platform have a greater reach both nationally and internationally than the “mainstream” media. Imagine Elon Musk with Steve Bannon, Tucker Carlson, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and the like examining the results. Not only would they be better trusted, but the democratization of the results by all the users of X would serve the American people better as well.

“Finally,” he wrote, “Americans must prepare themselves and their families for what could be great societal dislocation,” without offering specific recommendations about what that might mean.

A recent Media Matters analysis (https://www.mediamatters.org/project-2025/project-2025-allies-are-organizing-steal-election) found significant ties between authors, contributors, and partner organizations involved in Project 2025 and the ongoing right-wing efforts to disenfranchise voters and sow confusion about the 2024 election.

Media Matters’ Matt Gertz wrote about this strategy (https://www.mediamatters.org/donald-trump/right-projecting-irrational-confidence-about-trump-win-could-aid-effort-steal-election) recently:

By way of preparing my own audience: It is possible none of this will ultimately matter. With numerous swing states polling within the margin of error, and the chance of a systemic poll error in play, Trump could very well win legitimately in November.

But if the election returns show that Harris has triumphed, Trump has a backup plan ready to go: He can attempt to subvert the election, as he did in 2020.

While elements of that plan could be different, the broad strokes of declaring victory, presenting himself as the victim of election fraud, filing pretextual lawsuits, and ultimately leaning on Republican officials at the local, state, and federal levels to hand him the presidency remain unchanged.

This strategy rests on Trump being able to convince the Republican base that he won the election. In 2020, he had the support of a vast right-wing media ecosystem that, with few exceptions, had already prepped its audience to disbelieve the results of the election if Trump won. The result was a violent assault on the U.S. Capitol that threatened American democracy.

Since then, the right has purged media figures and Republican politicians who had stood in the way of the plot. And now, in 2024, the same players are again laying the groundwork for a Trumpian subversion effort.

---

AN 10 24 THE CONV

There has been a lot of research on the types of people who believe conspiracy theories (https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/bul-bul0000392.pdf), and their reasons for doing so (https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/talking-apes/201801/why-do-people-believe-in-conspiracy-theories). But there’s a wrinkle: My colleagues and I have found that there are a number of people sharing conspiracies online who don’t believe their own content.

They are opportunists. These people share conspiracy theories to promote conflict, cause chaos, recruit and radicalize potential followers, make money, harass, or even just to get attention.

There are several types of this sort of conspiracy-spreader trying to influence you.

Coaxing conspiracists – the extremists

In our chapter of a new book on extremism and conspiracies, my colleagues and I discuss evidence that certain extremist groups intentionally use conspiracy theories (https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003459255-10/taking-conspiracies-extremes-colleen-sinclair-andrew-burns-brett-burton) to entice adherents. They are looking for a so-called “gateway conspiracy (https://doi.org/10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0275502)” that will lure someone into talking to them, and then be vulnerable to radicalization (https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/jan/11/we-walked-into-a-trap-anti-vaxxers-on-life-after-conspiracy-theories). They try out multiple conspiracies to see what sticks.

Research shows that people with positive feelings for extremist groups (https://doi.org/10.37016/mr-2020-121) are significantly more likely to knowingly share false content online. For instance, the disinformation-monitoring company Blackbird.AI (https://blackbird.ai/) tracked over 119 million COVID-19 conspiracy posts from May 2020, when activists were protesting pandemic restrictions and lockdowns (https://hdl.handle.net/2144/42490) in the United States. Of these, over 32 million tweets were identified as high on their manipulation index. Those posted by various extremist groups were particularly likely to carry markers of insincerity. For instance, one group, the Boogaloo Bois, generated over 610,000 tweets, of which 58% were intent on incitement and radicalization.

You can also just take the word of the extremists themselves. When the Boogaloo Bois militia group (https://theconversation.com/the-far-right-rioters-at-the-capitol-were-not-antifa-but-violent-groups-often-blame-rivals-for-unpopular-attacks-153193) showed up at the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, for example, members stated they didn’t actually endorse the stolen election conspiracy, but were there to “mess with (https://www.propublica.org/article/boogaloo-bois-military-training) the federal government.” Aron McKillips (https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/ohio-boogaloo-boi-arrested-allegedly-threatening-blow-irs-kill-federal-rcna55226), a Boogaloo member arrested in 2022 as part of an FBI sting, is another example of an opportunistic conspiracist. In his own words: “I don’t believe in anything. I’m only here for the violence.”

Combative conspiracists – the disinformants

Governments love conspiracy theories. The classic example of this is the 1903 document known as the “Protocols of the Elders of Zion (https://www.state.gov/gec-releases-special-report-more-than-a-century-of-antisemitism-how-successive-occupants-of-the-kremlin-have-used-antisemitism-to-spread-disinformation-and-propaganda/),” in which Russia constructed an enduring myth about Jewish plans for world domination. More recently, China used artificial intelligence to construct a fake conspiracy theory (https://www.voanews.com/a/fact-check-china-boosts-anti-us-conspiracy-theory-about-maui-fire/7278075.html) about the August 2023 Maui wildfire.

Often the behavior of the conspiracists gives them away. Years later, Russia eventually confessed (https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/operation-denver-kgb-aids-disinformation-campaign) to lying about AIDS (https://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2017/jun/14/russian-fake-news-is-not-new-soviet-aids-propaganda-cost-countless-lives) in the 1980s. But even before admitting to the campaign, its agents had forged documents to support the conspiracy. Forgeries aren’t created by accident. They knew they were lying.

As for other conspiracies it hawks, Russia is famous for taking both sides in any contentious issue, spreading lies online to foment conflict and polarization (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/russian-disinformation-network-eu-politicians-elections/). People who actually believe in a conspiracy tend to stick to a side. Meanwhile, Russians knowingly deploy what one analyst has called a “fire hose of falsehoods (https://publications.armywarcollege.edu/News/Display/Article/3789933/understanding-russian-disinformation-and-how-the-joint-force-can-address-it/).”

Likewise, while Chinese officials were spreading conspiracies about American roots of the coronavirus (https://www.the-scientist.com/chinese-officials-blame-us-army-for-coronavirus-67267) in 2020, China’s National Health Commission was circulating internal reports tracing the source to a pangolin (https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/13/world/asia/coronavirus-china-conspiracy-theory.html).

Some people just want to stir up trouble.

Chaos conspiracists – the trolls

In general, research has found that individuals with what scholars call a high “need for chaos” are more likely to indiscriminately share conspiracies (https://doi.org/10.1177/20531680231193514), regardless of belief. These are the everyday trolls (https://www.unisq.edu.au/news/2023/04/online-trolls) who share false content for a variety of reasons, none of which are benevolent (https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/writing-with-integrity/202008/why-do-people-troll-online). Dark personalities (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2023.101752) and dark motives are prevalent.

For instance, in the wake of the first assassination attempt on Donald Trump (https://www.alternet.org/2020/11/trump), a false accusation arose online about the identity of the shooter (https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/internet/trump-rally-shooting-conspiracy-theories-flourish-online-rcna161752) and his motivations. The person who first posted this claim knew he was making up a name and stealing a photo. The intent was apparently to harass (https://observers.france24.com/en/americas/20240717-no-this-photo-and-video-do-not-show-the-gunman-who-tried-to-assassinate-trump) the Italian sports blogger whose photo was stolen. This fake conspiracy was seen over 300,000 times on the social platform X and picked up by multiple other conspiracists eager to fill the information gap about the assassination attempt.

Commercial conspiracists – the profiteers

Often when I encounter a conspiracy theory I ask: “What does the sharer have to gain? Are they telling me this because they have an evidence-backed concern, or are they trying to sell me something?”

When researchers tracked down the 12 people primarily responsible for the vast majority of anti-vaccine conspiracies online, most of them (https://www.npr.org/2021/05/13/996570855/disinformation-dozen-test-facebooks-twitters-ability-to-curb-vaccine-hoaxes) had a financial investment in perpetuating these misleading narratives.

Some people who fall into this category might truly believe their conspiracy, but their first priority is finding a way to make money (https://www.dw.com/en/the-conspiracy-business-how-to-make-money-with-fake-news/a-56660466) from it. For instance, conspiracist Alex Jones bragged that his fans would “buy anything (https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2023/03/08/absolutely-bonkers-inside-infowars-money-machine).” Fox News and its on-air personality Tucker Carlson publicized lies about voter fraud in the 2020 election to keep viewers engaged, while behind-the-scenes communications revealed they did not endorse (https://www.businessinsider.com/fox-news-hosts-knew-election-conspiracy-theories-false-messages-dominion-2023-2) what they espoused.

Profit (https://pressbooks.pub/fakenews/chapter/6-what-motivates-people-to-spread-fake-news-on-social-media/) doesn’t just mean money. People can also profit from spreading conspiracies if it garners them influence or followers, or protects their reputation. Even social media companies (https://theconversation.com/disinformation-is-part-and-parcel-of-social-medias-business-model-new-research-shows-217842) are reluctant to combat conspiracies because they know they attract more clicks.

Common conspiracists – the attention-getters

You don’t have to be a profiteer to like some attention. Plenty of regular people share content where they doubt the veracity, or know it is false (https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2016/12/14154753/PJ_2016.12.15_fake-news_FINAL.pdf).

These posts are common: Friends, family and acquaintances share the latest conspiracy theory with “could this be true?” queries or “seems close enough to the truth” taglines. Their accompanying comments show that sharers are, at minimum, unsure about the truthfulness of the content, but they share nonetheless. Many share without even reading (https://www.media.mit.edu/articles/why-do-americans-share-so-much-fake-news-one-big-reason-is-they-aren-t-paying-attention-new-research-suggests/) past a headline. Still others, approximately 7% to 20% (https://crestresearch.ac.uk/resources/disinformation-on-social-media/) of social media users, share despite knowing the content is false. Why?

Some claim to be sharing to inform people “just in case (https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051231192032)” it is true. But this sort of “sound the alarm” reason actually isn’t that common (https://doi.org/10.1177/20531680231193514).

Often, folks are just looking for attention or other personal benefit (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2022.101352). They don’t want to miss out (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2019.05.026) on a hot-topic conversation. They want the likes and shares (https://erc.europa.eu/projects-statistics/science-stories/why-people-share-disinformation). They want to “stir the pot (https://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/online-civic-culture-centre/news-events/articles/o3c-1-survey-report-news-sharing-misinformation/).” Or they just like the message (https://doi.org/10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0239666) and want to signal to others that they share a common belief system.

For frequent sharers, it just becomes a habit (https://today.usc.edu/usc-study-reveals-the-key-reason-why-fake-news-spreads-on-social-media/).

The dangers of spreading lies

Over time, the opportunists may end up convincing themselves. After all, they will eventually have to come to terms with why they are engaging in unethical and deceptive, if not destructive, behavior. They may have a rationale for why lying is good. Or they may convince themselves that they aren’t lying by claiming they thought the conspiracy was true all along.

It’s important to be cautious and not believe everything you read. These opportunists don’t even believe everything they write – and share. But they want you to. So be aware that the next time you share an unfounded conspiracy theory, online or offline, you could be helping an opportunist. They don’t buy it, so neither should you. Be aware (https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-03503-6) before you share. Don’t be what these opportunists derogatorily refer to as “a useful idiot (https://www.newsguardrealitycheck.com/p/commentary-russias-paid-idiots-and).”

H. Colleen Sinclair (https://theconversation.com/profiles/h-colleen-sinclair-972719), Associate Research Professor of Social Psychology, *Louisiana State University (https://theconversation.com/institutions/louisiana-state-university-1642)

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Wayne Allyn Root and Kari Lake push conspiracy theory that opponent’s campaign is funded by “the Mexican drug cartel” (https://www.mediamatters.org/real-americas-voice/wayne-allyn-root-and-kari-lake-push-conspiracy-theory-opponents-campaign-funded)

10/23/24 MMA

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substack 10 24

Rachel Walden, Republican candidate for the Arizona Corporation Commission, has repeatedly expressed belief in far right conspiracy theories, including making false claims about climate change, COVID vaccines, and that “MS-13 gang was a creation of the CIA (https://www.12news.com/article/news/politics/arizona-energy-candidate-rachel-walden-promotes-conspiracy-theories-refers-to-climate-change-as-ruse/75-2ce526cb-ec33-4fa7-84d9-cd80916b2d0e).”

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mma

The 11th Hour Faith Leaders Meeting is organized by conspiracy theorist Clay Clark, who once suggested that Trump’s son-in-law might be a Chinese clone

Written by Payton Armstrong (https://www.mediamatters.org/author/payton-armstrong)

Research contributions from Eric Hananoki (https://www.mediamatters.org/author/eric-hananoki)

Published 10/18/24

Former President Donald Trump is scheduled to address a group of extreme right-wing media “prophets” and pastors who have claimed that “demonic forces” are behind the popularity of the Harris campaign, declared that Trump is “anointed to be king,” and said that Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and vice presidential candidate Tim Walz “go to churches that are synagogues of Satan” because they are Baptist and Lutheran.

The 11th Hour Faith Leaders Meeting, scheduled for October 21 in North Carolina, is apparently being organized (https://www.mediamatters.org/donald-trump/north-carolina-trump-event-organizer-clay-clark-pushed-hurricane-helene-weather) by Clay Clark, co-founder of the ReAwaken Tour (https://archive.is/3G9OL), which holds events across the country that have featured QAnon (https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-resort-to-host-pro-qanon-speaking-tour-led-by-michael-flynn) influencers, pro-Trump (https://www.npr.org/2022/11/02/1133477897/reawaken-america-brings-together-some-of-the-u-s-most-prolific-conspiracy-theori)“prophets (https://www.npr.org/2022/11/02/1133477897/reawaken-america-brings-together-some-of-the-u-s-most-prolific-conspiracy-theori),” Christian nationalists (https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/michael-flynn-reawaken-america-tour/), and figures (https://www.mediamatters.org/eric-trump/eric-trump-will-finally-stop-appearing-hitler-promoting-antisemites-least-week) who have praised Hitler (https://www.mediamatters.org/donald-trump-jr/update-donald-trump-jr-and-trump-allies-appear-antisemite-who-praised-hitler-having). Clark has promoted numerous conspiracy theories, including that Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, may have been replaced (https://www.mediamatters.org/eric-trump/eric-trumps-tour-organizer-and-media-partner-jared-kushner-might-be-clone-created) by a clone created by the Chinese government and that the U.S. government created or worsened Hurricane Helene through “weather manipulation (https://www.mediamatters.org/hurricanes/trumps-inner-circle-scheduled-speak-nc-alongside-numerous-helene-weather-manipulation).”

Clark revealed (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4025003) in a recent interview that Eric Trump had asked him to organize the event because “we need to get together the nonwackadoodles.” “That was the phrase Eric used, ‘nonwackadoodles,’” said Clark, “the serious faith leaders, the people that are actually committed to saving this country. And he said, ‘Clay, we need to get them together, my father needs to be able to address this community.’” He added that the event is “an invitation-only thing” and “we're vetting everybody very carefully.”

Clark claimed (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4025005) in an interview with Pizzagate conspiracy theorist (https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/jack-posobiec) Jack Posobiec (who also stated during the interview that he will attend the event) that “of the faith leaders and the pastors that are committed to coming to this event — which is an invite-only, you can’t buy a ticket — so far, we have over 300 million YouTube subscribers represented in the audience, so that means we have some of the biggest, needle-moving pastors and faith leaders that are coming from all across America to hear directly from Donald J. Trump.”

Although a list of attendees does not seem to be publicly available, Clark has suggested multiple pro-Trump “prophets” and outlets will be in attendance and even speaking alongside Trump. Promoting the event, Clark said (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4025007) that “some of America's leading pastors will be in attendance — people like Jonathan Cahn, Mark Driscoll, Robin Bullock. I mean, it's going to be incredible. Steve Shultz, ElijahStreams.” Clark also noted in a separate (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4025003) interview that “prophet” Amanda Grace would be in attendance.

The figures Clark mentions as planning to attend notably stem from an influential (https://apnews.com/article/conservative-christians-spiritual-warfare-donald-trump-kamala-harris-9c861aa7c58907ff67bde3c3499a9365) “prophetic” (https://theconversation.com/how-self-proclaimed-prophets-from-a-growing-christian-movement-provided-religious-motivation-for-the-jan-6-events-at-the-us-capitol-152879#::text=%E2%80%98Prophets%E2%80%99%20and%20Charismatic%20Christianity) charismatic Christian (https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/02/18/how-christian-prophets-give-credence-to-trumps-election-fantasies-469598) movement (https://www.mediamatters.org/donald-trump/trump-and-his-maga-allies-increasingly-embrace-extreme-prophetic-media#::text=Christian%20prophets%20are,12/21%5D) that has been mobilizing (https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/christians-swarm-washington-pray-america-turn-god-electing-trump-rcna175162) supporters (https://www.peoplefor.org/rightwingwatch/dominionists-draw-thousands-dc-anti-abortion-anti-lgbtq-pro-trump-spiritual-1) ahead of the election and reportedly believes reelecting Trump is part of a spiritual war against demons.

Here are some of the extreme media figures and supposed “nonwackadoodles” that Trump will be addressing, according to Clark:

Jonathan Cahn is a “doomsday prophet (https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/15/nyregion/trump-preacher-magachurch.html?partner=slack&smid=sl-share)” and author who has claimed that the Bible predicted Trump’s 2016 election and suggested (https://mycharismashop.com/products/the-return-of-the-gods?srsltid=AfmBOoqhIAdTsXmdkmHX7JfB0WrZWMCrTsv57kEdiC4JP795w4Iq1FeL) that progressive cultural change is a result of ancient gods influencing cultural shifts. Cahn has claimed (https://www.mediamatters.org/charlie-kirk/charlie-kirks-podcast-doomsday-prophet-jonathan-cahn-fearmongers-ancient-goddess) that an ancient goddess is “seeking to possess an entire generation” into supporting LGBTQ rights and compared abortion to “child sacrifice.” He also recently spoke at the “Million Women (https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/christians-swarm-washington-pray-america-turn-god-electing-trump-rcna175162)” worship rally in Washington D.C., where he used a sledgehammer to hit (https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/trump-god-squad-christian-supremacists-national-mall-1235136876/) a “pagan altar to ‘Ishtar,’ an ancient Messopotiamian goddess whom he claims is behind ‘the sexual immorality that that enslaves this culture,’” per Rolling Stone. In an interview with Posobiec, Clark confirmed (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4025005) that Cahn is “going to be one of the speakers.”

Robin Bullock is a pastor (https://www.peoplefor.org/rightwingwatch/post/prophet-robin-bullock-insists-that-prophets-could-not-possibly-have-been-wrong-about-the-2020-election) and self-proclaimed “prophet” who has said (https://x.com/RightWingWatch/status/1757432641379242259) that “Trump was anointed to be king twice,” claiming that Trump has “been president this whole time” and “heaven recognizes him as president.” Bullock also bizarrely claimed (https://x.com/RightWingWatch/status/1834261176286658798) to have traveled into the future and prevented an assassination attempt against Trump. He has also claimed (https://friendlyatheist.patheos.com/2021/08/27/evangelist-robin-bullock-i-met-god-and-he-lives-in-a-cube-made-of-gelatin/) that he “watched [God] create the world one time,” predicted (https://x.com/RightWingWatch/status/1626288260040228870) that the “glory” of God “will invade the halls of Congress” and “demon-possessed congressmen are going to manifest,” and said (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4025169) that there are “witches and warlocks employed” at the U.N. “advising government officials.”

Amanda Grace is a self-proclaimed “prophet” who shares (https://www.newsweek.com/amanda-grace-prophet-makes-prediction-trump-family-enemies-1968113) her prophetic visions, which she claims come from God, on YouTube and other streaming platforms. Grace has said (https://www.mediamatters.org/donald-trump/right-wing-media-and-social-media-users-spread-conspiracy-theories-about-trump-rally#::text=Self%2Ddescribed%20prophet,30/24%5D) that the “Lord warned” her that an assassination against Trump would happen and likened Trump to David avoiding assassination in the Bible. She has also pushed bizarre rhetoric, warning (https://www.indy100.com/news/amanda-grace-donald-trump-mermaids) of highly technologically advanced “mermaids and water people” spreading “wickedness” and calling for “hand-to-hand combat.”

Steve Shultzis the host of ElijahStreams, an online streaming outlet that hosts “prophets” and “prophetic guests” who have pushed extreme rhetoric on the program, including guests who attributed (https://www.mediamatters.org/climate-deniers/conservative-commentators-and-right-wing-christian-media-deny-climate-change#::text=On%20the%20program%20Elijah%20Streams%2C%20which%20has%20interviewed%20members%20of%20the%20Trump%20family%2C%20self%2Dproclaimed%20prophet%20Charlie%20Shamp%20attributed%20the%20Maui%20wildfires%20to%20%E2%80%9Cdemonic%20attack%E2%80%9D%20by%20a%20fire%2Dbreathing%20dragon%20upset%20over%20the%20legality%20of%20abortion.%20%5BTwitter/X%2C%209/7/23%5D) the Maui wildfires to “demonic attack” by a fire-breathing dragon upset over the legality of abortion and who invoked (https://www.mediamatters.org/qanon-conspiracy-theory/alabama-supreme-court-chief-justice-spreads-christian-nationalist-rhetoric#::text=Update%20) QAnon conspiracy theories. Shultz himself has pushed conspiracy theories, including linking (https://www.mediamatters.org/alex-jones/far-right-media-figures-are-using-eclipse-and-recent-earthquake-push-apocalyptic#::text=The%C2%A0network%20ElijahStreams,5/24%5D) the 2024 solar eclipse to CERN’s Large Hadron Collider restarting and a comet supposedly passing on the same day, claiming it was an “occultic opportunity” for them “to open up a gateway for Satan to come out.”

Mark Driscoll is a right-wing pastor (https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/04/15/pastor-mark-driscoll-kicked-off-state-christian-conference/73331462007/) who previously resigned from a pastorship after being accused of bullying and mismanagement of church funds. He recently suggested (https://www.peoplefor.org/rightwingwatch/mark-driscoll-and-sean-feucht-say-harriswalz-are-backed-demonic-forces) that “demonic forces” are “driving the surge” behind the popularity of the Harris/Walz campaign. He also attacked Harris for being Baptist and Walz for being Lutheran, declaring that “they go to churches that are synagogues of Satan.”

Eric Trump has promoted the 11th Hour Faith Leaders Meeting to several prophetic media figures, including on ElijahStreams (https://rumble.com/v5hx1yd--eric-trump-is-on-elijah-streams-tuesday-morning-7am-pt.html?e9s=src_v1_ucp) and in an interview with Amanda Grace (https://youtu.be/gAKrnMiZOio&t=330s), during which Trump said (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4025011) Clark had been “the backbone of so much of this event.”

Since Donald Trump left office, he and his family and allies have increasingly engaged (https://www.mediamatters.org/donald-trump/trump-and-his-maga-allies-increasingly-embrace-extreme-prophetic-media) with (https://www.mediamatters.org/jd-vance/jd-vance-appear-town-hall-christian-nationalist-show-whose-host-has-said-kamala-harris) and embraced (https://www.mediamatters.org/victory-channel/christian-nationalist-host-prays-god-will-motivate-american-people-get-out-and-vote) extreme prophetic media, including figures (https://www.mediamatters.org/eric-trump/maga-prophet-julie-green-tells-eric-trump-his-father-anointed-god-protecting-your-dad) who have asserted that Trump has been “anointed” by God. Clark even bragged (https://www.peoplefor.org/rightwingwatch/post/conspiracy-theorist-clay-clark-brags-of-connecting-the-prophets-to-trumps-inner-circle) last year that “Trump’s inner circle is embracing the prophets.”

Members of Trump's “inner circle” also (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4025186) appeared (https://www.mediamatters.org/hurricanes/trumps-inner-circle-scheduled-speak-nc-alongside-numerous-helene-weather-manipulation) at another (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4025187) event organized by Clark on October 18. The two-day event is also supposed to feature right-wing commentators who have pushed the conspiracy theory that Hurricane Helene was a controlled or manipulated weather event.

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Vice presidential hopeful JD Vance recently took the stage at an event organized by the most influential far-right pastor you’ve never heard of. His name is Lance Wallnau and he popularized a doctrine that calls for Christians to conquer every sphere of society from the government to professional sports.

Wallnau is a self-proclaimed (https://x.com/RightWingWatch/status/1400480331812196354) Christian Nationalist who preaches that leftists aren’t even people (https://x.com/RightWingWatch/status/1770873525835829639), just vessels for demons. He accused Vice President Kamala Harris (https://www.rawstory.com/tag/white-house) of witchcraft (https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/2024/09/28/jd-vance-christian-nationalism-lance-wallnau/). He prayed for God to kill Trump’s enemies (https://www.peoplefor.org/rightwingwatch/post/lance-wallnau-warns-that-god-will-soon-start-killing-those-who-are-persecuting-trump). Wallnau’s message is a mishmash of Bible memes and conspiracy theories. He preaches the Big Lie as gospel truth, fusing Christian nationalism and election denialism.

In 2020, Wallnau gathered the faithful for the insurrection of January 6th. Today, he’s responsible for a good chunk of the Trump (https://www.alternet.org/2020/11/trump) campaign’s Get Out the Vote effort. He rails against George Soros, the globalists, the World Economic Forum and vaccines. He hypes quack stem-cell therapies and Donald Trump figurines as fervently as he hypes Jesus.

Most importantly, Wallnau preaches that Donald Trump is a modern-day King Cyrus, a heathen anointed by God. The upshot is that no matter how immoral, blasphemous or criminal Trump is, it doesn’t matter because he’s God’s instrument to impose Christian dominion. If you’ve ever wondered why evangelicals don’t care that Trump is a philandering felon, Wallnau’s King Cyrus meme explains a lot.

JD Vance is not an evangelical, but he seemed at home at the Courage Campaign. At least, he seemed as comfortable as he gets in the presence of actual voters. And why not? Vance is the interface between the C-suites and the fever swamps of Magaland. It’s why he spends so much time on weird podcasts (https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2022/08/jd-vance-appeared-with-podcaster-jack-murphy-who-said-feminists-need-rape/). As a Yale-educated US senator, he legitimates the fringe. As a rightwing podcast bro, he shores up the Trump ticket’s bona fides with the supplement-slurping conspiracist base.

One of Vance’s key functions is to validate all the factions of the maga conspiracist coalition.

Conspiracism is the overarching ideology of the maga movement. The three pillars of the maga platform are the Deep State (https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/13/politics/kfile-jd-vance-harsh-twitter-likes-trump-vice-president/index.html), the Big Lie (https://www.yahoo.com/news/unpacking-jd-vances-absurd-statements-213258814.html) and the Great Replacement (https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/republican-senate-candidates-promote-replacement-theory), and Vance eagerly expounds on all three.

Moreover, Vance moves effortlessly among integralist Catholics, protestant New Apostolic Reformation types, and the more secular Silicon Valley contingent exemplified by Elon Musk.

Vance’s other role is to reassure the more staid elements of the conservative coalition that unchecked conspiracism is politically useful. In 2021, Vance exhorted the future leaders of the conservative movement tomake common cause (https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24815790-jd-vance-teneo-network-2021-speech) with Alex Jones, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and other raving conspiracy theorists. According to Vance, the conservative movement is doomed unless it makes common cause with lunatics.

“Believing crazy things is not the mark of whether somebody should be rejected. Believing important truths should be the mark of whether we accept somebody, and if they believe some crazy things on the side, that's ﬁne," Vance said. "Doesn't mean you have to defend their craziest views. But by all means, if this movement is going to survive, we need to speak for truth.”

The truth, according to Vance, is that an international cabal of financier sex perverts is ruining our society. This is the closest thing Vance has to an ideology. Like Wallnau, Vance is willing to use flawed instruments. As long as someone’s willing to affirm the core conspiracy premise, Vance is flexible about whether it’s dressed up in religious lingo, or whether his brother- or sister-in-paranoia also believes in Jewish space lasers or a federal plot to turn the frogs gay.

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hurricane helene cloud seed gubmint grab lithium stew peters? mma 10 24

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Lara and Eric Trump-backed “prophet” claims God told her the hurricanes were “man-made” and “they” will also “set off” an earthquake

Written by Eric Hananoki (https://www.mediamatters.org/author/eric-hananoki)

Published 10/11/24 mma

“Prophet” Julie Green told followers that the Lord told her that the recent hurricanes were “all man-made” and that the weather events were deliberately created or manipulated as a form of “election interference.” She added that “they” will “set off” an earthquake at some point.

Green isn’t a random grifter: She’s connected to Trump’s inner circle and has been heavily endorsed by Eric Trump. The former president’s son told (https://www.mediamatters.org/eric-trump/maga-prophet-julie-green-tells-eric-trump-his-father-anointed-god-protecting-your-dad) Green that she’s “so incredible,” stated that he’s saved one of her messages, called her a “warrior,” and thanked (https://www.mediamatters.org/donald-trump/trump-and-his-maga-allies-increasingly-embrace-extreme-prophetic-media) her for their “friendship.”

Green has also spoken (https://www.mediamatters.org/donald-trump/trump-and-his-maga-allies-increasingly-embrace-extreme-prophetic-media) with Republican National Committee co-Chair Lara Trump, who told (https://rumble.com/v2f6r3m-julie-green-and-lara-trump.html) Green that she was “so honored” to be on her podcast. She also said: “On behalf of our whole family, thank you for all of the prayers, thank you for believing in my father-in-law, and for fighting alongside of us.”

During a recent podcast appearance (https://rumble.com/v5i2t25-julie-green-joins-his-glory-take-five.html), Green — as she does (https://www.mediamatters.org/qanon-conspiracy-theory/doug-mastriano-campaign-prophet-julie-green-political-executions-are-coming) — pushed far-right conspiracy theories while telling people what “the Lord had talked about” regarding the country, including that the Lord supposedly said that the recent hurricanes were “deliberate,” “man-made,” and “another form of election interference”:

Video

CitationFrom the October 9, 2024, edition of His Glory TV's Take Five

JULIE GREEN: This is exactly one of the things that the Lord had talked about. I have to get out which prophecy it was. I think it was the one from yesterday or Monday. He was talking about how this is the same thing as Maui. This is all on purpose. This is all done for complete devastation. And one of the things that He actually had on there and I have to — I'll look it up, of which one it was because I have several of them pulled up here again.

But He said it was blatant. It was deliberate. What happened in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and those really hard areas, those areas were hit for a specific reason. And again, this is all man-made. All of the stuff, we know they can modify weather, and they're doing this on purpose. This is another form — and I hate to say this, but it's so true. This is what the Lord was saying. It's another form of election interference. This is another form to weaken people, to destroy people more, it’s more to get us to the point where we are so broken spiritually, physically, financially that we will not fight them back. This is another tactic and a strategy of war.

Green then said that California would soon experience an earthquake so “they” can “bury us financially and get ourselves over burdened and way down and so broken and devastated that we will just accept anything they do from here on out.”

JULIE GREEN: California, the Lord had given me prophetic word, and it's an earthquake — is what my understanding is, that He said something will be “set off.” It doesn't say it's going to “go off.” He said it will be “set off.” So if they can make hurricanes, they can also set off, well, an earthquake. So this is something that we're — and I don't know where all the hurricanes are at. It's not really surprising me that they are doing this because God said it was going to be the darkest before the dawning, and people — I don't think they realize what all that entails.

That also means all this historic, unprecedented hurricanes, these storms or whatever, and that is to bury us financially and get ourselves over burdened and way down and so broken and devastated that we will just accept anything they do from here on out. Or they can put us in like an emergency state where, “Oh, well, I'm sorry. Right now there's so many things going on. We just cannot hold elections.”

Numerous Trump allies have promoted the conspiracy theory that Hurricane Helene may have been controlled or manipulated, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/oct/07/marjorie-taylor-greene-hurricane-helene) (R-GA), Georgia GOP official Kandiss Taylor (https://www.mediamatters.org/hurricanes/two-pro-trump-officials-pushed-conspiracy-theory-hurricane-helene-was-done-through), Veterans for America First official Lucretia Hughes, Trump event organizer Clay Clark (https://www.mediamatters.org/donald-trump/north-carolina-trump-event-organizer-clay-clark-pushed-hurricane-helene-weather), and commentator Wayne Allyn Root (https://www.mediamatters.org/msnbc/watch-msnbcs-chris-hayes-explain-conservative-medias-bizarre-conspiracy-theory-hurricanes-are).

And two other pro-MAGA “prophets,” Lance Wallnau and Hank Kunneman, similarly suggested (https://www.mediamatters.org/hurricanes/pro-trump-prophets-suggest-hurricanes-helene-and-milton-are-spiritual-and-god-did-say) that God said the hurricanes were unnatural and election interference.

---

mma 10 24

North Carolina Trump event organizer Clay Clark pushed Hurricane Helene “weather manipulation” conspiracy theory

Clark is organizing two pro-Trump events in North Carolina this month

Written by Eric Hananoki (https://www.mediamatters.org/author/eric-hananoki)

Published 10/07/24

Pro-Trump ally Clay Clark, who said that he was recently “tasked by Eric Trump” to organize an upcoming meeting hosted by former President Donald Trump in North Carolina, also pushed the conspiracy theory (https://www.mediamatters.org/tiktok/conspiracy-theories-about-hurricane-helene-are-going-viral-tiktok) that the government was behind Hurricane Helene through “weather manipulation” so that it could apparently seize control of a North Carolina town’s lithium deposits.

Clark appeared on the October 3 edition (https://rumble.com/v5heldh-clay-clark-drops-truth-bombs-on-brics-port-strike-and-lithium-grab-in-north.html) of The Pete Santilli Show, where he said: “Weather manipulation is real, and the town or the area that was most devastated by the flood happens to be in a town that sits on America's largest lithium deposits.”

Video

CitationFrom the October 3, 2024, edition of The Pete Santilli Show

CLAY CLARK: HAARP, look it up, folks. HAARP, H.A.A.R.P. You might not know about it. It stands for High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program. Weather manipulation is real, and the town or the area that was most devastated by the flood happens to be in a town that sits on America's largest lithium deposits.

And lithium is what makes electric cars slash the Green New Deal possible. Right? So the local people don't want to move out of their homes because they don't want to have their backyard turned into a mining site.

And so the locals who live in a small town, they don't want to leave their town and turn their community and town into a mining site, basically a big hole in the ground. And so that just happens to be the town that was impacted by the floods.

He added: “Weather can now be weaponized. So we're in a unique time.”

He also wrote (https://x.com/TheClayClark/status/1841477306532913179) on social media: "#NorthCarolinaFloods | The U.S. Has Over 6 Million Tons of Identified Lithium Resources. The Majority of This Lithium Has Been Identified In Kings Mountain, North Carolina.' - U.S. Geological Survey + Weather Modification 101? What Is Weather Modification?"

Clark’s conspiracy theory is false (https://leadstories.com/hoax-alert/2024/10/fact-check-hurricanes-cannot-be-directed-to-a-specific-location-such-as-albemarle-lithium-mine-in-kings-mountain-north-carolina.html). The government has not controlled (https://factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com.36HN29E)Hurricane Helene through weather manipulation and has not (https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/06/us/hurricane-helene-north-carolina-misinformation.html) attempted to steal lithium from North Carolina through this tragedy.

Clark recently wrote (https://x.com/TheClayClark/status/1841306639611158921) that “I have been both honored and tasked by Eric Trump and Doctor Ben Carson with organizing this 11th Hour Faith Leaders Meeting hosted by the 45th President of the United States, Donald J. Trump and Doctor Ben Carson.” The event (https://event.donaldjtrump.com/events/11th-hour-faith-leaders-meeting-featuring-president-donald-j-trump-eric-trump-and-dr-ben-carson) is on October 21 (https://timetofreeamerica.com/donald-j-trump/) in North Carolina. He has numerous other ties to Team Trump:

Clark has met (https://x.com/TheClayClark/status/1839792795772465587) with former President Donald Trump.

Clark is heavily tied (https://www.mediamatters.org/donald-trump/trump-and-his-maga-allies-increasingly-embrace-extreme-prophetic-media) to Eric Trump, who has called (https://www.mediamatters.org/eric-trump/eric-trumps-tour-organizer-and-media-partner-jared-kushner-might-be-clone-created) the conspiracy theorist “a dear friend of mine.” He also said (https://rumble.com/v5gjup1-live-with-jule-eric-trump-and-clay-clark.html?start=530) of Clark: “I love him more than anybody on Earth.” The two regularly appear (https://rumble.com/search/all?q=%22Clay%20Clark%22%20%22Eric%20Trump%22) in the media together, including most recently during (https://www.mediamatters.org/eric-trump/maga-prophet-julie-green-tells-eric-trump-his-father-anointed-god-protecting-your-dad) a bizarre appearance on “prophet” Julie Green’s podcast.

Clark said (https://rumble.com/v5heldh-clay-clark-drops-truth-bombs-on-brics-port-strike-and-lithium-grab-in-north.html?start=540) he’s “been asked by certain people if I’d be willing to help in the White House, and if they want to lower their standards and have me do it, that’s fine.”

Clark said (https://www.peoplefor.org/rightwingwatch/post/conspiracy-theorist-clay-clark-brags-of-connecting-the-prophets-to-trumps-inner-circle#::text=%E2%80%9CI%20had%20dinner,talk%20about%20God.%E2%80%9D) that he “had dinner with Devin [Nunes],” a key Trump ally (https://www.mediamatters.org/devin-nunes) and the CEO of Trump’s Truth Social company.

Clark co-founded (https://www.mediamatters.org/eric-trump/eric-trumps-tour-organizer-and-media-partner-jared-kushner-might-be-clone-created) and helps organize the pro-Trump “ReAwaken America” tour, which is led (https://www.mediamatters.org/michael-flynn/former-trump-national-security-adviser-mike-flynn-says-hes-been-fan-alex-jones-2008) by Clark and disgraced former Trump national security adviser Mike Flynn. The tour, which has repeatedly been held at Trump properties, has platformed (https://www.mediamatters.org/antisemitism/hitler-promoting-antisemite-spoke-twice-trumps-miami-resort-alongside-eric-and-lara) numerous (https://www.mediamatters.org/eric-trump/trump-doral-welcomes-ian-smith-antisemite-who-defends-nazis-portrays-jewish-people-ene) Hitler-promoting antisemites. The tour has also hosted numerous other Trump officials, including (https://www.mediamatters.org/donald-trump-jr/update-donald-trump-jr-and-trump-allies-appear-antisemite-who-praised-hitler-having) Donald Trump Jr. and Republican National Committee co-Chair Lara Trump.

Clark's next stop (https://www.thrivetimeshow.com/wp-content/uploads/North-Carolina-Episode-24-Version-4-ThrivetimeShow.jpg) on his ReAwaken America tour is also in North Carolina and, according to Clark (https://rumble.com/v5heldh-clay-clark-drops-truth-bombs-on-brics-port-strike-and-lithium-grab-in-north.html?start=370), will feature “basically President Trump’s inner circle, so Peter Navarro, Eric Trump, Gen. Flynn, Kash Patel, Alina Habba.”

Another key Trump ally, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (https://www.mediamatters.org/congress/guide-rep-marjorie-taylor-greenes-conspiracy-theories-and-toxic-rhetoric) (R-GA), also recently used (https://www.msnbc.com/the-reidout/reidout-blog/marjorie-taylor-greene-they-control-weather-hurricane-helene-rcna174107) Hurricane Helene to claim that “they can control the weather.”

---

{---}:

Conspiracy theorist Julie Kelly claims the unsealed Trump filing is “criminalizing any political activity by a president in the White House” (https://www.mediamatters.org/julie-kelly/conspiracy-theorist-julie-kelly-claims-unsealed-trump-filing-criminalizing-any)}:

:{:{10/03/24 mma}:

October 3, 2024, edition of Real America’s Voice’s War Room

JULIE KELLY (GUEST): Look, Jack Smith knows this case is going nowhere, and let's remember what this new indictment, superseding indictment is. It is a four-count indictment. Three conspiracy charges, conspiracy to defraud the U.S., conspiracy to deny rights, obstruction of an official proceeding, and conspiracy to obstruct.

…

So this is what is mostly in his new dossier, his motion that was unsealed yesterday, trying to explain how what Donald Trump did in office was purely private and political, that what his communications with Mike Pence were political and private, not in his official capacity as president.

What this represents, and because they only see this through the lens of Donald Trump, if they get their way, which they won't, is criminalizing any political activity by a president in the White House.

DAVE BRAT (GUEST HOST): Right. Right.

KELLY: That's what this would be. So this is why it's a folly, Dave. That's why it's not going anywhere. Jack Smith knows it. Tanya Chutkan knows it. Everyone knows it. This is a purely political, partisan move. The press is eating it up. And at the end of the day, this will all go away in the higher courts, whether appellate, certainly the Supreme Court. But it doesn't matter because they're gonna get their headlines. The fake ones we saw last night and today that Donald Trump called for a riot is not what that document says.

As Media Matters has documented (https://www.mediamatters.org/julie-kelly/speaker-kevin-mccarthy-reportedly-giving-january-6-security-footage-conspiracy-theorist):

Kelly has a long history of promoting unhinged conspiracy theories and election denial, including baseless accusations smearing police officers who were attacked on January 6, 2021.

Kelly accused former D.C. police officer Michael Fanone, who suffered a heart attack (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/daniel-rodriguez-january-6-michael-fanone-stun-gun-pleads-guilty/) after a rioter attacked him with a stun gun, of instead being a “crisis actor (https://www.mediamatters.org/january-6-insurrection/frequent-fox-news-guest-calls-officer-testifying-january-6-commission-crisis).”...

---

mma 9 24

September 18, 2024, edition of Fox News' Hannity

SEAN HANNITY (HOST): Doesn't Jerome Powell often talk about the independence of the Federal Reserve? And how convenient, for the first time in four years, just before -- weeks before an election, just as early voting begins in Pennsylvania now and around the country, let's drop interest rates and give people the impression that everything's better.

...

STEPHEN MOORE (GUEST): I think the Fed has gotten a lot of egg in their face today. I think a lot of Americans feel like the Fed has politically interfered with this election. I think Trump said something to that effect. And, so -- and you're right. Jerome Powell has said so many times, "Oh, we have to protect the Fed from political interference." But I'm here to tell you, I think this looks like political interference on the part of the Fed to help Kamala Harris over the goal line.

HANNITY: David Asman, your take?

DAVID ASMAN (GUEST): Steve is very diplomatic, I must say. I think it's a clear case of this guy putting his finger on the scale. I mean, that's what's happening. He could've waited till -- as Steve was saying, he's waited this long. He couldn't wait a month until the election is over to do this?

---

// deep state

mma

9 24

September 17, 2024, edition of Fox News' Jesse Watters Primetime

JESSE WATTERS (HOST): The Biden-Harris administration wants you to keep your nose out of their business. Former federal prosecutor Andy McCarthy says the feds are waging a prosecutorial turf war with the state of Florida to keep total control of the case. Why? Because Biden has his fingerprints all over this.

[...]

That's the Secret Service director admitting that president Biden is personally involved in Trump's security detail. Joe Biden, the man who can't protect our border has gotten personally involved in protecting Donald Trump. Biden is directing which assets Trump's allowed to have and not allowed to have. The same guy who raided Trump's house is in charge of protecting his life. The same guy who calls him a threat is in charge of protecting him from threats. And Trump's been shot twice -- almost twice.

If Joe Biden really wanted to provide Donald Trump with proper security, he would. But after two assassination attempts, there are still gaping holes. The Biden White House still labels him a threat. I guess it all makes sense. Why would you protect a man you consider a threat?

---

MAGA runs wild with random poster’s “ABC whistleblower” claims

How the right works to “create stories”

Written by Matt Gertz (https://www.mediamatters.org/author/matt-gertz)

Published 09/16/24 MMA

A wildly flimsy internet rumor launched by a random pro-Trump X poster about an “ABC whistleblower” who purportedly claims that the network rigged the September 10 presidential debate went viral in MAGA spaces over the last several days, with Donald Trump and his allies floating congressional investigations and potential regulatory retribution against ABC News in response.

The right-wing pundits and Republican politicians pushing the story don’t actually know who the “ABC whistleblower” is, if their claims are credible, or even if the person actually exists — but the purported document supposedly supports their preferred narrative that ABC News’ moderators were biased, so they’re running with it.

The saga, while laughable, shows the right's ongoing tendency to embrace and elevate anything that confirms their worldview. Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) laid out that strategy (https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/15/politics/vance-immigrants-pets-springfield-ohio-cnntv/index.html) in a Sunday interview on CNN, admitting that he pushed a debunked, racist, and demagogic claim (https://www.mediamatters.org/jd-vance/right-wing-media-are-celebrating-jd-vance-his-racist-lie-haitian-immigrants-are-widely) about Haitian immigrants eating pets because he wants to “create stories” that drive news coverage of immigration.

In the instance of the absurd “whistleblower” claim, Trump's allies trotted it out as they tried to cover (https://www.mediamatters.org/donald-trump/rights-post-debate-assault-abc-preview-trumps-authoritarian-agenda) for his flailing September 10 debate performance. Right-wing media figures lashed out at ABC News and its moderators David Muir and Linsey Davis with deranged invective and absurd conspiracy theories. And Trump himself said in an interview the following morning that “they ought to take away their license,” reiterating his support for government retribution against news outlets that displease him.

Then on September 12, a “verified” but obscure X poster with the handle “Black Insurrectionist--I FOLLOW BACK TRUE PATRIOTS” claimed (https://x.com/DocNetyoutube/status/1834280373230207089) they would release “an affidavit from an ABC whistleblower” by the end of the weekend. “The affidavit states how the Harris campaign was given sample question which were essentially the same questions that were given during the debate and separate assurances of fact checking Donald Trump and that she would NOT be fact checked,” the poster wrote.

Right-wing pundits had no reason to take claims from “Black Insurrectionist” at face value — other than the fact that the story confirmed their preexisting biases.

A casual review of recent activity from the “Black Insurrectionist” account — which has posted to X more than 32,700 times over the 10 months (https://x.com/DocNetyoutube) since its November 2023 launch — reveals a strong (https://x.com/DocNetyoutube/status/1819422160630239621) tendency (https://x.com/DocNetyoutube/status/1829302926017524091) for unhinged (https://x.com/DocNetyoutube/status/1826429207506792864), conspiracy-minded (https://x.com/DocNetyoutube/status/1832770730527789395), and violent (https://x.com/DocNetyoutube/status/1832949085231300615) pro-Trump rants.

One August post describes (https://x.com/DocNetyoutube/status/1821237381615566999) Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as “disgusting creatures” and their supporters as “the delightful cesspool of humanity we are fighting here today” who may be “just plain flat out disgusting pedophiles.”

Other posts detail the need (https://x.com/DocNetyoutube/status/1829931054481703075) for “70 million people to do mass civil disobedience that will halt this country” to prevent Harris from winning, perhaps via a mass withdrawal (https://x.com/DocNetyoutube/status/1829952385558385047) of cash from banks aimed at damaging the economy unless “the government just does what we want.”

It beggars belief that this is the person a credible “whistleblower” would entrust with an exclusive story of this magnitude, rather than a mainstream news outlet that would verify it or even an established right-wing one willing to promote the claims without due diligence.

The previewed “whistleblower” claim nonetheless went viral in MAGA spaces (https://newrepublic.com/post/185939/maga-trump-debate-conspiracy-abc-fact-check-questions?utm_source=Twitter&utm_campaign=SF_TNR&utm_medium=social) — and got all the way to Trump himself in less than seven hours. The former president claimed (https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/113127223252339012) on Truth Social that evening that “people are saying that Comrade Kamala Harris had the questions from Fake News ABC” and that “ABC’s license should be TERMINATED” if that is the case, before reposting (https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/113127304119619754) an account claiming that an “ABC whistleblower allegedly will release an affidavit” showing that “the Harris campaign was given sample questions.”

ABC News denied (https://www.thedailybeast.com/abc-denies-kamala-harris-was-given-questions-before-trump-debate) the allegations, with a spokesperson telling The Daily Beast, “Absolutely not. Harris was not given any questions before the debate.”

On Sunday morning, hours before the affidavit was to be released, a new wrinkle emerged as MAGA figures began suggesting the “whistleblower” had (conveniently for ABC) died.

“The ABC whistleblower who claimed Kamala Harris was given debate questions ahead of the debate has died in a car crash according to news reports,” wrote (https://x.com/mtgreenee/status/1835289676959064119) Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) on X, echoing (https://x.com/medrakemd/status/1835279697355174332) random (https://x.com/Angiepolicelli2/status/1835268523909616111) accounts (https://x.com/jackstr42679640/status/1835095271472349633).

Please note that this makes absolutely no sense: How could reports detail the death of a person who had never been identified?

NBC News’ Brandy Zadrozny ultimately tracked down (https://x.com/brandyzadrozny/status/1835310554614833346) the source of the story, an article headlined “ABC News Whistleblower in Kamala Harris Debate Question Scandal Dies in Maryland Crash” posted on a “junk AI-written website.” A few hours later, Greene acknowledged (https://x.com/mtgreenee/status/1835356711139319850) that “this story appears to be false and I’m glad to hear it” but added, “We need a serious investigation into the whistleblower’s report that Kamala Harris was given debate questions ahead of time from ABC!”

The totally implausible idea that news reports had revealed the mysterious death of a “whistleblower” who had never been publicly named served to drive more attention to the “affidavit,” as Greene demonstrated.

“Black Insurrectionist” then released (https://x.com/DocNetyoutube/status/1835358499548602666) what they claimed was the “affidavit” that afternoon. It appears to be a Microsoft Word document whose text features internal inconsistencies (https://x.com/OAlexanderDK/status/1835354947472277836) and grammatical errors. All identifying information about its author and any evidence it had been notarized or submitted to a court is redacted.

The purported affiant claims to have worked in “technical and administrative positions” but nonetheless offers detailed claims about communications between ABC News and the Harris campaign. And remember, the document was published by a random pseudonymous X poster with a history of unhinged statements.

“Black Insurrectionist” explained (https://x.com/DocNetyoutube/status/1835375378094838154) that the report could be trusted due to the poster’s record, which included apparently having prior knowledge of the July attempt on Trump’s life: “A couple days before Trump attempted assassination, I made a post (which I had never done before) was something big was about to go off.”

And indeed, that was enough for the likes of MAGA figures like Benny Johnson (https://x.com/bennyjohnson/status/1835347010527822267) (2.7 million X followers) and Eric Trump (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4023901) (4.6 million) and Bill Ackman (https://x.com/billackman/status/1835395550897947044?s=46) (1.4 million).

By Monday morning, Rep. Dan Meuser (R-PA) was telling (https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-business/fox-business-rep-meuser-pushes-ridiculous-internet-rumor-about-harris-getting-debate) Fox host Maria Bartiromo that Congress would investigate claims from the ABC “whistleblower.”

Video

CitationFrom the September 16, 2024, edition of Fox Business' Mornings with Maria

“Fortunately we now have a whistleblower, and I'm going to tell you something, Maria, we're going to do what we can to bring ABC in and have them answer some questions and as well as have this whistleblower and see what's going on as they're trying to tear down the First Amendment,” Meuser told Bartiromo on Fox Business’ Mornings with Maria.

“I'm glad you mentioned this because Fox News is reaching out to ABC for response to that affidavit,” she replied. “We've reached out to ABC to verify the affidavit and for a statement on these accusations, congressman, but this affidavit and this whistleblower story is gaining traction.”

“Yes, absolutely, and as it should,” Meuser replied. “We actually don't need a hearing to know what we saw. But we're going to look to do it so as we can provide some evidence as to how manipulative they are.”

In the past, Bartiromo’s willingness to run (https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-business/maria-bartiromos-wild-and-kind-racist-election-conspiracy-theory-collapses-immediately#paragraph--narrative-item--3464732) with extraordinary but evidence-free claims that happened to bolster her preexisting views helped secure a massive defamation settlement from her employer.

Apparently that wasn’t enough to change her approach. But her behavior, while deplorable, is not anomalous — this total rejection of evidentiary standards in order to “create stories” is a hallmark of the conspiratorial right, from lies about election fraud to Haitians eating pets.

---

aha odd own goal? famous dog adopt after gov wn 10 yo son Gus

reverse irresistable greens kill whales?

trump lie is big liability origin townhall

contest post story no shoot gravel pit

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/tim-walz-dog-scout-right-wing-conspiracy-1235088197/

Conservatives Have Invented a Conspiracy About Tim Walz’s Dog

Right-wing commentators are once again barking up the wrong tree

---

mma

September 11, 2024, edition of Candace Owens, posted to Rumble

CANDACE OWENS: This is how you know you're getting close to truth. I mean, what a ridiculous reason to take a video down. You can't say the words satanic cults. Obviously, there is one. That's the only reason why you would say no one can hear this is because there was truth in that. And I will be posting that interview on to X later today, and you can still find that on Spotify, Apple, and here on Rumble.

So I advise you listen to it before they try to delete these things off of the internet because I'm still convinced that the World Economic Forum running that simulation that they did a while ago about what would happen if we had an internet pandemic and they had to force shut down the entire internet -- I still think they're going to do that, just like they predicted the COVID pandemic. I think they're essentially running tests to see what would happen if they brought down the internet so that they could sanitize it, as they said in that simulation. They said we're going to have to sanitize the internet if there's just a virus that's all over the web. We, the government, are gonna have to take control just like with COVID. But this time, it's going to be on the web.

So I really do encourage people to be conspiracy theorists. Consider that the government is showing you their hand and are telling you what they want to do because they realize that too many people are waking up to what's happening today. Print things out, buy books, get them into your possession, and make sure that we stay organized, that we have our own websites, that we have our own technology. It's why I'm building my own database. We're gonna have to do that. But don't just rely on the internet. Like I said, buy books, get hard copies, photocopy the things that you need to remember, write them down, go old school, that's really going to be our only guard against what I believe to be a government that fully just wants to wipe out history so that they can just make us live in an ever Orwellian present.

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After Trump's flailing performance, some MAGA figures falsely claim Harris was wearing an earpiece at the debate

The perennial claim goes back nearly two decades, as right-wing media figures have routinely claimed that candidates were wearing secret earpieces during debates

Written by Jack Winstanley (https://www.mediamatters.org/author/jack-winstanley) & Kayla Gogarty (https://www.mediamatters.org/author/kayla-gogarty)

Research contributions from Payton Armstrong (https://www.mediamatters.org/author/payton-armstrong), Olivia Little (https://www.mediamatters.org/author/olivia-little) & Noah Dowe (https://www.mediamatters.org/author/noah-dowe)

Published 09/11/24 mma

pix

CitationInfowars

Right-wing and far-right media figures are circulating the false claim that Vice President Kamala Harris was wearing a secret earpiece during the debate, implying that she was being fed responses.

The claim — which right-wing figures have lobbed at presidential candidates for decades — gained traction across social media, including on X (formerly Twitter) and TikTok, where videos asserting that Harris was wearing a secret device earned at least 1.5 million views.

Trump ally Laura Loomer (https://www.mediamatters.org/laura-loomer/guide-laura-loomer-trump-ally-and-pro-white-nationalism-bigot), who has previously used a slur (https://www.mediamatters.org/laura-loomer/close-trump-ally-laura-loomer-repeatedly-calls-kamala-harris-slur) and racist, sexist language to deride Harris, claimed (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4023675) in a post on X that Harris made an “interesting choice of earrings” for the debate and showed an image of a person wearing a Nova H1 audio earring device.

According to Icebach Sound Solutions, the manufacturer of the Nova H1 (https://icebachsound.com/products/), it is “wireless earphones embedded in a pair of pearl earrings.” However, Newsweek reported (https://www.newsweek.com/kamala-harris-conspiracy-theory-trump-debate-nova-h1-audio-earrings-1951917) that the Nova H1 does not appear to be available for commercial sale and that backers of the Nova H1’s Kickstarter campaign have been asking for updates on their unreceived earrings for over a year. Newsweek also noted that social media users said Harris’ earrings looked like a pair from Tiffany & Co.

Nevertheless, other right-wing media figures and conspiracy theorists jumped on the claim that Harris was supposedly wearing the wireless earphones.

Naomi Wolf, who has repeatedly pushed (https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/fox-keeps-hosting-pandemic-conspiracy-theorist-naomi-wolf) COVID-19 conspiracy theories, suggested (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4023676) in a social media post that Nova be required to release sales records.

Infowars host Alex Jones suggested (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4023677) that Harris was wearing Nova earrings in a social media post before claiming (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4023657) that “this is dead on the same earring” and “Kamala clearly was wearing this system.”

Video

CitationFrom the September 10, 2024, edition of Infowars' The Alex Jones Show

Several other far-right figures pushed the claim (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4023672) on social media, with some alleging that Harris was “using assistance” during the debate. At least one post had a “community note (https://www.wired.com/story/x-community-notes-disinformation/)” attached to it, stating that Harris was wearing earrings produced by Tiffany & Co., not the Nova H1’s.

Other right-wing media figures claimed that Harris was given the questions ahead of time (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4023692) in their flailing attempts to explain how she outperformed Trump (https://www.mediamatters.org/donald-trump/trumps-debate-debacle-put-gops-dangerous-obsession-maga-media-nonsense-display) on the debate stage.

Media Matters has also identified numerous TikTok videos — with over 1.5 million combined views (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4023693) — that question whether Harris had an “ear piece in” and share images of the Nova earrings.

pix/vid]

One video, which has over 917,000 views (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4023695), shows an image of Harris’ ear next to an image of what it implies are the Nova H1 earrings, plays audio of former President Barack Obama discussing the importance of the presidency, and overlays text asking, “Kamala wearing Nova H1 earring headphones?”

Video

CitationFrom a September 11, 2024, video uploaded to TikTok

Another video (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4023687), which has over 525,000 views (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4023694), shows Harris at the debate wearing earrings, plays audio saying “welcome to the shit show,” and overlays text that says, “Everyone go look up Nova H1 audio earring on Google before they delete the site!!!!”

Right-wing media figures have claimed for over two decades that presidential candidates have worn secret earpieces during debates. While Harris is the most recent target of such claims, similar accusations were leveled at Al Gore (https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2000/07/why-was-al-gore-wearing-an-earpiece.html) in 2000, George W. Bush (https://x.com/Shayan86/status/1833868187806372269) in 2004, Hillary Clinton (https://www.mediamatters.org/donald-trump/trump-ally-roger-stones-teleconference-was-full-lies-and-smears#::text=Stone%20Claimed%20Clinton%20Wore%20An%20Earpiece%20During%20Debate%3A%20%E2%80%9CThe%20Fix%20Was%20In%E2%80%9D) in 2016, and Joe Biden (https://www.mediamatters.org/facebook/ridiculous-biden-earpiece-conspiracy-theory-bounced-around-online-fever-swamps-fox-picked) after a 2020 debate.

YYY 00

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Trump attends 9/11 anniversary with Laura Loomer, who shared video claiming “9/11 was an Inside Job!” (https://www.mediamatters.org/laura-loomer/trump-attends-911-anniversary-laura-loomer-who-shared-video-claiming-911-was-inside)

09/11/24 MMA

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fox business guest and Project 2025 contributor Stephen Moore dabbles with conspiracy theory that monthly jobs reports are artificially inflated 09/06/24 mma

https://www.mediamatters.org/stephen-moore/fox-business-guest-and-project-2025-contributor-stephen-moore-dabbles-conspiracy)

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Fox News panel slams the Inflation Reduction Act with data that’s 2 years out of date (https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/fox-news-panel-slams-inflation-reduction-act-data-thats-2-years-out-date)

09/06/24 mma

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tenet media

mma 9 24

MAGA personalities

Charlie Kirk

Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk posted in response to the DOJ election threats task force: “The regime is ramping up its fear campaign ahead of November” and in a separate post, “It's 2016 all over again.” [Twitter/X, 9/4/24, 9/4/24]

TimCast

Timcast co-host Ian Crossland suggested that the situation may be a “psyop within a psyop.” [YouTube, Timcast, 9/4/24]

:{:{Video:}:

CitationFrom the September 4, 2024 edition of Timcast IRL

Jack Posobiec

MAGA personality Jack Posobiec wrote, “Crazy how all the Russia collusion stuff reappears the day after Trump says he is going to declass the Epstein client list… Really makes you think.” [Twitter/X, 9/4/24]

Dan Bongino

Right-wing radio host Dan Bongino wrote, “Trust absolutely NOTHING emanating from the DOJ or FBI that even remotely whiffs of politics.” He added, “Especially before an election, where they have a deep and troubled history of election interference in defense of their democrat allies.” [Twitter/X, 9/4/24]

Rogan O'Handley

MAGA commentator Rogan O'Handley, also known as DC Draino, wrote a long post claiming the Justice Department is weaponized against MAGA, writing, “Today’s DOJ indictment mentioning prominent MAGA Youtubers is just a preview of what the weaponized Kamala regime will do to every prominent voice in the Patriot movement.” He added, “The regime knows it’s being rejected by the American people and is desperately lashing out" and “No more distractions, no more purity tests for Trump, no more BS - we ALL have to fight like hell to get him elected or most of us are going to end up targeted by the Deep State.” [Twitter/X, 9/4/24]

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see normalizing

an 9 24

Dangerously misleading': How the beltway media sanitizes Trump’s 'unhinged' rambling

Alex Henderson (https://www.alternet.org/author/alex-henderson)

September 04, 2024

Former President Donald Trump (https://www.alternet.org/2020/11/trump) often accuses the mainstream media of pushing "fake news" when they give him any type of negative coverage. The mainstream media, Trump argues, are hopelessly biased against him. And Trump has, at times, even accused right-wing Fox News and Fox Business of being unfair to him in their coverage.

But journalist Parker Molloy has a totally different perspective.

In an article published by The New Republic (https://newrepublic.com/article/185530/media-criticism-trump-sanewashing-problem) on September 4, Molloy argues that many mainstream media reporters are guilty of "sanitizing" Trump in their coverage and downplaying just how "unhinged" his "incoherent ramblings" are.

READ MORE:Deep-red states meet 'wall of hostility' in forcing Christian nationalism on public schools (https://www.alternet.org/public-schools-red-states/)

Molloy previously addressed this topic in an article published by Media Matters (https://www.mediamatters.org/coronavirus-covid-19/reframing-trumps-incoherent-inaccurate-ramblings-bland-political-copy) on March 12, 2020. And the reporter believes the problem has "only worsened" since then.

"As Trump's statements grow increasingly unhinged in his old age," Molloy warns (https://newrepublic.com/article/185530/media-criticism-trump-sanewashing-problem), "major news outlets continue to reframe his words, presenting a dangerously misleading picture to the public."

Molloy cites the New York Times' recent coverage (https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/31/us/elections/conservative-moms-for-liberty-trump.html) of Trump's speech at Moms for Liberty's annual summit as an example.

"While speaking at an event put on by the extremist group Moms for Liberty," Molloy observes (https://newrepublic.com/article/185530/media-criticism-trump-sanewashing-problem), "Trump spread a baseless conspiracy theory that 'your kid goes to school and comes home a few days later with an operation' — referring to transition-related surgeries for trans people. In their write-up of the event, a glowing piece about how Trump 'charmed' this group of 'conservative moms,' the Times didn't even mention the moment where he blathered on and on about a crazy conspiracy that has and will never happen."

READ MORE:'Gender chasm': GOP panics over huge Harris lead among women as Trump chases 'bro vote' (https://www.alternet.org/huge-harris-lead/?utm_source=push_notifications)

Molloy emphasizes that (https://newrepublic.com/article/185530/media-criticism-trump-sanewashing-problem) reporters do their audience a disservice when they treat Trump like a normal politician and fail to adequately report the more "unhinged" things he says.

"This 'sanewashing' of Trump's statements isn't just poor journalism; it's a form of misinformation that poses a threat to democracy," Molloy argues (https://newrepublic.com/article/185530/media-criticism-trump-sanewashing-problem). "By continually reframing Trump's incoherent and often dangerous rhetoric as conventional political discourse, major news outlets are failing in their duty to inform the public and are instead providing cover for increasingly erratic behavior from a former — and potentially future — president."

Molloy continues (https://newrepublic.com/article/185530/media-criticism-trump-sanewashing-problem), "The consequences of this journalistic malpractice extend far beyond misleading headlines. By laundering Trump's words in this fashion, the media is actively participating in the erosion of our shared reality."

READ MORE:'They all think you’re nuts': Latest Conway ad shows GOP voices in Trump’s head (https://www.alternet.org/latest-conway-ad-trump/?utm_source=push_notifications)

*Read Parker Molloy's full article for The New Republic at this link (https://newrepublic.com/article/185530/media-criticism-trump-sanewashing-problem).

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mma 8 24

August 26, 2024, edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends

RACHEL CAMPOS-DUFFY (FOX NEWS HOST): What's the other side? It's a globalist ticket with these mystery puppet masters running it. We don't really know who is making the decisions on the other side. And I think this is so interesting because so many times people say, you know, "we want unity" and they accuse Donald Trump, in particular, of being so divisive and here you have RFK Jr., you know, a prominent Democrat and Donald Trump, the nominee for the Republican Party, reaching across the aisle, to find common ground. And I was thinking, Ainsley, what are those common issues?

It's the border. The economy, government surveillance, free speech, peace in the world, and food policy. Think about the other side, we just had a week of the Democrat convention. I can't tell you what their policies are. Other than abortion. And so I just think these are huge issues, the one's that I laid out for you that RFK and Donald Trump agree on. I think this is a real threat just to the system and kind of speaks to what I always thought, Donald Trump isn't really running against Kamala Harris, he is running against a corrupt system. And I think he's promising, along with RFK Jr. and JD Vance, to sort of blow up that system, expose the corruption. And nowhere do you see that more than in our food policy.

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Harris AI crowd size conspiracy theory runs rampant on TikTok (https://www.mediamatters.org/tiktok/harris-ai-crowd-size-conspiracy-theory-runs-rampant-tiktok)

08/13/24 mma

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Trump invokes far-right conspiracy theory about Justin Trudeau and Fidel Castro (https://www.mediamatters.org/donald-trump/trump-invokes-far-right-conspiracy-theory-about-justin-trudeau-and-fidel-castro)

08/07/24 mma

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RESEARCH/STUDY

Biden suspended his campaign and right-wing media responded with conspiracy theories

Conservatives demanded proof the president was still alive, claimed Biden was a “hostage” in a “soft coup,” and even suggested his decision was part of an “inside job” to assassinate Trump

WRITTEN BY JACK WINSTANLEY (https://www.mediamatters.org/author/jack-winstanley)

PUBLISHED 07/26/24

Following President Joe Biden’s announcement that he was suspending his 2024 reelection campaign, right-wing media figures pushed wild conspiracy theories alleging that the president did not make the decision himself or that it was a backup plan to defeat Donald Trump after the failed assassination attempt against the former president. Conservative media figures repeatedly asked for “proof of life,” claimed Biden was being held “hostage,” and even suggested that Biden's withdrawal letter was forged.

President Joe Biden suspended his reelection campaign

On June 21, Biden announced that he would no longer seek reelection and would serve out the remainder of his term. Shortly after sharing a letter announcing that he was dropping out of the race, Biden endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to be the Democratic nominee. NBC News, [7/21/24 (https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/president-joe-biden-drops-2024-presidential-race-rcna159867)]

Biden gave an Oval Office Address about his decision to end his reelection campaign on July 24 — his first public address since announcing the decision while recovering from COVID-19. Biden returned to the White House on July 23 after spending time recovering at his residence in Delaware. News of the president's illness added fuel to the ongoing conversation about his age and fitness for office. NPR, 7/24/24 (https://www.npr.org/2024/07/24/g-s1-12996/biden-address-kamala-harris-2024-election); The Associated Press, 7/22/24 (https://apnews.com/article/biden-covid-rehoboth-beach-harris-2024-ef4d643927247c59868607a80129c190); CNN, [7/18/24 (https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/18/politics/joe-biden-health-and-age-scrutiny/index.html)]

Right-wing media figures speculated that the withdrawal letter signaled that Biden had actually died

On Infowars, Alex Jones asked, “Did they kill Biden?” after showing a printed copy of Biden's announcement letter. He added that “that’s a very serious question in this climate that you’ve got to ask,” then likened the situation to the movie Weekend at Bernie’s. Infowars, The Alex Jones Show, [7/22/24 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4021972)]

The following day, Jones doubled down and claimed that Biden was “basically being held inside that Delaware encampment while the deep state goes around and secures who’ll be in what position.” He also stated that Biden “sounded like he’s on death’s doorstep, and/or it was AI or something,” while calling into an event after contracting COVID and that “most people think he’s dead.” Infowars, The Alex Jones Show, [7/23/24 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4022007)]

Fox News anchor Dana Perino asked for “proof of life” while discussing Biden’s withdrawal. She explained, “You can forgive people for wondering if we are living Weekend at Bernie's right now.” Fox News, Fox News Central, [7/21/24 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4022010)]

Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk asked, “Can we get a proof of life of Joe Biden?” while reacting to the announcement of his withdrawal. Kirk went on to imply that Biden was removed from the campaign, calling the situation a “soft coup.” Real America’s Voice, The Charlie Kirk Show, [7/22/24 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4021975)]

Following Biden’s announcement, conspiracy theorist Stew Peters posted videos of the president at public events, adding, “The real question is how long has Joe Biden been dead?” Twitter/X, 7/22/24 (https://x.com/realstewpeters/status/1815436422863548593); Media Matters, [3/13/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/coronavirus-covid-19/guide-stew-peters-violent-rhetoric-white-nationalism-anti-lgbtq-bigotry-and)]

- Sean Davis, CEO and co-founder of conservative outlet The Federalist, commented that Biden has “made no public appearance” since he dropped out of the race, adding, “Also: do we have any evidence Biden is even alive right now?” His post then claimed, “This is banana republic insanity.” Twitter/X, [7/21/24 (https://x.com/seanmdav/status/1815199731053969544)]

Former Trump lawyer and podcast host Jenna Ellis seemingly suggested that Biden had died, stating, “Americans deserve proof of life for our current President.” Twitter/X, [7/22/24 (https://x.com/realJennaEllis/status/1815378542210712022)]

Pro-Trump lawyer Harmeet Dillon asked in a social media post, “Would anyone else here like to know the whereabouts and current health status of President Biden?” Twitter/X, [7/21/24 (https://x.com/pnjaban/status/1815213933554532369)]

An article by The Federalist stated that Biden “is supposedly dealing with a Covid infection, has yet to be seen alive.” The article added, “If Joe Biden is coherent enough to govern a global superpower for another six months, he can tell Americans about his decision to their faces.” The Federalist, [7/22/24 (https://thefederalist.com/2024/07/22/does-biden-even-know-hes-not-running-for-president-anymore/)]

Some right-wing media figures claimed that Biden's withdrawal letter was forged or even evidence of a “coup”

Trump ally Laura Loomer claimed “Biden didn’t even write this letter” and postulated that “the signature is likely forged on the letter as well.” She also claimed that Democrats “are pretending to be Joe Biden whose corpse is literally rotting away inside the White House,” and that he “is too cognitively damaged to write a letter or comprehend what is going on.” Twitter/X, 7/21/24 (https://x.com/LauraLoomer/status/1815217607932326297); Media Matters, [2/1/24 (https://www.mediamatters.org/laura-loomer/i-really-do-believe-iq-science-laura-loomer-trump-ally-floated-potential-white-house-0)]

On his Rumble livestream, Donald Trump Jr. speculated that Biden had been pressured into dropping out of the race, asking, “What did they bribe him with? What did they promise? Or perhaps more likely, what did they threaten him with?” Rumble, Triggered with Donald Trump Jr., [7/22/24 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4021995)]

Right-wing podcast host Benny Johnson claimed that portions of the letter showed that Biden is “a hostage right now” and that he “did not want to write this.” YouTube, The Benny Johnson Show, [7/21/24 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4021976)]

Right-wing commentator Mike Crispi claimed of the letter that Biden “didn’t write a word of it” and “doesn’t realize what was written for him.” Crispi also claimed that Biden did not get 81 million votes in 2020, saying, “The ‘81 million votes’ lie will be the greatest scam in the history of our country.” Twitter/X, 7/21/24 (https://x.com/MikeCrispiNJ/status/1815084216838967536); USA Today, [12/19/23 (https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2023/12/19/how-many-people-voted-biden-2020/71758521007/)]

Right-wing personality Alex Lorusso (known online as ALX) shared Biden’s announcement and several pictures of Biden’s signature, asking, “Can anyone find another example of Joe Biden underlining his signature?” Twitter/X, 7/21/24 (https://x.com/alx/status/1815207571403178146); Media Matters, [11/22/22 (https://www.mediamatters.org/twitter/elon-musk-unilaterally-reinstating-banned-twitter-accounts-despite-assuring-civil-rights#::text=spread%20its%20content.-,ALX,-Right%2Dwing%20personality)]

Infowars host Owen Shroyer shared a graphic comparing Biden’s signature from the announcement with a number of executive orders, noting the announcement was “blatant criminal forgery.” Shroyer also claimed that the withdrawal announcement “was a legit coup” and asked “why no word from Biden himself?” Twitter/X, [7/22/24 (https://x.com/OwenShroyer1776/status/1815270551243338061)]

John Sabal (known online as “QAnon John”) claimed in a social media post that “we IN FACT lived through a COUP” and that “NEVER before has there been a time where a Sitting President steps down & leaves nothing but a note.” He also shared a graphic comparing Biden’s signature from the announcement letter with several executive orders, adding, “One more thing…Biden did NOT sign that letter.” Gab, 7/22/24 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4021970); Business Insider, [10/16/20 (https://www.businessinsider.com/how-qanon-infiltrated-the-gop-2020-10)]

Right-wing social media personality Amuse also cast doubt on the authenticity of the announcement, asking, “Why didn’t Biden use official stationary? Why does Biden’s signature look forged? Where is Joe?” Twitter/X, [7/22/24 (https://x.com/amuse/status/1815309115431735787)]

Former Fox News producer Kyle Becker said the signature was “suspect” because Biden’s name was underlined and said the “letter not on official letterhead.” Twitter/X, [7/21/24 (https://x.com/kylenabecker/status/1815224189931909567)]

BlazeTV host Sara Gonzalez compared a previous signature from Biden with the signature on the announcement letter, adding, “Did Joe really sign this?” Twitter/X, [7/21/24 (https://x.com/SaraGonzalesTX/status/1815115565624631790)]

Some right-wing media figures speculated that the timing of Biden’s withdrawal indicated it was somehow connected to the attempted assassination of Trump

The Federalist’s Sean Davis: “Biden didn’t drop out of the race until after the attempts to imprison and assassinate Donald Trump failed. Do you think that is coincidence?” Twitter/X, [7/21/24 (https://x.com/seanmdav/status/1815085238919348648)]

Replying to Biden’s announcement, Trump ally Laura Loomer stated, “Now you all see why they tried to assassinate Donald Trump. This was all planned.” Twitter/X, [7/21/24 (https://x.com/LauraLoomer/status/1815083362345738345)]

Loomer also claimed, “The only reason @JoeBiden is dropping out today is because his administration plotted an assassination of Donald Trump and missed.” Loomer continued: “It’s a lot easier to drop out over ‘peer pressure’ and an illness than to be forced to resign once the American people learn all about how the Biden admin plotted to put a bullet in Donald Trump’s head. This is why he dropped out the day before the Secret Service Director Kim Cheatle was supposed to testify tomorrow in front of Congress. Now the media will be distracted. The cover up of the Biden admin’s and Deep State’s plot to assassinate Donald Trump is in full swing now. We can’t let them get away with this.” Twitter/X, [7/21/24 (https://x.com/LauraLoomer/status/1815101592984523238)]

Loomer also posted: “I said @JoeBiden would get diagnosed with an illness and then drop out right before @SecretService Director Kim Cheatle was set to testify before Congress about the inside job plot to assassinate President Trump.” Twitter/X, [7/21/24 (https://x.com/LauraLoomer/status/1815096664870232389)]

Pro-Trump social media personality Phillip Buchanan, known online as Catturd: “Joe dropped out because Democrats were desperate to change the Trump surging news cycle and the truth coming out about the obvious inside job assassination attempt.” Twitter/X, 7/21/24 (https://x.com/catturd2/status/1815087621078704326); Daily Dot, [7/25/23 (https://www.dailydot.com/news/who-is-catturd/)]

Right-wing commentator Bill Mitchell, who has repeatedly pushed conspiracy theories, posted, “Biden was waiting to see if the Trump assassination succeeded. When it failed, he was done.” Twitter/X, 7/21/24 (https://x.com/mitchellvii/status/1815105078711468409); Media Matters, [6/27/24 (https://www.mediamatters.org/donald-trump/trumps-meme-team-ally-brenden-dilley-uses-his-online-show-spew-threatening-and)]

Right-wing figure Paul Ingrassia: “The Deep State’s agenda to stop Trump: 1. Beat him in the polls = failed. 2. Convict and jail him = failed. 3. Assassinate him = failed. 4. Replace Biden = about to fail. Crazy times we’re living in. There’s no stopping President Trump!”Twitter/X, [7/21/24 (https://x.com/PaulIngrassia/status/1815087894656094267)]

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Right-wing media and social media users spread conspiracy theories about the Trump rally shooting

WRITTEN BY ALEX KAPLAN (https://www.mediamatters.org/author/alex-kaplan) & PAYTON ARMSTRONG (https://www.mediamatters.org/author/payton-armstrong)

RESEARCH CONTRIBUTIONS FROM JASON CAMPBELL (https://www.mediamatters.org/author/jason-campbell) & NOAH DOWE (https://www.mediamatters.org/author/noah-dowe)

PUBLISHED 07/16/24

Following the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania on July 13, right-wing media figures and social media users have spread baseless conspiracy theories and claims about the shooting.

They have amplified a 4chan hoax that the Secret Service gave a stand-down order during the shooting; made baseless allegations that Alex Soros was connected to the shooting; falsely claimed a protester at a 2016 Trump rally was the shooter; suggested the shooting could be attributed to the intelligence community, the “deep state,” foreign actors, or an “RNC/Israeli hit job”; and connected the assassination attempt to biblical prophecy and “the hand of God.”

A gunman attempted to shoot Trump at a July 13 rally

On July 13, a gunman opened fire at a Trump rally in Pennsylvania, injuring Trump, killing one rally attendee, and seriously wounding two others. The 20-year-old suspected gunman reportedly opened fire from a rooftop near the rally, and was fatally shot by the Secret Service. His motivation remains unclear. The New York Times, [7/14/24 (https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/14/us/politics/shooting-trump-rally.html)]

Far-right figures spread a 4chan hoax that there was a stand-down order before the shooting

A 4chan poster falsely claimed to be a law enforcement sniper who was at the Pennsylvania rally and said the Secret Service “refused to give the order to take out the perp.” A user on 4chan’s far-right “politically incorrect” message board (commonly known as “/pol/”) claimed to be “the officer in the famous photo of the two snipers on the roof at Trump's rally” and said that they “had the assassin in my sights for at least 3 minutes, but the head of the secret service refused to give the order to take out the perp.” The Associated Press reported that the claim was false, noting that “the Secret Service and the Butler Police Department say they have no agents, officers or employees with the name of the person claiming to be the sharpshooter.” 4chan, 7/14/24 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4021694); The Associated Press, [7/15/24 (https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-trump-shooting-secret-service-334166850448)]

Social media users earned tens of thousands of shares and likes promoting the 4chan post. Multiple users, including QAnon figure Nicholas Veniamin, shared the 4chan posts or its claims, raking up tens of thousands of shares and “likes” on X and Instagram. According to CrowdTangle, posts on Instagram sharing the 4chan hoax received more than 80,000 interactions. Twitter/X, 7/14/24 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4021699), 7/14/24 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4021701), 7/14/24 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4021702), 7/15/24 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4021711); Instagram, 7/14/24 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4021704); CrowdTangle, accessed 7/16/24 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4021732); Media Matters, [3/4/22 (https://www.mediamatters.org/spotify/despite-its-rules-spotify-still-hosting-qanon-supporting-shows)]

A post amplifying the 4chan hoax was one of the top posts on Reddit’s conspiracy subreddit. On the prominent subreddit “r/conspiracy,” a user posted an image of the 4chan post — though they added, “BIG grain of salt recommended.” The post was one of the top posts in terms of “upvotes” in a 24-hour period between July 14 and July 15. Reddit, 7/14/24 (https://archive.ph/eicFh), 7/15/24 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4021696); Media Matters, [9/18/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/reddit/conspiracy-subreddit-full-antisemitism-despite-reddit-rules-prohibiting-such-content)]

QAnon figures revived a baseless conspiracy theory that Alex Soros had threatened Trump, apparently suggesting it was connected to the shooting

In January, Alex Soros was baselessly accused of threatening Trump after posting an article from The Atlantic on social media. Conspiracy theorists baselessly accused Alex Soros — the son of billionaire philanthropist George Soros and a frequent target of right-wing attacks and antisemitic conspiracy theories — of threatening Trump after he posted an Atlantic article that featured stock photos of a bullet hole and someone holding cash on X (formerly Twitter). Media Matters, [1/23/24 (https://www.mediamatters.org/george-soros/far-right-figures-baselessly-claim-alex-soros-posted-article-atlantic-direct-threat)]

QAnon figure Woke Societies after the shooting: “Don’t forgot Alex Soros posted this in January of this year. Demons.” Telegram, 7/13/24 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4021706); Media Matters, [4/18/22 (https://www.mediamatters.org/qanon-conspiracy-theory/apple-podcasts-has-allowed-multiple-qanon-shows-its-platform-despite-its)]

QAnon figure Pepe Lives Matter: “Remember when Alex Soros tweeted a bullet shot with the number 47 in this ominous tweet that people thought was about Donald Trump and now he was just shot.” Telegram, 7/13/24 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4021707), [1/7/21 (https://x.com/Shayan86/status/1347333059327221761)]

QAnon figure Ben Moore, known online as “Sun Tzu,” responded to a user claiming Alex Soros “hinted at what was coming in a X post” by asking if George and Alex Soros should “be designated as enemy combatants at this point.” Twitter/X, 7/15/24 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4021713); Media Matters, [4/24/24 (https://www.mediamatters.org/qanon-conspiracy-theory/board-members-michael-flynns-organization-are-allegedly-sending-leads-qanon)]

Ann Vandersteel, who has promoted QAnon, posted an image of Alex Soros’ tweet with the text “Remember this?” Twitter/X, 7/13/24 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4021715); Media Matters, [6/7/24 (https://www.mediamatters.org/january-6-insurrection/group-far-right-media-figures-using-social-media-recruit-its-newly-formed)]

A user on the online forum GreatAwakening, which is dedicated to the QAnon conspiracy theory, shared a post saying “Y’all remember when Alex Soros posted $47 and a bullet hole?” GreatAwakening, 7/14/24 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4021710); Media Matters, [6/30/20 (https://www.mediamatters.org/reddit/pro-trump-forum-helping-other-toxic-subreddits-relaunch-outside-reddit)]

Far-right figures falsely claimed a protester at a 2016 Trump rally was the shooter

QAnon figure QAnon John falsely claimed that “a guy affiliated with ANTIFA” was actually the shooter. John Sabal, known online as “QAnon John,” falsely posted that the shooter was actually “a guy affiliated with ANTIFA that was actually arrested back in 2016 for being involved in an Anti-Trump protest in Pittsburgh,” and that in response he was “calling on the FBI, DHS & DOJ to designate ANTIFA AS A DOMESTIC TERRORIST ORGANIZATION.” Reuters reported that the claim is false, noting that the 2016 protester was “not the suspect identified by the FBI as the shooter” and that the photo shared online “does not resemble the suspect identified by authorities.” Gab, 7/14/24 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4021718); Dallas Observer, 8/31/21 (https://www.dallasobserver.com/news/qanon-john-calls-for-military-mutiny-ahead-of-las-vegas-event-12301813); Reuters, 7/15/24 (https://www.reuters.com/fact-check/convicted-anti-trump-protester-falsely-identified-shooter-2024-07-15/); WTAE, [4/14/16 (https://www.wtae.com/article/donald-trump-supporters-protesters-come-out-for-his-first-pittsburgh-events/7479235)]

Longtime Trump ally Roger Stone claimed that “a number of people have contacted me to say that the shooter is not the man they’ve identified.” During an appearance on conspiracy theory network Infowars, Stone said that “a number of people have contacted me to say that the shooter is not the man they’ve identified, but rather” someone else — the same person mentioned by QAnon John — “who appears to more closely resemble the picture we've been shown that is allegedly the corpse of the shooter.” [Infowars, The Alex Jones Show, 7/15/24]

Far-right figures baselessly suggested the shooting could be attributed to the “intelligence agencies,” the “deep state,” foreign actors, or “an RNC/Israeli hit job”

White nationalist Nick Fuentes floated the idea that “the intelligence agencies” could have been behind Trump‘s shooting. During an X Space discussion following the attempted shooting, Fuentes claimed that “it was either the intelligence agencies or it was these other guys who are gonna benefit with a more favorable advocate in the White House” — after listing people and entities including former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Ukraine — who “tried to knock him out” with the attempted shooting. Twitter/X, [7/13/24 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4021722)]

Alex Jones claimed that the Trump shooting was “clearly” done by the “deep state.” In the X Space with Fuentes, Jones claimed of the attempted shooting, “Clearly this was deep state.” He said it was evidence of “the deep state trying to kill him,” adding, “This was no accident, in my view.” Twitter/X, [7/13/24 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4021723)]

White nationalist Stew Peters baselessly claimed it was “an RNC/Israeli hit job.” According to Peters, “Everyone is blaming Biden and the Dems when this was clearly an RNC/Israeli hit job.” Twitter/X, 7/13/24 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4021724); Media Matters, [3/13/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/coronavirus-covid-19/guide-stew-peters-violent-rhetoric-white-nationalism-anti-lgbtq-bigotry-and)]

Right-wing personality Candace Owens said that if she were a conspiracy theorist, she might think the FBI was behind the Trump shooting. While discussing on her YouTube show the FBI’s efforts to access the alleged shooter’s phone (which it has since done), Owens said, “If I were a conspiracy theorist, and I’m not — I’m not a conspiracy theorist — some people might be thinking, though, those conspiracy theorists might be thinking, like, maybe it’s because the FBI did it. Maybe the FBI doesn’t want to get into the phone that connects the kid to the deep state.” YouTube, Candace Owens, 7/15/24 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4021733); The New York Times, [7/15/24 (https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/15/us/politics/trump-shooting-fbi-gunman-phone.html)]

QAnon figure Clandestine claimed, “Whether this was a CIA-coordinated plot, or just a lone shooter, the Deep State are responsible regardless.” Jacob Creech, known online as “Clandestine,” added, “Either they planned the hit, or their years of violent rhetoric and endless MSM propaganda, created the vitriol that led to the attack.” Telegram, 7/14/24 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4021725); Anti-Defamation League, [4/5/22 (https://www.adl.org/resources/blog/unmasking-clandestine-figure-behind-viral-ukrainian-biolab-conspiracy-theory)]

Far-right Christian media and right-wing social media influencers invoked biblical prophecy and “the hand of God” in discussing the shooting

Charisma News, which has been a sponsor of the ReAwaken America Tour led by Michael Flynn, published multiple articles linking the assassination attempt to biblical prophecy. An article titled “3 Prophecies Fulfilled with the Trump Assassination Attempt” claimed that “at least three different prophetic voices have had words about something massive that was coming to America.” Another article, titled “Prophecy Foretold Attempted Assassination Months in Advance” and focused on a March 2024 interview with guest Brandon Biggs, stated that “the events of Saturday, July 13, appear to have fulfilled the prophecy Biggs gave in startlingly accurate fashion.” Charisma News, 7/14/24 (https://charismanews.com/news/3-prophecies-fulfilled-with-the-trump-assassination-attempt/), 7/14/24 (https://charismanews.com/news/prophecy-foretold-attempted-assassination-months-in-advance/); Rolling Stone, [2/28/23 (https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/steve-strang-charisma-media-trump-2024-election-1234687878/)]

Self-described prophet Amanda Grace said “prayer matters” because the assassination attempt was “meant to kill him and by the hand of God it grazed him” and claimed the “Lord warned” her that it would happen. Grace added: “Saul did this to David. This is that same spirit rising up. Saul attempted to kill David on multiple occasions and never was able to succeed.” She also suggested that God had warned her multiple times that Trump would be hurt, claiming that “the Lord warned [on] June 8” and “he warned it again two days ago.” YouTube, Ark of Grace Ministries, 7/13/24 (https://youtu.be/Im4OwlK_PgE); Media Matters, [5/30/24 (https://www.mediamatters.org/donald-trump/trump-and-his-maga-allies-increasingly-embrace-extreme-prophetic-media#::text=Leading%20prophetic%20media%20include%20the%20Victory%20Channel%E2%80%99s%20FlashPoint%2C%20streaming%20outlet%20Elijah%20Streams%2C%20and%20the%20ReAwaken%20America%20tour%2C%20which%20regularly%20features%20prophets%20like%20Julie%20Green%20and%20Amanda%20Grace%20as%20headline%20speakers.)] VID]

While discussing the assassination attempt on FlashPoint, commentator and self-described prophet Lance Wallnau mentioned a prophetic “decree” and attributed Trump’s survival to “the impulse of God or an angel that enabled him to not be hit.”Wallnau said that “the brush with mortality is a moment also for President Trump to realize that God himself is preserving him. And let’s agree together in this decree that he will have an ear to hear in every key situation what the spirit of God is actually saying. And he’ll wisely and shrewdly navigate, turning to the left or to the right as the wisdom of God dictates, and that he will stay one step ahead of death.” Twitter/X, 7/13/24 (https://x.com/lancewallnau/status/1812307681215995953); Rolling Stone, [9/29/22 (https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/lance-wallnau-doug-mastriano-christian-dominion-1234602214/)]

Far-right figures Dom Lucre and Jack Posobiec shared a video of supposed prophet Brandon Biggs predicting three months ago that Trump would be injured. Lucre wrote that “the prophet Brandon Bible’s prophecy about Donald Trump’s assassination attempt from 3 months ago has resurfaced” and said, “This has been biblical since day one.” Posobiec, who has a penchant for spreading conspiracy theories, amplified the video to his 2.5 million followers. Twitter/X, 7/14/24 (https://x.com/dom_lucre/status/1812387365576393058), 7/14/24 (https://x.com/JackPosobiec/status/1812451607583265183); The Washington Post, 8/15/17 (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/08/15/trump-retweets-right-wing-provocateur-known-for-pushing-false-conspiracy-theories/); Forbes, [7/27/23 (https://www.forbes.com/sites/conormurray/2023/07/27/twitter-suspends-then-unsuspends-popular-right-wing-user-who-tweeted-image-of-child-sexual-abuse/)]

Christian nationalist pastor Sean Feucht shared the video of Biggs and wrote, “Prophecy from March 14, 2024 about Trump being shot in the ear in an assassination attempt!” Twitter/X, 7/14/24 (https://x.com/seanfeucht/status/1812530778892591411); Media Matters, [9/14/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/turning-point-usa/right-wing-media-are-promoting-sean-feucht-christian-nationalist-singer-bringing)]

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mma

Jesse Watters claims “the CIA has interfered in the last two elections” to hurt Trump and could “go for the hat trick” in 2024

06/26/24

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AN 6 24

no lnx

alternet-

‘They could have killed me’: Trump's 2020 'Seattle whistleblower' finally revealed

Michael Flynn (center) leaves a rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., with Geoffrey Flohr aka "Yoda" (front) on Dec. 12, 2020. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

Jordan GreenandRaw Story June 23, 2024

The scene is straight from a discount bin spy novel.

A black SUV arrived at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport to collect Sabrina Keliikoa, a QAnon adherent and supervisor at the facility’s FedEx air freight terminal.

Keliikoa was scared out of her wits.

She did not want to go.

But late on this Friday night in early December 2020, Keliikoa felt as if she had no choice: A retired Michigan State Police officer nicknamed “Yoda” had just warned that her life was in danger.

Keliikoa called in another employee to finish her shift. She entered the vehicle driven by a Marine Corps veteran who had provided security for American diplomats in Iraq. They arrived at a hotel where the driver checked her in. There, Keliikoa stayed for the next two days. A rotating set of “guards” occupied the adjacent room in shifts.

What was possibly happening here?

As Keliikoa would later testify in legal deposition, a video of which Raw Story recently reviewed, a man entered her hotel room and asked her to write an affidavit about election ballots she’d seen — and considered suspicious — at the FedEx facility shortly after the 2020 election.

The man was part of a secretive team of Donald Trump supporters, operating without legal authority but under the leadership of former Trump national security adviser and retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, that aimed to obtain information they believed could be used in lawsuits to change the outcome of the election in Trump’s favor.

More generally, they hoped to undermine public confidence that Joe Biden had won the 2020 election.

Keliikoa described the experience as being “detained” and complained she became a “pawn” of people determined to use her.

“So, I got a phone call that said somebody is coming in from another state with illegal ballots, and they were going to be looking for me, and they were going to try to kill me,” Keliikoa testified. “And I started crying because this turned into the biggest s---show when it shouldn’t have been.”

The escapade showcases the absurd lengths Flynn and his team went to concoct evidence that Trump had the 2020 presidential election “stolen” from him.

These and other baseless allegations of election fraud would instill fury in Trump’s supporters, who by the thousands attacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, while attempting to prevent Congress from certifying the election.

These new revelations about Keliikoa’s ordeal also come at a time when Trump, who is expected to again be the Republican nominee for president, relentlessly claims that the multiple criminal prosecutions against him constitute an effort “to rig the presidential election of 2024.”

Trump’s script is familiar and predictable: He similarly made repeated claims well in advance of the 2020 election that the vote would be rigged. It’s an all-but-foregone conclusion that if Trump loses the 2024 election, he will exclaim, as he did then, that he actually won, and that Democrats, communists, the “deep state” and other perceived bogeymen stole it from him.

And if history is a guide, high-profile Trump surrogates can again be expected to again chase phantom evidence and spin wild tales in service of Trump’s I-can’t-lose approach to campaigning.

‘A plane full of ballots’

Until now, Keliikoa — the woman who held the information so feverishly sought by Trump’s supporters following the 2020 election — was known only as “the Seattle whistleblower.”

Keliikoa’s deposition, taken in March, fills in details about the “stop the steal” escapade and are being reported for the first time by Raw Story.

The seeds of Keliikoa's ordeal began germinating in November 2020. An array of high-profile Trump supporters had initiated a frenzied effort to collect affidavits that they hoped would bolster claims of election fraud, which pro-Trump attorney Sidney Powell detailed in a series of lawsuits.

The goal: overturn the presidential election results in tightly contested states such as Arizona, Georgia and Michigan, and more generally, to undermine confidence in the election.

With his charisma and the respect he commanded as a retired lieutenant general, Michael Flynn, who had briefly served as Trump's national security advisor, quickly emerged as a de facto leader among the group of “stop the steal” operatives surrounding Powell.

The 2020 election was “the greatest fraud that our country has ever experienced in our history,” Flynn told far-right broadcaster Brannon Howse during an interview aired on Nov. 28, 2020. “I’m right in the middle of it right now, and I will tell you that, first of all, the president has clear paths to victory.”

Flynn had reason to feel emboldened. Three days earlier, then-President Trump granted Flynn a full pardon, wiping away his guilty plea to charges of lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

Flynn began to speak at rallies and make media appearances on Trump’s behalf.

Flynn’s interview with Howse was his first interview of any sort since receiving Trump’s pardon. The key to exposing the election fraud, Flynn told the podcaster, was channeling the perceived power of hundreds of Trump supporters who believed they witnessed voting fraud or election irregularities.

“I mean hundreds and hundreds of Americans around the country, not just the swing states, but many, many other states that are coming forward with their stories and putting them down in affidavits,” he said at the time.

Four days later, Powell addressed a “Stop the Steal” rally in the Atlanta suburb of Alpharetta. There, she angrily told the crowd that there had been “flagrant election fraud,” and said her team had “evidence” of all manner of ballot fraud, including “a plane full of ballots that came in.”

Enter Staci Burk.

Burk was a former school board member and law school student in Arizona who suffers from a medical condition known as pulmonary arterial hypertension.

A man in Burk’s lung condition support group told her about a woman in Seattle who allegedly had information about illegal ballots. That woman was Keliikoa, and Burk’s lung condition buddy arranged to put the two women in touch.

But Burk first attempted to report Keliikoa's information to the FBI and then relayed it to Arizona state Rep. Kelly Townsend, a leading figure in the pro-Trump stop-the-steal effort. The supposed intel eventually filtered up to Sidney Powell’s legal team.

Burk and Keliikoa kept in touch by phone for the next month, but Keliikoa would later say she wouldn’t characterize their relationship as a friendship. Keliikoa didn’t want to give up her anonymity. Burk felt caught in a bind; she didn’t want to associate her own name with information she didn’t know firsthand, but she was feeling pressure from Townsend and others to persuade Keliikoa to come forward.

“I’ve been working on her coming forward for over a month,” Burk told Carissa Keshel, Powell’s assistant, in a Dec. 1, 2020, text message reviewed by Raw Story. “I almost facilitated a call with you, but she just got to work. She will likely let me do a conference call with anyone. But she’s still afraid to come forward.”

“What can we do to make her feel more comfortable?” Keshel asked Burk. “We can facilitate security.”

Attempting to find a way to obtain the information while preserving Keliikoa’s desired anonymity, Keshel suggested that Keliikoa forward her ballot intel to Burk, who, in turn, could include it in her own legal declaration. (Burk never fulfilled the request to provide such a statement.)

“Ok I just spoke with General Flynn,” Keshel told Burk. “He says if nothing else, if she can get us as much evidence as possible: pictures, facts. If she can send that to us (or you) and if she can even just write an email. Then you can do another declaration to cover for that. I hope that makes sense.”

What happened next demonstrates the effort by Flynn, Powell and a gaggle of pro-Trump activists to obtain affidavits supporting claims of election fraud was carefully orchestrated. It stands in stark contrast to the picture painted by Flynn — one of ordinary citizens organically and voluntarily coming forward to tell their stories out of a sense of patriotic duty.

Like Keliikoa, Burk found herself in the middle of conspiratorial talk surrounding supposed illegal ballots transported on planes and various security concerns.

Also — not insignificantly — if Powell's team was going to get access to Keliikoa, they would have to go through Burk, who was the only one who knew Keliikoa’s name or how to get in touch with her.

Flynn’s security team finds the ‘Seattle whistleblower’

On the morning of Dec. 4, 2020, Keshel texted Burk to tell her that she thought they had Burk’s “security issue all ironed out.”

Keshel then texted a photo of a man she identified as “Yoda” and a link to the website for 1st Amendment Praetorian, a volunteer security group linked to Flynn.

“Yoda” was Geoffrey Flohr, the retired Michigan State Police officer.

“Gen Flynn and his brother arranged the security for you, so I trust them,” Keshel told Burk in a text message.

“Yoda” arrived at Burk’s home in Florence, Ariz., later that day.

As previously reported by Raw Story, Burk has said that “Yoda” woke her up in the middle of the night. He told her that he had reliable information that the “Seattle whistleblower” was about to be kidnapped and taken to South Korea. “Yoda” even claimed that Burk’s friend in Seattle could potentially be killed if they didn’t send a security team to protect her, Burk recalled.

Burk called Keliikoa and put her on speaker phone so “Yoda” could speak to her.

Keliikoa would later testify that she was terrified by “Yoda” telling her about threats to her safety because bad actors were supposedly attempting to prevent her from exposing massive election fraud.

Indeed, she was so terrified that she called in another employee to cover for her and complete her work for the shift.

“And then what ended up happening is continuous phone calls back and forth,” Keliikoa testified. “‘Okay, well, somebody’s gonna send somebody to pick you up and take you to a safe place.’ But my name should have never been out there, and that makes me mad.”

At Burk’s insistence, late on that Friday night in early December 2020, “Yoda” provided Burk with a resume and photo of the driver who would pick up Keliikoa at the FedEx facility at the Seattle airport.

At 11:50 p.m., Burk texted the resume to Keliikoa.

Roland Hurrington — described on his resume as a Seattle-area Marine Corps veteran “responsible for the protection of classified material, equipment and U.S. mission personnel” — arrived at the FedEx facility in the black SUV to transport Keliikoa.

Keliikoa testified that Hurrington passed through a security checkpoint at the facility. How he was able to do that remains unclear, but Keliikoa speculated that the security personnel may have let him through based on the assumption that he was a chauffeur.

The pickup took place late at night — roughly 30 minutes after “Yoda” first spoke to her, according to Burk’s account.

“And then I get detained, taken,” Keliikoa recalled in her deposition. “And I don’t know who this person is. I don’t know where I was going. I can’t believe I actually agreed to go with this person, because they could have killed me and threw me on the side of the road, and nobody would have known.”

As it turned out, there never was a plot to kill Keliikoa.

In fact, while the pro-Trump stop-the-stealers involved didn’t know or admit it at the time, their entire ballot fraud enterprise was little more than a house of cards perched on pillars of sand.

And the ground beneath them was about to start quaking.

‘He fabricated everything’

Jim Penrose, a cyber-security expert who had previously worked at the National Security Agency under President Barack Obama, would later acknowledge to Burk that he was the man who showed up at Keliikoa’s hotel room and urged her to write an affidavit. After “Yoda” tracked Keliikoa down, Penrose went to her hotel room to meet her.

Penrose has been identified by the New York Times as being one of three men who joined Flynn and Powell at the South Carolina estate of defamation attorney Lin Wood to “gather and organize election information.” One of the others was Seth Keshel, a former Army military intelligence captain who was married to Carissa Keshel.

“We had a security team dispatched in Seattle,” Penrose told Burk in a phone call that she recorded on Christmas Day of 2020.

“My worst fear was that the people were moving, you know, like a team of people that might want to, you know, even kidnap your friend in Seattle,” he said. “I didn’t want to let that happen, right, because I thought it was a situation that was dangerous. And we didn’t have enough info at the time to make a better decision.”

The reason why it was necessary for Flohr to wake up Burk involved grave concerns about an Arizona-based security company called Mayhem Solutions Group.

Why would Flohr care so much about this security firm?

Penrose had told Flohr a wild story about two Mayhem Solutions Group employees he believed were planning to fly an airplane to Phoenix to Seattle and potentially “kidnap” Keliikoa and take her to South Korea because of information she might have about election fraud.

The idea that Mayhem Solutions Group would be involved in a plot to harm Sabrina Keliikoa for the purpose of preventing her from exposing anti-Trump election fraud was not only bizarre. It was based on an utter fabrication.

Owner Shawn Wilson and his employee, Kenneth Scott Koch — both far-right operatives — were prone to conspiracy theories. Koch was a member of the far-right group the Oath Keepers and an anti-COVID lockdown crusader. Koch had presented himself to Burk as a shadowy agent for a rogue government operation involved in illegal ballot trafficking.

More than two weeks before the Flynn security team was dispatched to Seattle, Koch had come to Burk’s house in Arizona to advise her on home security. During a discussion about a similar theory concerning illegal ballots being unloaded from a plane at Phoenix Sky Harbor, Koch told Burk that a group of men shown in a photo standing next to the plane were “my guys.”

Koch, who had organized an anti-lockdown group in Arizona in response to COVID-19 measures, went on to suggest to Burk that pro-Trump amateur sleuths attempting to uncover election fraud might learn about more than they bargained.

“A lot of these people want to be the center,” he said. “They wanna have the information. The problem is the information they don’t want.” For reasons that remain unclear, Penrose would hire an investigative team that included two former FBI agents to interview Koch about his claims, but not until after the madcap mission in Seattle to obtain the affidavit from Keliikoa.

“We interviewed Koch at length, and he said he fabricated everything,” Penrose told Burk during the Christmas Day phone call.

A one-time ‘hostile actor’ in Flynn’s camp

Patently ridiculous is the notion that a lie told by an anti-COVID lockdown advocate in Arizona, about illegal ballots on a plane, would trigger a weeks-long wild-goose that reached the highest levels of then-President Donald Trump’s inner sanctum, up to and including his former national security adviser.

In the end, the lead that sent Flynn’s associates to the Seattle airport under the pretext of a manufactured election crisis in December 2020 turned out to be little more than a photo of ballots and unexplained beeping from a package scanner that raised the suspicions of Keliikoa, a woman whose imagination was set alight by QAnon conspiracy theories.

One would not be faulted for thinking that nothing about this fake ballot-hunting story seems real.

Except for the fact that it is real.

It’s unclear whether Koch and his boss, Shawn Wilson, knew Flynn prior to the 2020 election. Regardless, Koch’s admitted deception hasn’t prevented Wilson from associating with the Flynn camp since that time.

The America Project, a nonprofit co-founded by Flynn, published a video in late 2023 that presented Wilson as someone who “knows more about what is going on at the border than probably anybody in America.” (Not mentioned in the interview was the fact that Wilson’s company had subcontracted with the state of Texas to operate buses transporting migrants to Democratic-run cities.)

As Election Day 2024 draws nearer, Wilson has only become more public and overt about his support for Trump.

The messaging in Wilson’s interview for Flynn’s nonprofit was a classic appeal to authoritarianism by invoking fear — part of Trump’s playbook since he launched his first presidential campaign in 2015. Wilson claimed that a military assault similar to the one launched against Israel by Hamas is imminent at the U.S southern border.

The remedy, Wilson suggested, is to ensure that Trump wins the 2024 election, adding, “I’ll be leading the charge with him right behind him.”

‘There was no goldmine’

Keliikoa confirmed her QAnon association, which inspired her ballot skepticism, during her deposition earlier this year.

She allowed that she sent Burk a link to a three-hour documentary video series Fall of the Cabal, which is described by the Anti-Defamation League as “a popular recruitment tool for QAnon followers.”

Keliikoa testified that following the November 2020 presidential election, she became suspicious because “we were moving ballots after places were called.” (That wouldn’t have been unusual, considering that the U.S. Postal Service was under a federal court order to locate and deliver mail-in ballots that hadn’t been received by Election Day.) One package that caused a scanner to triple beep — meaning “that it’s not recognized” — also concerned her.

“I believe that something looked wrong,” Keliikoa testified when asked under oath by Burk whether still believes that she witnessed election fraud at the FedEx facility in November 2020.

But Keliikoa admitted that she had nothing of value to share with the ad-hoc security team that sequestered her in a hotel in December 2020.

“They wanted to know if I knew about a plane coming in with these illegal ballots,” Keliikoa recalled. “I told them, ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’ That didn’t come from me. I don’t know what you’re saying.’ They were asking me if I knew about stuff that was going on outside of my workplace. I don’t. I was working. I don’t go out to other places.”

This didn’t stop Powell, who included a “Jane Doe” witness — Keliikoa presumably — on a witness list filed as part of an Arizona ballot lawsuit in support of Trump’s stop-the-steal effort. “Jane Doe,” Powell said at the time, would “testify about illegal ballots being shipped around the United States including to Arizona on or about before Nov. 3, 2020.”

No one was more disappointed by Keliikoa’s statement than Penrose.

“I thought when we exfil-ed her and we got her to write her affidavit, I thought we were going to have a goldmine of information,” he later told Burk, using the spy-craft term “exfiltrate” that means to furtively remove someone from a hostile area.

“There was no goldmine,” Penrose continued. “She had a picture of two ballot bags, and I asked her: ‘Would you know if ballots came across the tarmac from that Korea Air flight?’ And the answer was, ‘I just know what comes in this bay door from the USPS and what goes out these bay doors to get loaded on FedEx planes.’ So, the answer was there was no smoking gun per se with respect to that.”

The band breaks up

These days, few of the people involved want to discuss the Seattle ballot brouhaha, now revealed as a tangle of conspiracy theories, creative fantasies and outright lies — all in service to Trump’s goal of retaining presidential power that he was about to lose.

Reached by Raw Story earlier this month, Penrose’s lawyer John S. Irving said, “We don’t have anything to add.”

Keliikoa declined to comment to Raw Story for this story.

In an email to Raw Story last week, FedEx Media Relations said, “We do not have any comment at this time.”

Hurrington, the Marine Corps veteran who drove Keliikoa in the SUV, could not be reached for comment. Flohr also could not be reached for comment.

Some of the key players involved have also split up.

Keliikoa said in her deposition that one of the men who met her at the hotel told her it would “be in my best interest not to keep in contact” with Burk because she was a “troublemaker.”

Burk told Raw Story this month that Keliikoa had previously told her that it was Penrose who called her a “troublemaker,” but during her deposition, she claimed that she didn’t remember the names of anyone at the hotel.

“That was clearly projection since he was overseeing and directing a group of heavily armed former law enforcement holding my family and me hostage using fear and deception, who then spent months continuing to use that group to manipulate and malign my character to cover for their bad behavior,” Burk told Raw Story.

Flynn and Powell are both defendants in Burk’s lawsuit, along with former Arizona state Rep. Kelly Townsend. Burk accuses the defendants of civil rights violations, false imprisonment, assault, infliction of emotional distress and civil conspiracy.

In a filing seeking to dismiss the lawsuit, Flynn’s lawyers wrote that Burk’s claims are “baseless” and “frivolous,” while denying that their client sent the security team to her house or that he intended that they hold her “hostage.”

But Flynn’s efforts to distance himself from Burk are belied by the fact that Flohr — aka “Yoda,” the ex-law enforcement volunteer dispatched to her home in Arizona — flanked Flynn as part of his security detail when he spoke at a pro-Trump rally in front of the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C., less than a week after he was at Burk’s house in December 2020.

Flynn is currently promoting a documentary movie that portrays him as a victim of political persecution, and Trump has hinted that he may bring his former national security adviser back to public service — and the taxpayer-funded payroll — should he win election to a second term.

Flynn did not respond to repeated requests for comment made by Raw Story through his lawyers.

Last year, Powell pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit intentional interference with performance of election duties in Georgia.

Burk is suing Koch for fraudulent misrepresentation, invasion of privacy and infliction of emotional distress in the Arizona state courts, separate from her federal claim against Flynn, Powell and Townsend. Representing herself, Burk deposed Keliikoa for her lawsuit against Koch. Last week, Burk filed a motion to consolidate her case against Koch with her federal lawsuit against Powell and Flynn.

Under cross-examination by Koch’s lawyer in March, Keliikoa downplayed her role in giving life to the “ballots on planes” theory.

“The only relevance I have is a lot of people got involved and it turned into, like I said before, a big s---show where a lot of people were involved that should have never even been there, that should have never been involved,” she said. “And I got thrown into the mix like everybody else. I was used as a pawn. That’s what makes me mad.”

Knowing what she knows now, Keliikoa said, she would have never agreed to write the affidavit.

“I thought people really wanted to help,” she said in her deposition. “And now I know otherwise.”

“Nobody really cares,” she added, “because everybody has their own objective.”

Key players

Staci Burk is a former school board member from Arizona who found herself in the middle of a conspiracy theory concerning illegal ballots and airplanes after the 2020 election.

Roland Hurrington is a Marine Corps veteran enlisted to pick up Sabrina Keliikoa at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport FedEx air freight terminal in December 2020.

Geoffrey Flohr, also known as “Yoda,” is a retired Michigan State Police officer who volunteered for the 1st Amendment Praetorian security group in late 2020 and early 2021. He used Staci Burk to track down Sabrina Keliikoa.

Michael Flynn is a retired lieutenant general who served as national security advisor for President Donald Trump before pleading guilty to lying to the FBI. Trump pardoned Flynn in November 2020, and Flynn emerged alongside Sidney Powell as a key player in the effort to overturn the 2020 election.

Sabrina Keliikoa is a former FedEx supervisor and QAnon adherent who claims to have been detained by a security team linked to Michael Flynn that obtained an affidavit about election ballots observed at her facility shortly around the time of the 2020 election.

Carissa Keshel was a volunteer who served as attorney Sidney Powell’s assistant in late 2020, as Flynn worked with Powell to overturn the 2020 election.

Kenneth Scott Koch is a security contractor formerly employed by Mayhem Solutions Group (now MSG Risk Management & Intelligence) who “fabricated” a story about his involvement in illegal ballot trafficking. Koch organized anti-lockdown protests in Arizona and was a member of the far-right group the Oath Keepers.

Jim Penrose is a cyber-security expert who worked for the National Security Agency under President Barack Obama. He traveled to Washington state to obtain an affidavit from Sabrina Keliikoa.

Sidney Powell is a former federal prosecutor who filed lawsuits in Arizona and other states seeking to overturn the 2020 election based on outlandish claims of voting fraud.

Kelly Townsend is a former Arizona state House member who told Staci Burk it was imperative that the “Seattle whistleblower” (now revealed to be Sabrina Keliikoa) come forward and report her suspicions about illegal ballot trafficking after the 2020 election.

Donald Trump is the former president of the United States who is again running for the presidency in 2024. Many of the actions described in this story were done in Trump’s name.

Shawn Wilson is the president of MSG Risk Management & Intelligence (formerly Mayhem Solutions Group). Jim Penrose told Staci Burk that he was initially concerned that Wilson, along with Kenneth Scott Koch, were “hostile actors” intent on harming Sabrina Keliikoa.

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mma 6 24

Swiss America is a gold and silver trading company, for which Trump promotes “The Secret War on Cash,” a report warning consumers about Democrat lawmakers supposedly pushing for a “digital dollar that could allow the government to tell us what we can and cannot buy,” and teaching them how to protect themselves from such “threats facing our freedom and your hard-earned money.” Trump advertised for Swiss America 27 times in this period.

Still of Lara Trump above Swiss America logo

CitationScreenshot of the March 26, 2024, edition of The Right View

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charlie Kirk’s Turning Point connects far-right extremists with the Republican National Committee and the Trump campaign

The Turning Point event this past weekend featured a number of extremists, with at least two speakers using the phrase “Christ is king” — an antisemitic dog whistle long favored by the white nationalist “groyper” movement

WRITTEN BY JOHN KNEFEL (https://www.mediamatters.org/author/john-knefel)

RESEARCH CONTRIBUTIONS FROM MADELINE PELTZ (https://www.mediamatters.org/author/madeline-peltz), SOPHIE LAWTON (https://www.mediamatters.org/author/sophie-lawton) & ALEX KAPLAN (https://www.mediamatters.org/author/alex-kaplan)

PUBLISHED 06/18/24

Several right-wing extremist figures spoke at a weekend event organized by conservative radio host Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point Action, which is partnering with the Republican National Committee and former President Donald Trump's campaign. At least two speeches included the phrase “Christ is king,” an antisemitic dog whistle long favored by white nationalists.

Speakers at The People’s Convention included right-wing pundit Candace Owens, who has a history of making antisemitic remarks (https://www.mediamatters.org/candace-owens/right-wing-and-far-right-media-throw-their-support-behind-candace-owens-amid-her) and appears to be associating (https://x.com/BenLorber8/status/1801987749412536696) herself with Holocaust denier (https://www.mediamatters.org/candace-owens/holocaust-denier-nick-fuentes-celebrates-candace-owens-she-has-been-full-fledged-war) Nick Fuentes; neo-Nazi collaborator (https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/jack-posobiec) and Pizzagate conspiracy theory peddler Jack Posobiec; and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones (https://www.mediamatters.org/alex-jones). The presence of these figures is not surprising, given the significant ties Kirk and Turning Point have to right-wing extremists (https://www.mediamatters.org/charlie-kirk/charlie-kirk-and-tpusa-are-fueled-far-right-extremism) and white nationalists (https://www.mediamatters.org/charlie-kirk/turning-point-usas-history-racism-and-white-nationalist-ties).

The three-day summit illustrated how Turning Point Action and its affiliate Turning Point USA have come to serve as a bridge between official Republican Party institutions and the more openly bigoted and extremist elements of Trump’s movement. Over the weekend, CNN reported (https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/15/politics/trump-campaign-turning-point-charlie-kirk/index.html) that the Trump campaign is working with Turning Point Action. Politico wrote (https://www.politico.com/news/2024/06/15/turning-point-trump-battleground-states-00163563) that Turning Point “has become a central player in the party apparatus,” as “part of recent collaborations between the [Trump] campaign, RNC and outside groups.” In May, The Washington Post reported (https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/05/10/trump-gop-field-operation/) that the RNC was adopting a “leaner” approach and was considering outsourcing much of its voter outreach to TPUSA and other right-wing organizations.

Speaking directly after Kirk on the event’s opening day, Owens opened and closed her speech with the phrase “Christ is king” — a slogan long (https://x.com/BenLorber8/status/1773090211037098264) used by Fuentes’ “groyper” movement that has gained antisemitic connotations (https://newrepublic.com/article/180250/candace-owens-ben-shapiro-christ-king-fight-whiteness) through its use in far-right-wing contexts. Last November, Owens used (https://x.com/BenLorber8/status/1773090208201789495) the phrase to troll Ben Shapiro, her then-colleague at The Daily Wire — one flare-up in a monthslong feud (https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2024/04/candace-owens-ben-shapiro-daily-wire-antisemitism-israel-jews.html) between the two. The Daily Wire and Owens “ended (https://www.mediaite.com/news/breaking-candace-owens-out-at-the-daily-wire/) their relationship” in March, according to CEO Jeremy Boreing.

“When you do come together and you do start a family, for the love of God, put Christ first,” Owens said, prompting an audience chant of: “Christ is king.”

“Correct, and we’re going to lead out on that chant,” Owens responded.

Owens then claimed that Democrats and liberals are bringing “the full weight of the government” against Trump, but that “Trump is just one step — they’ve always been after Jesus Christ.”

“Christ is king,” Owens said in closing.

Video

CitationFrom the June 14, 2024, Rumble livestream of Turning Point USA's The People's Convention

On the third day of the event, Posobiec echoed Owens.

“We understand this is a war against the demonic, this is a spiritual war!” Posobiec shouted, raising a rosary in his clenched fist. “We can only defeat a spiritual war with Christ as king because Christ is king.”

“Christ is king,” he repeated.

That phrase wasn’t the only example of the groypers’ influence on Turning Point. In 2021, Chet Hanks attempted to manufacture (https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2021/04/chet-hanks-white-boy-summer) a viral moment for himself by calling for a “white boy summer,” but the phrase was quickly adopted (https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2021/07/01/white-boy-summer-nazi-memes-and-the-mainstreaming-of-white-supremacist-violence/) by neo-Nazis and other extremists, including followers of Fuentes. On Sunday, Posobiec took the stage next to a banner reading “WHITE BOY SUMMER” and tossed hats branded with the slogan to the crowd.

Video

CitationFrom a June 16, 2024, Rumble livestream of Turning Point USA's The People's Conference

Posobiec then introduced Jones, appearing fresh off a court order (https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/media/2024/06/14/alex-jones-infowars-sandy-hook-liquidate/) to liquidate his assets in order to pay surviving members of the Sandy Hook massacre whom he’d repeatedly defamed by claiming the shooting was a false flag.

“The answer to 1984 is 1776,” Jones said before attempting to lead the crowd in a “1776” chant — a dog whistle that signifies opposition (https://www.cjr.org/opinion/1776-keyword-squatting-right-wing-media.php) to the anti-racist 1619 Project.

“Just three or four days ago, the great folks at Turning Point Action invited me on here. I’m very blessed and honored to be here,” Jones said before pushing an election denialist conspiracy theory (https://apnews.com/article/fact-checking-9961890106). “We are in the very center, the TCF Center, where almost four years ago, in the dead of night, they stole the election not just from our amazing president, but from us.”

Later in his speech, Jones repeated another conspiracy theory he’d helped (https://www.mediamatters.org/steve-bannon/maga-movement-and-trump-assassination-plot-wasnt) spread in May when he falsely claimed President Joe Biden had hatched a scheme to kill Trump. “They are going to try to assassinate President Trump, make no mistake about that,” Jones said.

Video

CitationFrom a June 16, 2024, Rumble livestream of Turning Point USA's The People's Conference

Posobiec, standing next to Jones, praised his career. “Alex Jones has spent 30 years being the loudest voice for freedom, for liberty, and for anti-war that this world has seen,” Posobiec said.

Other notable speakers included anti-LGBTQ extremist James Lindsay (https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/james-lindsay) and QAnon conspiracy theory (https://www.mediamatters.org/qanon-conspiracy-theory/updated-rep-elise-stefanik-partnering-qanon-conspiracy-theorist-scott) peddler Scott Presler (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4021066), who was present (https://www.mediamatters.org/voter-fraud-and-suppression/pennsylvania-republicans-are-working-stop-steal-and-qanon-conspiracy) during the January 6 attempted insurrection and previously worked at anti-Muslim hate group (https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/act-america) Act for America. In March, RNC co-chair Lara Trump said (https://www.mediamatters.org/lara-trump/lara-trump-still-touting-qanon-conspiracy-theorist-scott-presler-rnc-job) she was interested in hiring Presler to be “part of the team” to help with “the largest legal ballot harvesting operation in the entire country,” which will be “started by the RNC.”

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mma

ROB SCHMITT (HOST): I mean, again, this trial was so meaningless. In the grand scheme of what this family's been doing, this is the psyop. Here it is.

MONICA CROWLEY (GUEST): Yeah exactly. I mean, it's not meaningless in the sense that it was a head fake. It's meant to distract the American people with Hunter's shiny little object of a gun away from the much larger crimes of the Biden crime family, and that is influence peddling and making bank by selling America out to some of our worst enemies, including the --

SCHMITT: China, Russia.

CROWLEY: Chinese Communist Party, the Russians, and deeply corrupt entities and regimes like Ukraine. 6 24

6 24 mma Fox News host Rachel Campos-Duffy falsely claims there were Chinese bioweapons labs found in California (https://www.mediamatters.org/rachel-campos-duffy/fox-news-host-rachel-campos-duffy-falsely-claims-there-were-chinese-bioweapons)

06/05/24

an 5 24

After the murder of George Floyd in May 2020, former NBA player Royce White (https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/w/whitero03.html) became an outspoken advocate of defunding the police. Over those ensuing months, he appeared at a number of protests and marches in Minnesota (https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/nba-iowa-state-royce-white-leads-peaceful-protest-minneapolice-interstate-george-floyd-death-police-005026776.html) – demonstrations[vid?] .

Four years later, White accepted the endorsement of the Minnesota GOP (https://www.startribune.com/in-a-surprise-minnesota-republicans-back-royce-white-to-run-against-amy-klobuchar/600366972/) in the state’s 2024 U.S. Senate race.

In the interim, White had appeared on the show (https://rumble.com/v3cj9qq-alex-jones-show-with-royce-white-sunday-live-full-show-82723.html) of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, where he decried the “establishment” and “corporatocracy.” While on Steve Bannon’s “War Room” podcast (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/warroom-battleground-ep-108-live-from-texas-updates/id1485351658?i=1000574960639), he complained that women “had become too mouthy.” Elsewhere, he lambasted the LGBTQ+ movement as “Luciferian (https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/24/opinion/royce-white-senate-maga.html)” and described Israel (https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/24/opinion/royce-white-senate-maga.html) as the vanguard of a “new world order.”

White’s transition from an NBA player who advocated for progressive causes (https://abilitymagazine.com/royce-white-fighting-mental-health-awareness/) to an acolyte (https://static01.nyt.com/images/2024/05/24/multimedia/24goldberg4-kjhb/24goldberg4-kjhb-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp&disable=upscale) of Jones is more common than you might think.

Many people might associate conspiracy theories with certain demographics or political leanings. But the reality is far more nuanced, with emerging research (https://doi.org/10.1177/23780231241237654) finding that there is far more diversity among conspiracists than scholars previously thought.

Conspiracy theories are just as likely to be held by your MAGA-hat wearing uncle as they are your best friend who’s a fan of the band Phish (https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/R/bo86433786.html) and goes to CrossFit (https://theconversation.com/making-sweat-feel-spiritual-didnt-start-with-soulcycle-a-religion-scholar-explains-190413) three times a week.

Entering the margins

For the past four and a half years, I’ve immersed myself in spaces occupied by conspiracy theorists.

What began as an attempt to understand the QAnon conspiracy movement (https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=en&user=eVwGqiQAAAAJ&citation_for_view=eVwGqiQAAAAJ:j3f4tGmQtD8C) quickly expanded into an exploration of a wide range of alternative belief systems (https://doi.org/10.3389/fsoc.2023.1136333).

These include, but are not limited to, discredited intellectuals who promote race science (https://www.salon.com/2022/06/05/discriminating-tastes-why-academia-must-tackle-its-race-science-problem/); butthole sunners (https://www.reddit.com/r/InterestingToRead/comments/1apccuk/perineum_sunning_aka_butthole_sunning_is_a_trendy/) who believe that by harnessing the sun’s rays, they live longer; and semen retention enthusiasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/manclan-episode-2-elliott-hulse-breathes-into-his-balls/id1428209307?i=1000583560191), which is a practice that discourages ejaculation as a way to boost testosterone levels.

Most researchers have understood conspiracy theories and alternative beliefs as being a product of poor education (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28163371/) or misinformation spread on social media (https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-021-09734-6). But recent research (https://doi.org/10.1177/23780231241237654) has found that support for them exists regardless of educational level or income. Some of the most privileged people (https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781666933093/Conspiracy-Theories-and-Extremism-in-New-Times) in U.S. society hold deeply conspiratorial beliefs, as do sports fans, yogis and video game enthusiasts (https://www.qanonanonymous.com/).

While some many say that believing in UFOs or Bigfoot may not be that big of a problem, these ideas can lead to real-world harms. Butthole sunning, for example, has been linked with cancer (https://www.healthline.com/health/perineum-sunning#potential-risks).

By understanding how conspiracy theories and alternative belief systems intersect and evolve over time, you can see how anyone – no matter their political leanings – can become subsumed by them.

Forbidden knowledge

Different conspiracy theories, forms of psuedoscience and discredited beliefs – such as the notion that the Earth is flat (https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/style/2017/11/28/flat-earther-reaches-point-turn/AidqpE8zX0kc9e2DQkCDpI/story.html) – occupy the same space.

They are part of a collective waste bin of discarded ideas, a phenomenon that political scientist Michale Barkun characterizes as “stigmatized knowledge (https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520276826/a-culture-of-conspiracy).” Because they’ve been discredited by mainstream institutions, they often only emerge on the fringes of society.

Certain stigmatized narratives (https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/diogenes/article/abs/conspiracy-theories-as-stigmatized-knowledge/35F9820DB9B188E62CE615CE4395FC60) can also become tools wielded by politicians and media influencers who will say or do anything to make money and gain power.

Even though it’s been linked to cancer, butthole sunning is an alternative wellness practice that has become popularized. Nick Lehr, CC BY-SA (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

For example, in their book “Conspirituality: How New Age Conspiracy Theories Became a Health Threat (https://www.conspirituality.net/book),” Derek Berry, Matthew Remski and Julien Walker document the ways in which contemporary New Age spiritualism has been hijacked by social media influencers, who have then gone on to promote vaccine misinformation and foment government mistrust.

Social media platforms provide financial incentives for individuals creating the most engaging content (https://www.amazon.com/dp/0745660193?psc=1&smid=A34BMBVKYMFPWL&ref_=chk_typ_imgToDp). Of course, what’s engaging is not necessarily what’s accurate or truthful. Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, many of these influencers became popular by suggesting that they had “sacred” or “secret” knowledge on how to defeat the virus (https://counterhate.com/research/the-disinformation-dozen/).

It’s one way people can go from embracing seemingly harmless ideas, like Bigfoot, to becoming open to more radical beliefs like the Great Replacement Theory (https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/renaud-camus-great-replacement-brenton-tarrant/), which is the conspiracy theory that illegal immigrants are colluding with Democrats to change the racial demographics of America and, in doing so, shape future elections.

The intersection of politics and alternative beliefs is not a recent phenomenon.

Some of these beliefs, like the imaginary continent of Atlantis (https://doi.org/10.1002/arp.1915), were used by the Nazi party to create a link to a mythical pure race. Indeed, a key component of the Nazi’s rise to power (https://jacobin.com/2021/11/supernatural-thinking-occultism-esotericism-nazism-adolf-hitler-world-war-two-border-science) was the promotion of ideas that today would be described as New Age mysticism (https://doi.org/10.1080/00131857.2022.2061948) – a spiritual movement that emphasizes magical experiences and the notion that spiritual forces connect everything in the universe.

The complexity of conspiracists

While many pundits point to white Christian nationalists (https://relevantmagazine.com/current/nation/study-christian-nationalists-are-the-most-likely-to-believe-conspiracy-theories/) as the group most susceptible to conspiracies – and there is some truth to this claim (https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/08969205241228744) – it’s important to pay attention to others who possess conspiratorial ideas.

The anti-vaccine movement (https://theconversation.com/anti-vaccination-beliefs-dont-follow-the-usual-political-polarization-81001) is now a pet issue for many on the right, but it first gained notoriety among wealthy liberals. One of the most visible promoters of the movement is current presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

Jacob Chansley, also known as the “QAnon Shaman,” is another well-known example of this juxtaposition: He’s been seen protesting on behalf of both right- and left-wing causes (https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/qanon-shaman-capitol-riot-sentencing-b1958223.html) and was at the Jan. 6, 2021, storming of the U.S. Capitol.

A 2021 survey by the Public Religion Research Institute (https://www.prri.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Topline-IFYC-PRRI-Survey-on-Religion-and-COVID-19-Vaccine-Trust-v2_final.pdf) found that 23% of Republicans believe that “the government, media and financial worlds in the U.S. are controlled by a group of Satan-worshipping pedophiles.”

The number might seem high, but probably isn’t all that surprising: It’s one of the core tenants of the right-wing QAnon conspiracy theory. But I found the survey’s other findings somewhat startling – that 8% of self-identified Democrats and 14% of independents also agreed with that statement.

Where do we go from here?

While seemingly unrelated at first glance, conspiracy theories such as QAnon and alternative wellness practices such as drinking urine (https://share.upmc.com/2022/03/drinking-your-urine-isnt-good-for-you/) share common themes. Namely, they’re united by distrust in mainstream institutions. They long for alternative belief systems that confirm their existing beliefs and ignore contradicting evidence.

Being critical of those in positions of power is a healthy thing, but there are times in which trust in leadership makes sense – like listening to firefighters evacuating a building or public health officials during a global pandemic.

In fairness, the number of Americans who believe in conspiracy theories does not seem to be rising (https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0270429). At the same time, conspiracies were a core motivator for many of the Jan 6 protesters who attempted to interrupt the peaceful transfer of power (https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/conspiracy-theories-paint-fraudulent-reality-of-jan-6-riot).

As the contributors to my forthcoming edited essay collection argue (https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781666933093/Conspiracy-Theories-and-Extremism-in-New-Times), conspiracy-laden narratives not only undermine societal institutions, but they also strain relationships with fellow citizens. They train people to be suspicious of trusted sources of information – and suspicious of one another.

None of that bodes well for liberal democracy.

:{:{Christopher T. Conner (https://theconversation.com/profiles/christopher-t-conner-1012897), Assistant Professor of Sociology, *University of Missouri-Columbia (https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-missouri-columbia-796)}:

This article is republished from The Conversation (https://theconversation.com/) under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article (https://theconversation.com/what-qanon-supporters-butthole-sunners-and-new-age-spiritualists-have-in-common-228857).

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RSS (https://www.mediamatters.org/qanon-conspiracy-theory/trump-has-now-amplified-qanon-promoting-accounts-over-800-times-truth) Trump has now amplified QAnon-promoting accounts over 800 times on Truth Social](https://www.mediamatters.org/qanon-conspiracy-theory/trump-has-now-amplified-qanon-promoting-accounts-over-800-times-truth)

05/23/24

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note}:

projection deep state hype fear grift gubmint

// new evidence on keeping docs illegally?}:

an 5 24

donald Trump and his allies are falsely claiming President Joe Biden, the U.S. Dept. of Justice, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation had a plot to assassinate his top political rival, the ex-president, during the execution of a search warrant in 2022 at Mar-a-Lago. Critics, including law enforcement experts, are blasting Trump and his MAGA associates for the “dangerous” lie.

On Tuesday a U.S. District Judge unsealed court documents in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s Espionage Act case against Trump where he faces 40 felony counts (https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/06/09/trump-charges-classified-documents/), most over his alleged unlawful removal, retention, and refusal to return classified documents including some of the nation’s top nuclear secrets.

One of those filings, as The Washington Post (https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/05/21/trump-mar-a-lago-raid-fbi-deadly-force/) reported, was a law enforcement documents that included a standard statement reminding FBI agents on the Bureau’s policy on the use of deadly force, “which says officers may resort to lethal force only when the subject of such force poses an ‘imminent danger of death or serious physical injury’ to an officer or another person.”

But on Tuesday, Trump explosively posted on Truth Social (https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/112481173729711738), “WOW! I just came out of the Biden Witch Hunt Trial in Manhattan, the ‘Icebox,’ and was shown Reports that Crooked Joe Biden’s DOJ, in their Illegal and UnConstitutional Raid of Mar-a-Lago, AUTHORIZED THE FBI TO USE DEADLY (LETHAL) FORCE. NOW WE KNOW, FOR SURE, THAT JOE BIDEN IS A SERIOUS THREAT TO DEMOCRACY. HE IS MENTALLY UNFIT TO HOLD OFFICE — 25TH AMENDMENT!”

READ MORE: Trump Adviser Scanned and Saved Contents of Box That Had Classified Docs: Report (https://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/2024/05/trump-adviser-scanned-and-saved-contents-of-box-that-had-classified-docs-report/)

Later, in a fundraising email Trump went much further.

“They were authorized to shoot me!” the subject line reads, according to an archive of political emails (https://politicalemails.org/messages/1428246).

“TRUMP ALERT,” it begins. “BREAKING FROM TRUMP: BIDEN’S DOJ WAS AUTHORIZED TO SHOOT ME!”

“You know they’re just itching to do the unthinkable… Joe Biden was locked & loaded ready to take me out & put my family in danger.”

Attorney and former FBI Special Agent Asha Rangappa observed (https://twitter.com/AshaRangappa_/status/1793240825259811149), “Including the deadly force policy [in] an ops plan is SOP [standard operating procedure]. But just so I make sure I’m following the plot, according to Trump’s position in court, what he is accusing Biden of would be perfectly legal and within the scope of his ‘official’ powers, right?”

Trump repeatedly has insisted presidents must have complete and total “absolute immunity.” His attorneys have argued in federal court and before the U.S. Supreme Court a president could order Seal Team Six to assassinate his political rival and it would be lawful, as was noted here:

U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) was among the top allies who falsely characterized the court filing.

“The Biden DOJ and FBI were planning to assassinate Pres Trump and gave the green light,” she posted (https://twitter.com/RepMTG/status/1793035321451454482) to her official federal government account on X. “Does everyone get it yet???!!!! What are Republicans going to do about it?” hold my beer

She also wrote (https://twitter.com/RepMTG/status/1792998783480942967): “This is grounds for impeachment of Wray and Garland. Trump and team was cooperating the entire time with the FBI,” Greene claimed, both of which are false.

READ MORE: ‘Incomprehensible’: More Classified Docs Were Found at Mar-a-Lago, Unsealed Court Filing Reveals (https://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/2024/05/incomprehensible-more-classified-docs-were-found-at-mar-a-lago-unsealed-court-filing-reveals/)

“Was deadly force authorized against Biden for his docs? Were they going to shoot SS then Pres Trump, Melania, and Barron too??? Speaker Mike Johnson fully funded the DOJ and FBI plus new building and tied our hands behind our backs to hold them accountable. We have the power of the purse and Johnson has handed the purse to Chuck Schumer. All of this is unforgivable.”

Fox News Business host Maria Bartiromo also promoted the false claims Wednesday morning:

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NBC News’ Ryan Reilly mockingly explained (https://twitter.com/ryanjreilly/status/1793117168634073343) the situation: “GOP members of Congress think the feds wanted to assassinate Trump and so they did a raid on his place in Florida when they knew him to be in New Jersey because Mar-A-Lago was closed for the season.”

Meanwhile, critics are sounding the alarm on Trump’s and the GOP’s lies.

“This is wildly irresponsible, even for professional troll like Marjorie Taylor Greene,” wrote (https://twitter.com/JonahDispatch/status/1793058172329992565) conservative columnist Jonah Goldberg. “FBI knew Trump wasn’t there. It was all coordinated with Secret Service in advance. This is deeply dangerous bullshit.”

“Trump wasn’t there,” said (https://twitter.com/WalshFreedom/status/1793065454430216215) talk radio host Joe Walsh, a former GOP U.S. Congressman, responding to U.S. Rep. Greene’s remarks. “Everything was coordinated with Secret Service & local law enforcement. Even for you, this is a deeply irresponsible and dangerous thing to say.”

David Axelrod, the former top Obama strategist and White House advisor, remarked (https://twitter.com/davidaxelrod/status/1793259992654451117), “This is patently nuts…and dangerously provocative!”

Watch the videos above or [at this link]

:{:{//}:

Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) on Tuesday claimed that President Joe Biden and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) planned to "assassinate" former President Donald Trump.

The MAGA lawmaker also claimed that she attempted to warn the ex-president of such matters.

"The Biden DOJ and FBI were planning to assassinate Pres Trump and gave the green light," Greene wrote via X/Twitter (https://x.com/RepMTG/status/1793035321451454482). "Does everyone get it yet???!!!! What are Republicans going to do about it? I tried to oust our Speaker who funded Biden’s DOJ AND FBI, but Democrats stopped it."

READ MORE:Mike Johnson’s 'triumphant moment' doesn't mean GOP extremists are 'going away': analysis (https://www.alternet.org/mtg-mike-johnson-trump/)

She also claimed, "I made sure that he knew."

The Georgia Republican leader was responding to Truth Social post from Trump, in which he wrote (https://x.com/RepMTG/status/1793035321451454482): "WOW! I just came out of the Biden Witch Hunt Trial in Manhattan, the 'Icebox,' and was shown Reports that Crooked Joe Biden's DOJ, in their Illegal and UnConstitutional Raid of Mar-a-Lago, AUTHORIZED THE FBI TO USE DEADLY (LETHAL) FORCE. NOW WE KNOW, FOR SURE, THAT JOE BIDEN IS A SERIOUS THREATTO DEMOCRACY. HE IS MENTALLY UNFIT TO HOLD OFFICE -25TH AMENDMENT!"

Retired FBI Assistant Director Frank Figliuzzi responded to Greene's claim, noting that (https://x.com/FrankFigliuzzi1/status/1793052687900049735) "every FBI operations order contains a reminder of FBI deadly force policy."

The Dispatch Editor-In-Chief Jonah Goldberg commented: (https://x.com/JonahDispatch/status/1793058172329992565) "This is wildly irresponsible, even for professional troll like Marjorie Taylor Greene. FBI knew Trump wasn’t there. It was all coordinated with Secret Service in advance. This is deeply dangerous bulls—t."

READ MORE:'Spectacular' defeat in Johnson battle leaves Marjorie Taylor Greene 'weak and feeble': analysis (https://www.alternet.org/mtg-johnson-benen/)

Columnist Goldie Taylor's replied to Greene, saying (https://x.com/goldietaylor/status/1793047789619888503), "Something is really wrong with you."

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an ah 5 24

americans who aggressively promote far-right conspiracy theories online are often stereotyped as older white males who live in red states, never attended college, and are avid followers of Alex Jones' Infowars or Steve Bannon's "War Room."

But according to Saverio Roscigno (https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/23780231241237654), a researcher at the University of California, Irvine, some of the most passionate conspiracy theorists are white-collar workers with advanced college degrees.

In a study released on April 4 (https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/23780231241237654) and titled "The Status Foundations of Conspiracy Beliefs," Roscigno writes, "Specifically, and unique to my results, there exists a cluster of graduate-degree-holding white men who display a penchant for conspiracy beliefs."

READ MORE:Authoritarians are the reason we still have 9/11 conspiracy theories (https://www.alternet.org/911-conspiracies/)

Roscigno discussed his findings with journalist Paul Rosenberg in an interview for Salon (https://www.salon.com/2024/05/05/believes-the-most-taboo-conspiracy-theories-it-might-not-be-you-think/?lh_aid=3542177&lh_cid=r8gnwyw5vd&lh_em=rox%40rawstory.com&di=5f06cb3a5abfaa39f7adcca1317a0973) published in Q&A form on May 6, noting what some of these college graduates embrace what he calls "taboo claims" — for example, claiming "that school shootings like those at Sandy Hook and Parkland are false-flag attacks perpetrated by the government" or "that the number of Jews killed by the Nazis during World War II has been exaggerated on purpose."

"These two particular claims are very disproportionately held by white graduate-degree-holding men," Roscigno told Rosenberg (https://www.salon.com/2024/05/05/believes-the-most-taboo-conspiracy-theories-it-might-not-be-you-think/?lh_aid=3542177&lh_cid=r8gnwyw5vd&lh_em=rox%40rawstory.com&di=5f06cb3a5abfaa39f7adcca1317a0973). "In addition, if you look a little bit deeper into some of the other survey research and even my own data, you can also see a concentration of medical-themed conspiracy beliefs among African-Americans, and among the less educated."

Roscigno draws a distinction (https://www.salon.com/2024/05/05/believes-the-most-taboo-conspiracy-theories-it-might-not-be-you-think/?lh_aid=3542177&lh_cid=r8gnwyw5vd&lh_em=rox%40rawstory.com&di=5f06cb3a5abfaa39f7adcca1317a0973) between conspiracy theories that are "taboo" and conspiracy theories that are ridiculous but not necessarily offensive.

Roscigno told Rosenberg (https://www.salon.com/2024/05/05/believes-the-most-taboo-conspiracy-theories-it-might-not-be-you-think/?lh_aid=3542177&lh_cid=r8gnwyw5vd&lh_em=rox%40rawstory.com&di=5f06cb3a5abfaa39f7adcca1317a0973), "When I say 'taboo,' I basically mean that if you said something like this in public, you would face some kind of social sanction. If I told my co-workers that I thought the Earth was flat, they might laugh at me. If I told my co-workers that I thought the Holocaust was exaggerated, it would be a very different story."

READ MORE:Actor promotes Trump's movie screening by pushing QAnon's bizarre infant blood-drinking theory (https://www.alternet.org/jim-caviezel/)

Roscigno notes that (https://www.salon.com/2024/05/05/believes-the-most-taboo-conspiracy-theories-it-might-not-be-you-think/?lh_aid=3542177&lh_cid=r8gnwyw5vd&lh_em=rox%40rawstory.com&di=5f06cb3a5abfaa39f7adcca1317a0973) pop superstar Taylor Swift is a frequent target of conspiracy theories.

The UC Irvine researcher told Rosenberg (https://www.salon.com/2024/05/05/believes-the-most-taboo-conspiracy-theories-it-might-not-be-you-think/?lh_aid=3542177&lh_cid=r8gnwyw5vd&lh_em=rox%40rawstory.com&di=5f06cb3a5abfaa39f7adcca1317a0973), "I bring up the Taylor Swift example to demonstrate that the realm of things under this blanket is, like, so large that trying to generalize any kind of research findings to the entire world of claims about elites doing sneaky stuff ends up being very difficult. I suspect there are claims that graduate-degree holders are more into that we haven't quite figured out yet."

READ MORE:Pentagon debunks Fox News host's Taylor Swift conspiracy theory: 'We're going to shake it off' (https://www.alternet.org/pentagon-debunks-fox-swift-conspiracy/)

*Read the full Salon interview at this link (https://www.salon.com/2024/05/05/believes-the-most-taboo-conspiracy-theories-it-might-not-be-you-think/?lh_aid=3542177&lh_cid=r8gnwyw5vd&lh_em=rox%40rawstory.com&di=5f06cb3a5abfaa39f7adcca1317a0973).

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MMA 5 24 TRADWIFE INFLUENCER

... Our research findings suggest that interacting with tradwife content can catapult users down potentially dangerous conspiracy theory rabbit holes. TikTok’s recommendation algorithm radicalized our research account at a rapid pace, almost entirely saturating our “For You” page with conspiracy theory content within an afternoon.

Of the 327 videos assessed,100 or (30.6%) contained conspiracy theories, which ranged from seemingly innocent speculation about UFO sightings (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4019240) to extremist claims about elites eating children (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4019231).

Some of the most notable and repeated conspiracy theories fed to our account’s FYP included:

The earth is flat.

The U.S. government is going to institute martial law.

Obama is the Antichrist.

There is a demonic agenda behind household products.

Video file

Video

There is going to be a civil war.

Video file

Video

We are living in a matrix.

Other significant findings within the 327 videos included 19 videos featuring extremist right-wing media figures, 13 anti-government videos, and 7 videos peddling medical misinformation.

---

4 24

QAnon Was Born Out of Sex Ad Moral Panic Over Backpage.com (https://theintercept.com/2024/04/27/backpage-com-sex-trafficking-qanon-conspiracy-moral-panic/)

intercept no lnx

QANON WAS BORN OUT OF THE SEX AD MORAL PANIC THAT TOOK DOWN BACKPAGE.COM

For years, the political establishment opportunistically railed against sex trafficking. Then came Pizzagate.

Trevor Aaronson

April 27 2024, 6:00 a.m.

AMERICANS ADORE A moral panic.

During the Red Scare, we believed that Soviet agents were everywhere, having secretly infiltrated all levels of society. In the 1950s, the U.S. government banned switchblades over unfounded fears that we were in the throes of “West Side Story”-style knife violence. The Satanic Panic convinced Americans of the 1980s that absurd claims of ritual abuse and sacrifice were somehow credible. Around the same time, there was “stranger danger” — which was debunked like other moral panics, but never went away entirely.

At any given time, America is moving in and out of some moral panic or another. Harm to children is a persistent theme. In recent years, however, our national obsession with these moral panics has consumed our politics. We’ve come to believe that sex trafficking rings are all around us. The driving force may come as a surprise: a moral panic about consensual sex workers who advertised legally on the internet.

The far-right’s current obsession with “child sex trafficking” — the animating force behind such conspiracy theories as QAnon and Pizzagate, as well as coded political insults like “groomer” — has roots in this moral panic hyped by powerful Republicans and Democrats alike. The panic reached its crescendo with the 2018 federal indictments related to a sex ad hub called Backpage.com.

The Backpage story may stand as a cautionary tale not only of overzealous prosecutions, but also of the second- and third-order effects of moral panics.

A classifieds site that became known predominantly for “adult” advertising, Backpage was born of a more dispersed industry that used to operate in the back pages of local alternative weekly newspapers like the Village Voice, Chicago Reader, and LA Weekly — known as alt-weeklies. For a time, the sex ad industry had its central platform on Craigslist, the free classifieds website, which spurred large-scale campaigns against the ads. As the campaigns took hold, Craigslist buckled and effectively handed the mantle to Backpage — until eventually it, too, came under a sustained morality attack.

I spent four years reporting on this saga — the rise and fall of alt-weeklies, adult advertising, and Backpage — with fellow journalists Sam Eifling and Michael J. Mooney. The result, a documentary podcast series, now on Audible, titled “Hold Fast: The Unadulterated Story of the World’s Most Scandalous Website,” reveals how cynical politicians can take hold of a moral panic and exploit it for political gain.

One thing that struck me during my reporting was that the Backpage story may stand as a cautionary tale not only of overzealous prosecutions, but also of the second- and third-order effects of moral panics — in this case, conspiracy theories like Pizzagate and QAnon. If you look closely enough, you can trace a line from adult ads in alt-weeklies to escort ads on websites like Craigslist and Backpage, to conspiracy claims that Donald Trump is fighting to break up a global child sex-trafficking cabal run by Hillary Clinton and her malevolent minions.

Conspiracy theories don’t grow in isolation. They wrap themselves around kernels of truth. The truth here is that sex trafficking and sexual exploitation are horrific crimes, and no one should underestimate the harms experienced by survivors. For the last two decades, though, powerful politicians, breathless news media, and a host of ill-informed celebrities have conflated “sex trafficking” with “prostitution” — fanning a national hysteria that underpins the conspiracy theories now wracking American society.

Sex Ad Industry

A quick history: Starting with the Village Voice in the 1950s, alt-weeklies popped up in cities nationwide. These papers prized investigative reporting and magazine-style narrative writing; pioneered attitudinal pop-culture criticism; and published classified ads in their back pages that would make half the country blush.

The “adult” ads on the last pages of the tabloid-style papers promoted sex work. At first, they were written in coded language, which created enough ambiguity that federal judges had upheld the ads’ First Amendment protections. The legal doctrine was simple: The government couldn’t deprive a massage therapist or a dancer of their First Amendment right to advertise on mere suspicion that they might also provide an illegal sexual service behind closed doors.

For decades, wink-and-a-nod adult ads could be found in alt-weeklies nationwide. Publishers knew what was being advertised. Most readers knew. So did police and prosecutors. No one, however, seemed to holler about sex ads in newspapers that could be found at busy bus stops, crowded restaurants, or smoky bars. Society didn’t collapse. The kids were all right.

The Majority of Voters Now Support Decriminalizing Sex Work. It’s About Time.

Then came Craigslist, a simple website that slashed a gaping hole in the newspaper industry’s hulking money bags. Who would pay for an ink-smeared classified ad in a newspaper when you could get a more effective one for free, in minutes, on Craigslist? People selling cars, boats, guitars, whatever — they moved to Craigslist. And those sex workers advertising in the back pages of alt-weeklies? They did too.

In response to the migration of classifieds to the internet, the largest publisher of alt-weeklies launched a Craigslist competitor, Backpage. Essentially a knockoff, Backpage used a design and category scheme almost identical to Craigslist’s. Throughout its early existence, the alt-weekly-run Backpage never matched the popular site from which it was cribbing.

Then the government and the press turned on the burgeoning online classifieds industry. Public officials latched on to a study from the University of Pennsylvania that claimed 326,000 children in America were “at risk for commercial sexual exploitation.” The report analyzed data from the 1990s using methodologies so deeply flawed that the Washington Post described it as “bogus.”

The jaw-dropping stat — More than 300,000 children in the United States could be victims of sex trafficking! — nonetheless lodged itself in our national consciousness. Politicians trumpeted the claim. Actor Ashton Kutcher, fashioning himself an advocate against sex trafficking, announced unchallenged on CNN that there are “between 100,000 and 300,000 child sex slaves in the United States today.” It sounded even then like an improbable total. But with kids’ lives reportedly at stake, few Americans pushed back.

Pressure Campaigns

The FBI, conditioned to view any national clamor as a federal funding bonanza, launched Operation Cross Country to investigate the supposed scourge of sex trafficking. The FBI’s ongoing efforts now include partnerships with 400 law enforcement agencies nationwide, but the feds still haven’t uncovered any sort of large-scale, highly organized trafficking ring as part of Operation Cross Country.

That’s because — while cases of sexual exploitation and trafficking do occur, many of them horrific in their details — the perception of a large-scale threat in the United States is perched on a mountain of distortions and exaggerations.

“If you believe that hundreds of thousands of kids are being trafficked, you have to believe your husband, your dad, your brother, your sons are the ones buying them,” Juliana Piccillo, a sex worker advocate, explained to me. “It’s not just a handful of guys buying 300,000 kids.”

For context, the union-covered employees of UPS, those brown-clad delivery drivers we see daily, number 300,000.

As America bought into myths of large-scale sex trafficking, individual accounts of sexual exploitation made headlines. Yet the more nuanced story of online adult ads went unreported. Put simply, the internet made sex work, on the whole, safer by giving consensual sex workers a marketplace away from the streets and the ability to screen potentially dangerous clients.

Sex Workers and their supporters protest a police raid on Oct. 25, 2016, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, saying shutting down sites like Backpage.com exposes them to more risk.

pix]

These gains in worker safety benefited a large portion of Americans, and the reason is simple: The nation’s sex work industry is enormous. The National Institutes of Health estimate that sex work in the U.S. generates $14 billion per year in economic activity. That makes sex work a significant American industry, on par in revenue with the streaming music industry.

As police and politicians conflated sex trafficking with sex work, journalists dutifully followed along. A study from the University of Minnesota of 1,500 news articles from 1995 to 2014 found a dramatic increase in the media’s use of “sex trafficking” in place of “prostitution.” That trend hasn’t reversed. A local news report from Florida last year described a standard prostitution bust as being part of “a sweeping sex trafficking investigation.” Or consider a local news report from South Dakota, where an undercover cop posed as an underage sex worker in a prostitution sting. The TV anchor described it as “an undercover sex trafficking investigation,” even though no one involved was being trafficked. A right-wing sheriff in Florida fashioned a national profile by running prostitution stings and hosting chest-beating press conferences that promote how he’s bravely fighting “human trafficking.”

Backpage became the world’s internet brothel. It was the same legal business alt-weeklies had been in for decades, now operating at an industrial scale.

In August 2010, 17 attorneys general banded together in a letter pressuring Craigslist to take down its adult ads. It wasn’t a legal threat; federal judges had upheld the legality of such ads since their days on the back pages of alt-weeklies. Instead, the attorneys general were mounting a coordinated pressure campaign. And it worked. Bowing to the coercion, Craigslist shuttered its adult section, slapping the word “CENSORED” across it on the website.

Suddenly, adult ads flooded into the also-ran, Backpage, and the company’s annual revenue skyrocketed from $11.7 million to $78 million in just a few years. Backpage became the world’s internet brothel. It was the same legal business alt-weeklies had been in for decades, now operating at an industrial scale.

Backpage’s owners, Arizona newspaper moguls Michael Lacey and James Larkin, believed they could withstand what the nerds at Craigslist couldn’t. After all, they were career alt-weekly publishers, owning 17 papers nationwide, including the Village Voice, LA Weekly, and Miami New Times. They’d printed adult ads in the back pages of their papers for decades. How could the internet be any different?

Political Opportunism

As the world’s largest platform for adult ads, Backpage became the target of withering scrutiny and sensational claims that it was encouraging child sexual exploitation. New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof led the charge with stories headlined “When Backpage.com Peddles Schoolgirls for Sex” and “Google and Sex Traffickers Like Backpage.com.”

Protestors gathered outside the Village Voice’s office in New York. They held up signs reading “End Sex Trafficking” and “Women and Girls Will Not Be Silenced.” An anonymously run website, VillageVoicePimps.com, aggregated reports of violence and sexual exploitation.

The drumbeat drowned out a more complicated reality. Backpage, whose owners and employees knew large amounts of its ads were using ambiguous language to promote illegal sex work, was minting money by cynically pushing First Amendment protections and internet laws to their legal limits. Backpage, though, didn’t turn a blind eye to possible harm. One of the company’s executives had received an award from the FBI for working proactively with law enforcement. Prosecutors at the Justice Department had even advised against filing criminal charges involving Backpage after concluding, in an internal memo, that “Backpage genuinely wanted to get child prostitution off of its site.”

Politicians, on the other hand, saw blood in the water.

FILE - In this April 25, 2014 file picture California Attorney General Kamala Harris, who as a prosecutor once specialized in child sexual assault cases addresses the Domestic Human Trafficking symposium in Los Angeles, Trafficking, forced labor and modern slavery are big business generating profits estimated at $150 billion a year, the U.N. labor agency said Tuesday May 20, 2014. The report by the International Labor Organization finds global profits from involuntary workers an estimated 21 million of them have more than tripled over the past decade from its estimate of at least $44 billion in 2005. ILO Director Guy Ryder said his agency?s report Tuesday calls attention to the need ?to eradicate this fundamentally evil, but hugely profitable practice as soon as possible.? (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes,File)

Then-California Attorney General Kamala Harris addresses the Domestic Human Trafficking symposium in Los Angeles on April 25, 2014. Photo: Damian Dovarganes/AP

Vice President Kamala Harris, then the ambitious attorney general of California, boasted of being tough on human trafficking. In 2016, while running for U.S. Senate, she filed criminal charges against Backpage’s owners. The case garnered Harris national headlines — What politician doesn’t want to be seen as tough on child sex trafficking? — but a judge threw out most of the charges shortly after the newly elected Harris was sworn into the Senate. Her case hadn’t helped end exploitation at Backpage, but it had launched her into national politics.

Around this time, Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain’s think tank, the McCain Institute, focused its efforts on human trafficking. His wife, Cindy, became a self-appointed expert in the subject. McCain Institute reports circulated in Washington, pointing the finger at Backpage for sex trafficking cases in the United States.

The McCains had a wounded history with the owners of Backpage, who started their publishing company in Arizona with the muckraking alt-weekly Phoenix New Times. The paper had written unflatteringly about the McCains for decades and in the mid-1990s revealed how Cindy McCain was stealing painkillers from her medical charity — a story headlined with the very alt-weekly pun “Opiate for the Mrs.” Cindy spun the scandal as a story of addiction and redemption, but it dogged her husband through his failed presidential bids.

Political chicanery and sensational news reports about sex trafficking fueled each other, creating a media environment by 2016 in which Americans had been inundated with reports about sex trafficking and online classifieds. Just as Americans had come to believe that strangers were abducting thousands of children in the 1980s, we came to believe that child sex trafficking was endemic, with hundreds of thousands of our kids at risk.

In April 2018, bowing to pressure from Harris, McCain, and other elected officials, the Justice Department seized Backpage and filed criminal charges against its owners. None of the charges alleged sex trafficking — of either children or adults. The government accused Backpage’s owners and executives of money laundering and facilitating prostitution. Because prostitution is not a federal crime, the Justice Department filed charges under the Travel Act, which outlaws interstate activities intended to violate state laws.

In the first Backpage trial, federal prosecutors repeatedly referred to “child sex trafficking” — even though none of the charges alleged such activity — forcing the judge to declare a mistrial. In November 2023, a federal jury in Arizona convicted Backpage’s principals following a second trial. Lacey was convicted on one count of money laundering, acquitted on another, and no verdict was reached on the other charges, many of which were thrown out by a judge this week ahead of an possible retrial. He faces sentencing in June. Larkin took his own life in 2023, on the eve of the second trial.

Any of the nation’s alt-weeklies — which published the same types of adult ads that Backpage did — could have faced the same charges decades earlier, but prosecutors had deferred to First Amendment protections.

Until the political pressure ramped up on Backpage.

Conspiracy theorists and right-wing Christian media figures have previously attributed weather events to “demonic attack,” biblical prophecy, or the End Times

Conspiracy theorists and right-wing Christian media figures have repeatedly attributed natural disasters to End Times. More recently, conservative pundits and right-wing Christian media figures have attributed natural disasters to “demonic attack,” biblical prophecy, or the End Times. Salon, 4/5/24 (https://www.salon.com/2024/04/05/nothing-true-under-the-sun-why-solar-eclipses-are-a-breeding-ground-for-conspiracy-theories/); Media Matters, [12/11/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/climate-deniers/conservative-commentators-and-right-wing-christian-media-deny-climate-change)]

Right-wing conspiracy theorists and far-right Christian media figures pushed conspiracy theories about the April 8 eclipse and April 5 earthquake, including that it’s a sign of the End Times

MAGA troll and Pizzagate promoter Jack Posobiec suggested in a social media post that the earthquake and eclipse “foretell the coming of a Great Leader.” Twitter/X, [4/8/24 (https://x.com/JackPosobiec/status/1777308047683076153)]

Naomi Wolf, who has pushed COVID-19 conspiracy theories, suggested the eclipse and earthquake are signs of “the end.” Wolf shared a post that claimed the eclipse would be a “biblical event,” and said, “I don’t agree with all of the below but it is worth reading.” With the post, Wolf wrote: “Earthquakes, eclipses, Red Heifers, National Guard…a lot of coincidences. What if there are already multiple dimensions on our Earth? I’m reading the Hopi prophecies and what rings true is that they believe that ‘shadow’ beings will be on earth among humans toward the end. Sure seems plausible now.” Twitter/X, [4/6/24 (https://x.com/naomirwolf/status/1776606848684093464)]

Christian nationalist media figure Sean Feucht connected the timing of the “eclipses, earthquakes and historic [lightning] strikes.” Feucht, who is connected to high-profile Republican politicians including former President Donald Trump, cited a Bible verse to suggest God was behind the events “happening with a matter of days from each other.” Twitter/X, 4/5/24 (https://x.com/seanfeucht/status/1776321759379111980); Media Matters, [9/14/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/turning-point-usa/right-wing-media-are-promoting-sean-feucht-christian-nationalist-singer-bringing)]

:{:{}:

Infowars’ Alex Jones claimed that “Masonic rituals” would coincide with the eclipse. His full post read, “Major Events Surrounding The April 8th Solar Eclipse” and “Masonic rituals planned worldwide to usher in New World Order.” Twitter/X, [4/2/24 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4018675)]}:

Right-wing outlet Charisma News posted an article about a video from the YouTube account “Joseph Z” — which the outlet described as a “prophetic voice” — that claimed the eclipse and earthquake “point to the Antichrist's agenda.” Charisma News has been the top sponsor of the ReAwaken America tour, which has featured Trump’s son Eric Trump. The article suggested “other signs throughout the year will occur as part of an ‘after-effect’ of the eclipse.” Charisma News, 4/5/24 (https://www.charismanews.com/us/94768-joseph-z-earthquakes-cern-and-the-antichrist-agenda); Rolling Stone, 2/28/23 (https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/steve-strang-charisma-media-trump-2024-election-1234687878/); Media Matters, [10/16/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/eric-trump/trump-doral-welcomes-ian-smith-antisemite-who-defends-nazis-portrays-jewish-people-ene)]

Self-described “prophet” Lance Wallnau claimed that the eclipse’s path crosses over a number of cities with names that appear in the Bible, and that the earthquake occurred near Trump’s New Jersey golf course. His full post read, “And the details. Eclipse goes over 7 cities with Nineveh in title, converges with 2017 eclipse over city called ‘New Egypt’ and the NJ earthquake was exactly 7 miles from Trump’s Golf Course 7 months before election! (I added the last detail just to trigger my prophecy critics).” Twitter/X, 4/6/24 (https://x.com/lancewallnau/status/1776640966331408860); Rolling Stone, [9/29/22 (https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/lance-wallnau-doug-mastriano-christian-dominion-1234602214/)]

On X, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) claimed that the eclipse and earthquake are “signs to tell us to repent.” Her full post read, “God is sending America strong signs to tell us to repent. Earthquakes and eclipses and many more things to come. I pray that our country listens.” Twitter/X, [4/5/24 (https://x.com/mtgreenee/status/1776282144416972941)]

On FlashPoint, a show helmed by Christian nationalists, radio host Troy Brewer suggested the eclipse was “a serious warning” and proved that if the nation doesn’t “repent,” “the threat is actually civil war.” Trump has been interviewed on FlashPoint — at least six times — and several members of Congress, including Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO), have also appeared on the program. Victory Channel, FlashPoint, 4/2/24 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4018663); Media Matters, [7/18/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/victory-channel/ahead-2024-republican-politicians-are-appearing-victory-channels-flashpoint-show#paragraph--section-heading--3449936)]

The network ElijahStreams, which hosts “prophets” and “prophetic guests,” dedicated an hour-long stream to discussing the “Biblical & Prophetic Meaning of the Eclipse.” Host Steve Shultz claimed that restarting CERN’s Large Hadron Collider on the same day as the eclipse, and a comet supposedly passing at the same time, is an “occultic opportunity” for them “to open up a gateway for Satan to come out.” Later in the stream, guest David Herzog added that “something is going on definitely that day, because why else would all the demonic powers also try to be something?” Rumble, ElijahStreams, [4/5/24 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4018664)]

On TikTok, users spread conspiracy theories that the eclipse was evidence of an imminent doomsday, per a report from Quartz. According to the outlet, “One of the most common claims that has been circulating online … is that the solar eclipse will pass over six, seven, or eight (depending on who you ask) towns named Nineveh,” with some users even producing “maps that claim to show the path of totality going over these towns.” Quartz, [3/28/24 (https://qz.com/tiktokers-solar-eclipse-conspiracy-simulation-1851372686)]

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ymail judd 4 24

in October 2022, Elon Musk completed his purchase of Twitter. He then dramatically changed the algorithm to boost his own tweets. The new algorithm, according to a February 2023 report (https://substack.com/redirect/76711852-dbed-4d2b-a627-b132b92de7c5?j=eyJ1IjoiN3ltancifQ.i0HJl3aVWG8sHp566T-pebMssFGKcgvxVOFLuZyEDpw) by Platformer, "artificially boosted Musk’s tweets by a factor of 1,000 – a constant score that ensured his tweets rank higher than anyone else’s in the feed."

Musk is now using his dominant presence on the social network, which he has renamed X, to convince people that the 2024 presidential election is rigged. His efforts dovetail with the lies of Donald Trump, who recently claimed that Democrats are "allowing" undocumented immigrants to enter the country and "signing them up to vote (https://substack.com/redirect/72fbb7a5-69b4-4a25-9aae-7e6e87318a3b?j=eyJ1IjoiN3ltancifQ.i0HJl3aVWG8sHp566T-pebMssFGKcgvxVOFLuZyEDpw)."

Musk promoted (https://substack.com/redirect/3e4bf3e0-28b8-493c-b484-5de200ba5790?j=eyJ1IjoiN3ltancifQ.i0HJl3aVWG8sHp566T-pebMssFGKcgvxVOFLuZyEDpw) a post from @EndWokeness, a popular account that promotes bigoted conspiracy theories, that claimed to have uncovered "data" showing that hundreds of thousands of "illegals" have registered to vote since the start of 2024. Musk shared @EndWokeness' post with his 170 million followers and called it "extremely concerning (https://substack.com/redirect/3e4bf3e0-28b8-493c-b484-5de200ba5790?j=eyJ1IjoiN3ltancifQ.i0HJl3aVWG8sHp566T-pebMssFGKcgvxVOFLuZyEDpw)."

According to X, thanks to Musk's promotion, over 100 million people have viewed the claims in this post. The only problem is that the entire thing is bunk.

To begin, "illegals" cannot get a Social Security number. Most people who have Social Security numbers are citizens. In some instances, non-citizens can receive a Social Security number — usually in connection with a work authorization — but only if they are legally present in the United States (https://substack.com/redirect/e43968fe-c35e-4f8f-bddd-a254a1d13c87?j=eyJ1IjoiN3ltancifQ.i0HJl3aVWG8sHp566T-pebMssFGKcgvxVOFLuZyEDpw). The idea that using a Social Security number to register to vote is evidence of undocumented status makes no sense.

Help America Vote Verification (HAVV) is part of a process that allows people to register to vote by providing their Social Security number, name, and date of birth. That information is then passed from the state Department of Motor Vehicles to the Social Security Administration, which checks to make sure that the information is valid and that the individual is not deceased.

Critically, every "transaction" using the HAVV process does not equate to a newly registered voter. A November 2010 report (https://substack.com/redirect/f7f1a381-0c0c-40fc-a88d-18b31490a3c7?j=eyJ1IjoiN3ltancifQ.i0HJl3aVWG8sHp566T-pebMssFGKcgvxVOFLuZyEDpw) by the Social Security Administration's Office of Inspector General "found that 2.4 million (32 percent) of the 7.7 million HAVV transactions submitted by 25 States related to the same voter data being re-submitted 10 or more times." In 2008, according to the report, "Ohio submitted the same voter information 1,778 times during the year for a 77-year-old man who died in December 2005." Then, in 2009, "Ohio continued to submit this applicant’s information 13,824 times." On one day in 2008, Illinois submitted the same voter to HAVV 342 times.

This helps explain why the numbers cited by @EndWokeness dramatically exceed the total number of newly registered voters in 2024 in each state. According to the Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson (https://substack.com/redirect/14f8fcb7-1cce-41bb-a7ac-6076e270999a?j=eyJ1IjoiN3ltancifQ.i0HJl3aVWG8sHp566T-pebMssFGKcgvxVOFLuZyEDpw), as of April 3, "voter rolls have increased by 57,711 voters since the beginning of 2024." That represents all newly registered voters — not just the much smaller number that registered to vote without a drivers license. There are similar discrepancies in Arizona (https://substack.com/redirect/3f33c8ec-d250-40d8-bd47-b203c5c14ec0?j=eyJ1IjoiN3ltancifQ.i0HJl3aVWG8sHp566T-pebMssFGKcgvxVOFLuZyEDpw) and Pennsylvania.

Even if a non-citizen were able to register without a driver’s license in Texas, Pennsylvania, or Arizona, that would not enable them to vote. All three states require voters to present identification (https://substack.com/redirect/4896eaad-5379-4e11-b40a-3b7337fab140?j=eyJ1IjoiN3ltancifQ.i0HJl3aVWG8sHp566T-pebMssFGKcgvxVOFLuZyEDpw) that establishes their citizenship and state residency. (In Pennsylvania, this is only required when voting for the first time (https://substack.com/redirect/08351d74-39c2-4fe8-b679-51332db91b07?j=eyJ1IjoiN3ltancifQ.i0HJl3aVWG8sHp566T-pebMssFGKcgvxVOFLuZyEDpw).) The entire conspiracy theory is incoherent.

Non-citizen voting is extraordinarily rare

Musk is trying to convince people that non-citizen voting is a severe threat to democracy. The truth is that it almost never happens. A study by the Brennan Center for Justice evaluating 23.5 million votes across 12 states in 2016 found 30 incidents of suspected non-citizen voting, 0.0001% of the 2016 vote (https://substack.com/redirect/2abd49d8-185c-4b1a-befb-011140b556d6?j=eyJ1IjoiN3ltancifQ.i0HJl3aVWG8sHp566T-pebMssFGKcgvxVOFLuZyEDpw) in those jurisdictions. A 2022 audit (https://substack.com/redirect/17e483e0-cfa6-4358-8cc7-9d313a02b20b?j=eyJ1IjoiN3ltancifQ.i0HJl3aVWG8sHp566T-pebMssFGKcgvxVOFLuZyEDpw) of Georgia voting rolls found about 1600 noncitizens attempting to register to vote over a 25-year period, and no non-citizens were actually allowed to register or vote.

The issue of non-citizen voting is connected to the racist Great Replacement theory (https://substack.com/redirect/1b5cea00-5b24-4512-8adf-4a5de02fd5b5?j=eyJ1IjoiN3ltancifQ.i0HJl3aVWG8sHp566T-pebMssFGKcgvxVOFLuZyEDpw), popular with white supremacists, that falsely claims that Democrats are allowing non-citizens to illegally enter the country as part of a plot to seize political power. Musk has repeatedly (https://substack.com/redirect/59f612c1-c362-4794-b8be-e95743ee5f3c?j=eyJ1IjoiN3ltancifQ.i0HJl3aVWG8sHp566T-pebMssFGKcgvxVOFLuZyEDpw) endorsed (https://substack.com/redirect/cfa41ee7-37a1-49b4-9d43-3c3c0d91060e?j=eyJ1IjoiN3ltancifQ.i0HJl3aVWG8sHp566T-pebMssFGKcgvxVOFLuZyEDpw) the Great Replacement theory on X.

In March, Musk accused (https://substack.com/redirect/785dd5ae-dc4c-42c1-b9d0-a662a15ead8b?j=eyJ1IjoiN3ltancifQ.i0HJl3aVWG8sHp566T-pebMssFGKcgvxVOFLuZyEDpw) Biden of committing "treason" by chartering flights full of undocumented immigrants with the intention of registering them to vote. The flights did not exist.

Musk's absurd approach to fact-checking

Musk promotes X's Community Notes feature as a way of identifying misinformation. Community Notes allows users to flag misinformation and write a correction. In certain cases, the Community Note is appended to the post itself.

But Musk's post about HAVV and his other false claims do not feature any publicly available Community Notes. That's because Musk has designed Community Notes to make it virtually impossible for his posts to be fact-checked.

Musk has a cult following on X who agree with his reactionary politics and defend his claims (https://substack.com/redirect/78d05ae8-9cac-4b6b-b8d1-cd47ebe59157?j=eyJ1IjoiN3ltancifQ.i0HJl3aVWG8sHp566T-pebMssFGKcgvxVOFLuZyEDpw), no matter how outlandish. Community Notes are displayed publicly only if there is a consensus among people who normally disagree. That means, even if thousands of people agree that Musk is lying, a Community Note will not be displayed unless Musk's loyal supporters also agree it should be displayed. Here is how X describes its approach (https://substack.com/redirect/396a47cd-9167-45e5-bcc1-1f09f51c897d?j=eyJ1IjoiN3ltancifQ.i0HJl3aVWG8sHp566T-pebMssFGKcgvxVOFLuZyEDpw):

To find notes that are helpful to the broadest possible set of people, Community Notes takes into account not only how many contributors rated a note as helpful or unhelpful, but also whether people who rated it seem to come from different perspectives.

Community Notes assesses "different perspectives" entirely based on how people have rated notes in the past… If people who typically disagree in their ratings agree that a given note is helpful, it's probably a good indicator the note is helpful to people from different points of view.

The practical impact of this policy is that very few Community Notes are displayed publicly, especially not on political posts by Elon Musk.

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an 4 214

On Monday, April 8, a total solar eclipse (https://science.nasa.gov/eclipses/future-eclipses/eclipse-2024/) will cross North America. Scientists and mainstream journalists will be paying close attention to the event, but while their interest is strictly scientific, another group of people see the eclipse in political terms: far-right conspiracy theorists.

In an article published by Rolling Stone (https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/solar-eclipse-conspiracy-theories-far-right-1234998475/) on April 4, reporter E.J. Dickson describes some of the wild conspiracy theories that Infowars' Alex Jones and others on the far right have been promoting about the eclipse.

"Our knowledge of eclipses predates our knowledge of gravity, algebra and toilet paper," Dickson explains (https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/solar-eclipse-conspiracy-theories-far-right-1234998475/). "We are well aware of their existence, and we are well aware of what causes them…. What the ancient Assyrians could not have possibly predicted, however, was the singular stupidity of the current incarnation of the American right.""

READ MORE:[Alex Jones declares he'll 'go on warpath' against Trump over ex-president's latest brag

Dickson continues (https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/solar-eclipse-conspiracy-theories-far-right-1234998475/), "Unconvinced by thousands of years of scientific inquiry, as well as driven by a general sense of apocalyptic bloodlust, many on the right are trading conspiracy theories about the upcoming eclipse, ranging from the belief that it signals the End Times to the idea that the Biden Administration is using it as an opportunity to shut down cell phone service or bring in the National Guard in an effort to make beautiful blond children who play sports transgender."

Dickson notes (https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/solar-eclipse-conspiracy-theories-far-right-1234998475/) that the "onslaught of misinformation" about the March 8 eclipse "began" with Jones.

In an April 2 post on X (https://twitter.com/RealAlexJones/status/1775345223348150566), formerly Twitter, the Infowars host wrote, "Major Events Surrounding The April 8th Solar Eclipse. Masonic rituals planned worldwide to usher in New World Order."

Another far-right conspiracy theorist who has been tweeting about the eclipse is Dom Lucre.

READ MORE:['I've always despised bullies': Meet the attorneys bringing conspiracy theorists to justice

On April 2, Lucre posted (https://twitter.com/dom_lucre/status/1775352907082117203), "There will be rituals performed during the April 8th Eclipse. Masonic, Satanic, Esoteric, Gnostic, Brotherhood of the Snake and other occult-like groups will be performing."

Mike Rothschild, author of the 2021 book "The Storm Is Upon Us: How QAnon Became a Movement, Cult, and Conspiracy Theory of Everything," (https://www.amazon.com/Storm-Upon-Us-Conspiracy-Everything/dp/1612199291/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1G8OOLXCYGYIX&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.ctTC3-33FLwnBP_06RX7hPUiRfPDApUS_Y1Gyvd5DxI.Eun1bdA0OThx83jVcmIqpu0sTkcMGXy79xwLgWJzamI&dib_tag=se&keywords=The+Storm+Is+Upon+Us%3A+How+QAnon+Became+a+Movement%2C+Cult%2C+and+Conspiracy+Theory+of+Everything&qid=1712243679&s=books&sprefix=the+storm+is+upon+us+how+qanon+became+a+movement%2C+cult%2C+and+conspiracy+theory+of+everything%2Cstripbooks%2C78&sr=1-1) told Rolling Stone that "weird theories and superstitions around cosmic events like eclipses" are common "because people don't understand science and how anything works."

Rothschild told Rolling Stone (https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/solar-eclipse-conspiracy-theories-far-right-1234998475/), "It all feels very similar to the same run of conspiracy theories we had with stuff like the four blood moons and the September 23 apocalypse and other pseudo-science nonsense. Basically, a common event is imbued with cosmic significance, then totally forgotten when nothing happens."

READ MORE:[QAnon believer who crashed SUV into FBI building wrote 'I love you' to Trump

*Read Rolling Stone's full report at this link (https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/solar-eclipse-conspiracy-theories-far-right-1234998475/) (subscription required

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an 3 24 note phobes

more eyebrow-raising details are emerging about Michele Morrow, the Republican nominee in North Carolina's K-12 school superintendent race.

According to a recent report by Media Matters for America (https://www.mediamatters.org/education/michele-morrow-has-worked-group-thats-promoted-school-shooting-911-and-hitler-conspiracy) (MMFA), Morrow has touted her past work for the political action committee (PAC) Liberty First Grassroots, which is a far-right advocacy group that's embraced numerous conspiracy theories. Some of the group's most spurious claims are that school shootings are "false flag" attacks staged by the US government, that the US government secretly played a role in the orchestration of the 9/11 terror attacks, that wealthy celebrities drink the blood of children and that former President Barack Obama is a grandson of Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler through his mother.

The PAC — whom Morrow used to work for as a spokesperson — has given Morrow a "100%" endorsement, calling her "the light on the hill."

READ MORE:GOP nominee for NC public schools chief endorsed 'pay per view' execution of Obama: report (https://www.alternet.org/gop-nominee-nc-public-schools/)

MMFA also found documented examples of Liberty First Grassroots PAC endorsing other fringe conspiracy theories like QAnon (https://www.mediamatters.org/education/michele-morrow-has-worked-group-thats-promoted-school-shooting-911-and-hitler-conspiracy#qanon), Pizzagate (https://www.mediamatters.org/education/michele-morrow-has-worked-group-thats-promoted-school-shooting-911-and-hitler-conspiracy#pizzagate) (in which a Washington, DC pizzeria was accused of running a child sex trafficking ring out of its nonexistent basement), that Obama was "a political science project by psychopaths" with a "Hitler blood line (https://www.mediamatters.org/education/michele-morrow-has-worked-group-thats-promoted-school-shooting-911-and-hitler-conspiracy#hitler)" and even the belief that public schools are part of a "plan set up by the Illuminati to mold the brains of our children. (https://www.mediamatters.org/education/michele-morrow-has-worked-group-thats-promoted-school-shooting-911-and-hitler-conspiracy#illuminati)" The group has also endorsed the chemtrails/contrails conspiracy theory, as well as the conspiracy that Obama is secretly a member of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

"\Morrow] has been (https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/state/north-carolina/article248371050.html) involved (https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/election/article286307805.html) with LFG for years (https://www.facebook.com/LibertyFirstGrassroots/posts/pfbid02XDpfYzpjMUrDFLMrbuQwJS31C8jmpXg9rjRmsGaJZc8xtTjcftCqZmsonfNFv7d9l) and has served as the group’s spokesperson. A 2021 LFG statement described (https://web.archive.org/web/20210516174234/https://www.libertyfirstgrassroots.com/post/meet-liberty-first-grassroots-spokesperson-michele-morrow) her as 'a long time Conservative Activist Team member' and someone who has been 'quoted by the media many times,'" MMFA's Payton Armstrong and Eric Hananoki wrote. "Morrow has credited LFG with being an integral part of her political journey, telling (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4018072) an interviewer (https://thestevenobleshow.com/2022/06/08/school-board-takeover/) that she first connected with the group surrounding the confirmation of Neil Gorsuch, who became a Supreme Court justice in [2017 (https://www.congress.gov/nomination/115th-congress/55)."

In one social media post from 2019, Liberty First Grassroots wrote that LGBTQ marriage was part of the "New World Order" conspiracy (https://www.facebook.com/LibertyFirstGrassroots/photos/pb.100072507453100.-2207520000/2752936211429599/?type=3), whose adherents believe that "a shadowy elite force is trying to implement a totalitarian world government."

"This is where we are headed... if we let the Left continue," the group wrote on Facebook, sharing an image of a book whose author predicted that the state would raise children instead of parents and that practitioners of all religions would be imprisoned.

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mma 3 24

no lnx pic twt

Rumble, an extreme right-wing video-sharing platform that was the official livestreaming partner of the 2024 Republican presidential primary debates, has an “editor picks” section of its site — an apparently curated list that highlights and promotes specific videos. Rumble’s own source code says the section has “the absolute real best of Rumble.com,” and Rumble CEO Chris Pavlovski has said that he has “personally” and “manually” featured content in the section.

An ongoing Media Matters review since June 2023 has found that the “editor picks” section has repeatedly featured conspiracy theory content.

Below are conspiracy theories — and the videos pushing them — that have been featured in Rumble’s “editor picks.”

Jump to section

QAnon conspiracy theory

June 12, 2023: Rumble selected an episode of a show from Badlands Media, a channel affiliated with the QAnon conspiracy theory, as one of its “editor picks.” The specific show, Eye of the Storm, was dedicated to “dissecting the Q Drops from the start” and discussed on-screen images of posts from QAnon’s central figure. [Media Matters, 6/14/23; Twitter/X, 6/12/23]

Mass shooting false flag conspiracy theory

August 30, 2023: Among its “editor picks,” Rumble selected a video that suggested that a racist mass shooting in Jacksonville, Florida, may have been a false flag operation. The video titled “MUGshot Sets Off False Flags ReeEEeE Stream 08-27-23” was from far-right figure “TheSaltyCracker,” who previously amplified conspiracy theories and harmful rhetoric. The video claimed that the Jacksonville shooting “could be a false flag” and that “the timing” of the event was “incredibly weird.” [Media Matters, 8/30/23, 9/9/19, 7/20/22]

Rumble editors pick Jacksonville video

CitationScreenshot of Rumble’s “editor picks” section taken on August 30, 2023

9/11 Trutherism

September 11, 2023: During the week of the 22nd anniversary of the September 11 attacks, Rumble selected multiple videos as “editor picks” that pushed false conspiracy theories about the attacks. One video, in part titled “The Shocking Masterminds Behind 9/11,” had as its description, “Kevin explores, in a very fact based way, who could have been behind the 9/11 plot and he mostly points to Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld,” referring to the then-vice president and then-secretary of defense. Another video featuring the attacks in its thumbnail was from Rumble Exclusives channel The Quartering and falsely claimed that World Trade Center Building 7 was demolished by pre-rigged explosives. The host described the theory as “pretty interesting” and “stuff that we can only talk about on Rumble.” (In December 2022, before the channel announced it would be going “live on Rumble, exclusively,” Rumble CEO Chris Pavlovski said Rumble would “definitely” put the channel “in editor picks if he multicasts it to Rumble.“) [Media Matters, 4/11/23, 9/14/23; Twitter/X, 12/23/22]

Video CitationFrom a video showing Rumble’s “editor picks” on September 11, 2023

Conspiracy theories tied to antisemitism

December 4, 2023: Among its “editor picks,” Rumble selected a video about supposed “lizard people” controlling the world, which is a conspiracy theory that has been tied to violence and antisemitism. During the video, titled “Lizard Climate Scam ReeEEeE Stream 12-03-23,” far-right figure “TheSaltyCracker” claimed that “you just saw all these lizard people fly in to Munich, Germany, on private jets screaming about … climate change,” and that “every single apparatus of lizard person fucking monstrosities are throwing everything that they got against Donald Trump.” The video’s thumbnail also featured an image of King Charles III with a long cartoon tongue sticking out, apparently in reference to the conspiracy theory. [Media Matters, 12/19/23]

Rumble TheSaltyCracker reptilian

CitationScreenshot of Rumble's "editor picks" section taken on December 4, 2023

March 11, 2024: Rumble selected as one of its “editor picks” a video with a thumbnail that features an image of billionaire philanthropist George Soros holding puppet strings — an antisemitic trope. The video’s host described Soros as “one guy that I know is causing mass destruction” and falsely claimed that Soros said “destroying America will be the culmination of my life’s work.” The video’s description also claims that Soros “has been single-handedly influencing the political arena in many of our failing major cities from the shadows.” [Rumble, 3/8/23, accessed 3/12/24, accessed 3/12/24; The Forward, 7/12/23; Reuters, 6/18/20]

Rumble George Soros editor pick

CitationScreenshot of Rumble's "editor picks" section taken on March 11, 2024

Conspiracy theory that Taylor Swift is a “psyop” and “a fed”

January 10, 2024: Among its “editor picks,” Rumble selected a video promoting the conspiracy theory that pop star Taylor Swift is a “psyop” and “a fed.” The video was titled in part “T-Swift is a PSY-OP!!,” featured Swift in its thumbnail image alongside the text “T Swift a fed??” and the video description included, “Are the FEDS using Taylor Swift as a Psy-op agent? We Will discuss the possibility today.” The video claimed that Swift could be “a psyop devil for the government,” adding that she is “almost omnipresent, like a demon would be,” and cited a false segment from Fox News as evidence suggesting that the Department of Defense is using Swift as an “asset” for “combatting online misinformation.” [Media Matters, 1/10/24]

Rumble Taylor Swift video editor pick

CitationScreenshot of Rumble's "editor picks" section taken on January 10, 2024

Anti-trans Michelle Obama conspiracy theory

February 12, 2024: Rumble selected a video featuring a baseless anti-trans conspiracy theory that former first lady Michelle Obama is secretly a man as one of its “editor picks.” The video from the right-wing show The Conservative Podcast was titled in part “Michelle Obama is a Man.” In the video, co-host Shane Ginsberg (known online as “shaneyyricch”) asked if his fellow co-host Elan Brooks thought “Michelle Obama is a man.” In response, Brooks called it “a good question.” [Media Matters, 2/13/24]

Rumble Michelle Obama editor pick

CitationScreenshot of Rumble's "editor picks" section taken on February 12, 2024

Flat Earth conspiracy theory

February 26, 2024: Among its “editor picks,” Rumble selected a video that was titled in part “The Earth is Flat.” In the video, also from The Conservative Podcast, Brooks said, “Some people are of the mindset that the Earth is actually a flat plane, and not a spinning globe,” an idea he called an “interesting kind of concept.” He also cited The Simpsons, the Bible, and the late German rocket engineer Wernher von Braun as possible evidence for the conspiracy theory that “we have a dome.” [Media Matters, 2/28/24]

Rumble Flat Earth editor pick

CitationScreenshot of Rumble's "editor picks" section taken on February 26, 2024

Chemtrails conspiracy theory

February 29, 2024: Rumble selected a video pushing the chemtrails conspiracy theory as one of its “editor picks.” The conspiracy theory baselessly claims that contrails in the sky are actually from the government spraying chemicals into the air for various nefarious purposes, such as weather or mind control. The video’s title — “Climate Change Pushers Actually MANIPULATING The Weather. What Are They Spraying In Our Skies?” — pushed the conspiracy theory, and host Kim Iversen said, “People have been telling me, ‘Kim, look into chemtrails. Look into geoengineering,’ right?” [CNN, 3/12/24; Rumble, The Kim Iversen Show, 2/28/24]

Rumble chemtrails editor pick

CitationScreenshot of Rumble's "editor picks" section taken on February 29, 2024

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recall tx drought some yrs back was prayer

oregon was antifa

mma 3 24

Conspiracy theorists and right-wing influencers are attributing unprecedented wildfires in Texas to a government attack using so-called directed energy weapons (DEWs), while others say the fires were an act of “retaliation” from the federal government motivated by an ongoing stand-off (https://www.texastribune.org/2024/01/30/texas-border-eagle-pass-standoff-secession/) over migration at the state’s southern border. Dozens of videos and posts falsely insist that the claim is backed up by remarks President Joe Biden made during his February 29 visit to Brownsville, Texas.

While discussing (https://www.c-span.org/video/?533943-1/president-biden-remarks-border-patrol-station-brownsville-texas) how “up-to-date standards and building codes” could help reduce property damage from wildfires, Biden said, “If you fly over these areas that are burnt to the ground, and you see in the midst of 20 homes that are just totally destroyed, one home is sitting because it has the right roof on it.”

Claims that Biden was somehow suggesting that certain roofs are immune to the impacts of DEWs while other structures were intentionally targeted in the fires are proliferating on X (formerly Twitter) and TikTok, along with related conspiracy theories suggesting the fires were payback for the state defying federal border policy.

In 2024, climate change is already fueling extreme weather all around the country — including the Texas fires}:

Texas is currently experiencing the largest wildfire in state history. The Smokehouse Creek Fire has burned over 1 million acres and was 74% contained as of March 7. It is one of at least three wildfires currently burning the state’s Panhandle region, destroying homes and agricultural land as farmers struggle to evacuate livestock. At least 7,000 cattle and two people have died. CNN, \3/1/24 (https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/29/us/texas-panhandle-smokehouse-creek-fire-thursday/index.html); The New York Times, 3/7/24 (https://www.nytimes.com/article/texas-smokehouse-creek-fire.html); CBS, 3/7/24 (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/texas-panhandle-wildfires-thouands-cows-dead-total-wipeout-many-local-ranchers/); Newsweek, [3/7/24 (https://www.newsweek.com/burn-scar-texas-wildfires-smokehouse-creek-fire-1876911)]

The exact cause of the fire is currently under investigation, but Xcel Energy has acknowledged “that its facilities appear to have been involved in an ignition of the Smokehouse Creek fire.” According to The Texas Tribune, “A lawsuit filed last week by homeowners accused the power company of neglecting to maintain power lines.” The Texas Tribune, [3/7/24 (https://www.texastribune.org/2024/03/07/xcel-energy-texas-wildfires/)]

The Smokehouse Creek Fire was supercharged by hot, dry, windy conditions linked to climate change. CNN wrote: “Its severity was due to a perfect storm of environmental factors: highly flammable grasses and strong winds combined with record-high temperatures and dry conditions — the kind of extreme weather often exacerbated by climate change.” CNN, [3/1/24 (https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/03/climate/texas-wildfires-climate-change/index.html)]

This February was likely the hottest on record, featuring “the highest global average temperature ever recorded for that month, thanks to climate change.”The unusually warm month followed a “lost winter” in the Midwest and extreme rainfall and flooding on the West Coast. Reuters, \2/29/24 (https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/spring-came-early-february-likely-warmest-record-amid-climate-change-2024-02-29/); Axios, 3/4/24 (https://www.axios.com/2024/03/04/blizzard-california-texas-fire-lost-winter-extremes); NPR, [2/6/24 (https://www.npr.org/2024/02/06/1229226051/how-are-atmospheric-rivers-affected-by-climate-change)]

A conspiracy theory about blue objects being immune to so-called government weapons has been brewing since the Lahaina fires}:

For years, conspiracy theorists maintained that wildfires have been set intentionally by the government using “directed energy weapons,” which are supposedly in space. The idea resurfaced on social media in 2023 after wildfires in Lahaina, Hawaii, killed over 100 people. Vice, \8/15/23 (https://www.vice.com/en/article/jg5dpb/maui-fire-laser-beam-conspiracy-twitter); The New York Times, [2/13/24 (https://www.nytimes.com/article/maui-wildfire-victims.html)]

Directed energy weapons are real, but there is no evidence that they’re being used to start wildfires. It has been widely acknowledged that DEWs such as lasers and high-powered microwaves are being researched and invested in by militaries around the world. However, those technologies aren’t being used at scale, and experts say they could not have been used without being noticed. The Dispatch, \2/20/24 (https://thedispatch.com/article/fact-checking-claims-about-directed-energy-weapons/); AFP, [3/1/24 (https://factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com.34KE9N7)]

In photos and videos of the devastation in Hawaii, some blue objects appeared to be less burned than their surroundings, leading conspiracy theorists to believe the color has special properties. In particular, some pointed to a blue car, blue umbrellas, and even one of Oprah Winfrey’s homes (which turned out to be an hour’s drive from where the fires occurred) and concluded that blue objects cannot be damaged by DEWs. There is no evidence to support this. Media Matters, \8/23/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/climate-deniers/conspiracy-theorists-and-right-wing-media-fabricate-evidence-lahaina-fire-was); TikTok, 8/16/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4010259); Newsweek, [8/14/23 (https://www.newsweek.com/oprah-winfrey-maui-wildfires-home-hawaii-1819611)]

There was nothing notably unusual about the damage in Lahaina, and wildfire patterns are often unpredictable.“It’s actually very common that wildfires will burn out structures and vehicles but leave surrounding trees, utility poles, and other vegetation unscathed,” Michael Gollner, an associate professor of mechanical engineering who leads a fire research lab at the University of California, Berkeley, told AP News. The Associated Press, [8/14/23 (https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-maui-wildfires-trees-poles-standing-944458337667)

Some roof designs are more wildfire resistant than others, but not because they’re blue. According to Fire Safe Marin, a nonprofit dedicated to reducing fire hazards in California, some roofing materials are more fire-resistant than others, and debris left to accumulate in gutters or roof tiles with certain shapes that allow animals to build nests can provide more fuel for a fire. Fire Safe Marin, accessed [3/4/24 (https://firesafemarin.org/harden-your-home/fire-resistant-roofs/#gsc.tab=0)]

X and TikTok users claim Biden’s roof comment is evidence of foul play}:

Social media users are speculating that Biden was referring to homes with blue roofs when he said “one home is sitting because it has the right roof on it,” apparently confirming their suspicions about the fires being set intentionally by government weapons.

On TikTok, Media Matters identified dozens of videos with hundreds of thousands of views theorizing that Biden was referring to a blue roof.The videos suggest that Biden “slipped up” or “said the quiet part out loud” by mentioning houses with “the right kind of roof,” alleging that he meant a blue roof. One video read, “Is this motherfucker admitting it was a direct attack on fellow Texans?" Another user complained that her previous video pushing the conspiracy theory had been taken down for promoting misinformation against TikTok’s community guidelines. “He let the truth actually slip and they’re trying to sponge it from the internet,” she claimed. TikTok, \3/2/24 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4017408), 3/2/24 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4017409); TikTok Community Guidelines, accessed [3/4/24 (https://www.tiktok.com/community-guidelines/en/integrity-authenticity/)]

Video file

Conspiracy theory account Wall Street Apes wrote: “Fact Checkers Say The Blue Roof Connection It’s A ‘Conspiracy Theory.’ The Rest Of Us Say It’s DEWs, Direct Energy Weapons.” On X, the account wrote: “We Saw The Untouched Blue Roof In The Maui Fire, We Saw The Same Thing In The Chili Fire, Joe Biden Confirmed Houses Will Burn In The Texas Fire UNLESS ‘They had the right roof on it’ Here’s the United States Military & FEMA having a ‘Blue Roof Program’… Coincidence? Fact Checkers Say The Blue Roof Connection It’s A ‘Conspiracy Theory.’ The Rest Of Us Say It’s DEWs, Direct Energy Weapons.” Twitter/X, [3/2/24 (https://x.com/WallStreetApes/status/1764058891883860341?s=20)]

One TikTok video, which had at least 480,000 views but has seemingly been deleted, suggested Biden accidentally revealed the use of a DEW. “So did Joe Biden make a booboo in his speech in Texas today,” the user said. “The old man’s rambling like always, he’s talking about the fires in Texas at the border, but then he says the only houses that are left standing have the right roofs on them. … I don’t know man, it’s weird. Remember Oprah’s house, it was left standing, it had a blue roof. A lot of things that were blue didn’t really get touched by fire, isn’t that kind of odd?” TikTok, [2/29/24 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4017306)]

Conspiracy theory account Concerned Citizen wrote that Biden was “literally admitting if you have the correct roof on your home then DEW won’t burn your house to the ground.” On X, the account wrote: “‘One Home sitting there because they had the right roof on it.’ The President saying the quiet part out loud again. Is this the President literally admitting if you have the correct roof on your home then DEW won’t burn your house to the ground? It’s a blue roof by the way. Thank me later.” Twitter/X, [3/1/24 (https://x.com/BGatesIsaPyscho/status/1763479223484751970?s=20)]

Right-wing influencer Liz Churchill: “Freudian Slip Joe Biden possibly speaking of EMP Weapons.”Twitter/X, [2/29/24 (https://x.com/liz_churchill10/status/1763384345404846490?s=20)]

Another TikTok video, which had at least 358,000 views before it was deleted, featured text that said, “Remember the blue roofs during the Lahaina fires? Biden just seemed to confirm our suspicions.” TikTok, [2/29/24 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4017307)]

A co-host of the QAnon podcast BrainStorm, who goes by “Joe Rambo,” claimed that Biden was declassifying secret information and shared a post suggesting the president “admit DEWs don’t affect your home if the roof is painted blue.” Twitter/X, [2/29/24 (https://x.com/BrainStorm_Joe/status/1763331330480447604?s=20)]

Crypto influencer and right-wing conspiracy theorist Tara Bull shared a clip of Biden’s speech along with a TikTok video promoting Lahaina fire conspiracy theories about the color blue, writing: “What did Biden just say about the fire not burning homes that have ‘the right roof’?” Twitter/X, [2/29/24 (https://x.com/TaraBull808/status/1763420312258191590?s=20)]

Right-wing MAGA account “I Meme Therefore I Am” wrote: “Did Biden just confirm that they use Directed Energy Weapons and that's why houses with blue roofs don't catch on fire?” Twitter/X, [2/29/24 (https://x.com/ImMeme0/status/1763371447106273391?s=20)]

Shannon Townsend, co-host of the QAnon program MG Show, alluded to the conspiracy theory, sharing the clip of Biden’s February 29 remarks and writing: “The house with the blue roof? That what Biden is talking about here?” Twitter/X, [2/29/24 (https://x.com/shadygrooove/status/1763358092182618405?s=20)]

Another conspiracy theorist account shared Biden’s remarks and wrote “Blue Roof ‘Conspiracy Theory’ Confirmed.” The post continued: “Pedo Joe Telling You That Viewing The Wild Fire Damage From Above Shows How a Whole Line of Houses Can be Completely Destroyed But One Is Left Standing Because It Had The ‘RIGHT ROOF’ On It. Telling Us What We Already Know Joey, Blue Roofs Are The Fail Safe.” Twitter/X, [2/29/24 (https://twitter.com/matttttt187/status/1763361267975164145)]

QAnon account Shadow of Ezra also boosted the conspiracy theory: “Biden suggested that having the right type of roof could offer protection from wildfires. People are speculating that he may have implied a specific roof color. What do you think he really means?” Twitter/X, [2/29/24 (https://x.com/ShadowofEzra/status/1763356931958165662?s=20)]

QAnon account Jack Straw: “#BREAKING: Joe Biden accidentally confirms direct energy weapons are the cause of wildfires by saying you should have the right roof.” Twitter/X, [2/29/24 (https://x.com/JackStr42679640/status/1763408258541539772?s=20)]

Other online content creators speculate that the wildfires are “retaliation” for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s dispute with the administration’s border policies}:

Abbott has been highly critical (https://www.texastribune.org/2024/02/04/abbott-defends-eagle-pass-tactics/) of the Biden administration’s approach to handling migration at the southern border. In January (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/greg-abbott-defends-texas-border-policies-60-minutes/), Abbott deployed Texas state police to block U.S. Border Patrol from entering Shelby Park at Eagle Pass, which has been turned into a holding center. Texas has also continued to erect razor wire between Shelby Park and the Rio Grande River after a Supreme Court ruling found that federal agents had the right to remove the wire.

On social media, some conspiracy theorists and right-wing influencers alleged (https://www.tiktok.com/@screaminginthesilence2.4/video/7341058678113553694?t=8kQec5n6ZzP&r=1) that the government started the fires deliberately to punish Texas for not complying with the Supreme Court ruling, or suggested that migrants were somehow involved in starting the Smokehouse Creek Fire.

One TikTok user claimed the fire is “suspicious” because Texas “wasn’t going for all this BS,” in a video with over 1 million views. Other users commented that the fires were “man made,” claiming that “TEXAS is OBVIOUSLY under attack by the government” as “Biden’s retaliation for \what] Texas did to the border.” [TikTok, [2/28/24 (https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTLJa1QRm/)]

OneTikTok video with at least 660,000 views suggested the fires happened because “TX gave a big FU to the feds” and “now they’re hit with a big ol wildfire that’s nearing a nuclear weapons facility.” The user also implied that the Texas fires and Lahaina fires were connected, adding, “Some of y’all might not get that, but the right ones will.” TikTok, [2/28/24 (https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTLJu8Du8/)]

On X, another conspiracy theory account claimed the fire was an act of sabotage “because of Biden’s open borders.” The user wrote: “TEXAS: RUMORED Sabotage hits near nuclear weapons facility in Texas as fires rage towards the nuclear plant from Amarillo Texas, just north of the Pantex Nuclear Weapons Facility plant! Foreign agents struck again because of Biden’s open borders AND THE INFLUX OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS/TERRORISTS.” Twitter/X, [2/28/24 (https://x.com/matttttt187/status/1763024275416531075?s=20)]

In a now-deleted tweet, right-wing media figure Rogan O’Handley, known online as “DC_Draino,” wrote: “Texas now has its 2nd largest wildfire in state history. Over 500,000 acres burned. How much you want to bet this was caused by our open border crisis?” Twitter/X, [2/28/24 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4017302)]

Conspiracy theory account US Civil Defense News: “Foreign agents struck again because of Biden’s open borders!” The full post read, “Update: Sabotage hits nuclear weapons facility in Texas as fires rage towards the nuclear plant!! Video footage from Amarillo Texas, just north of the Pantex Nuclear Weapons Facility plant! Foreign agents struck again because of Biden’s open borders!!” Twitter/, [2/28/24 (https://x.com/CaptCoronado/status/1762712189926838770?s=20)]

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fail of 1 conspir rolls to another

How Fox hosts are reacting to the collapse of their FBI “informant” story

WRITTEN BY MATT GERTZ (https://www.mediamatters.org/author/matt-gertz)

:{:{PUBLISHED 02/20/24}:

The right’s flagging effort to impeach President Joe Biden took another blow last week when the Justice Department said that Alexander Smirnov, an FBI informant, had made up his accusation that Biden and his son Hunter had each taken $5 million bribes from a Ukrainian oligarch, and charged him with lying to the bureau.

Smirnov’s tale, chronicled in a much-ballyhooed FBI FD-1023 report released last year, was described (https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/joe-biden/now-indicted-fbi-informant-was-heart-gops-case-joe-biden-rcna139200) by House Republicans as the “heart” of their case against the president. “The most corroborating evidence we have is the 1023 form from this highly credible confidential human source,” House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-OH) said in a January interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity.

Right-wing Fox propagandists like Hannity had relentlessly promoted (https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/fox-news-hyped-flimsy-report-made-dubious-claims-about-joe-biden-fbi-just-arrested) the informant’s claims, touting his purported credibility while ignoring the flimsy, sensational nature (https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/06/29/biden-comer-giuliani-ukraine/) of his Biden bribery allegations. But they aren’t responding to his arrest by leveling with their viewers or reflecting on why they were taken in by unverified claims that “proved” what they desperately wanted to believe. Here’s what they’re doing with the news instead.

Ignoring it

Fox provided a mere 31 minutes of coverage of Smirnov’s indictment from Thursday through Monday. That total is noticeably scant given how loudly the network previously trumpeted the informant’s allegations; Fox mentioned (https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/02/15/remember-biden-bribe-allegation-doj-now-says-it-was-made-up/) “Biden in the context of ‘bribe’ or ‘bribery’ more than 2,600 times” in the year before his arrest, The Washington Post’s Philip Bump reported.

Several shows that typically provide robust coverage of the Hunter Biden probe ignored it; Fox & Friends provided only a single headline read, while The Ingraham Angle did not address the story at all (the latter featured interviews (https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/02/16/fox-conspiracy-theory-upended/) with a “body-language expert” as well as purported comedian Jimmy Failla on Thursday).

Claiming this actually makes Republicans look good

Hannity has been pilloried (https://www.mediamatters.org/msnbc/msnbcs-chris-hayes-explains-how-fox-pushed-lying-informant-proof-biden-bribery) by the press (https://view.newsletters.cnn.com/messages/1708055856591fb5f6265cf84/raw?utm_term=1708055856591fb5f6265cf84&utm_source=cnn_Reliable+Sources+-+Feb.+15%2C+2024&utm_medium=email&bt_ee=PMQG2wxSM%2B96LnrtVq6OLLwDWezthuFTQUFpDeDSRDlkyPTneeRDkK4tKID4YpZ2&bt_ts=1708055856594) for his credulous treatment of the informant’s claims; he promoted them on his Fox show (https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/study-how-sean-hannity-helped-build-gops-collapsing-hunter-biden-impeachment-case#paragraph--section-heading--3457290) in at least 85 segments last year, touting them as evidence of “public corruption” and “bribery.” (https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/after-disastrous-first-impeachment-hearing-house-gop-chairs-retreat-hannity)

When the host finally addressed the informant’s arrest on Friday, rather than acknowledging that he had served as the willing tool of the Republican politicians who sought to inject the informant’s story into the public discourse, Hannity claimed that the new developments actually make those Republicans look good.

Video file

CitationFrom the February 16, 2024, edition of Fox News' Hannity.

The Fox host acknowledged that he had “talked a lot about” the 1023, but presented it as “very damning, but a very, very small part of what is the large body of evidence in the Biden impeachment inquiry.” After rattling off a string of falsehoods (https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/study-how-sean-hannity-helped-build-gops-collapsing-hunter-biden-impeachment-case) familiar to his show’s regular viewers but inscrutable to normal people, Hannity claimed that Smirnov’s arrest “raises a lot of questions” — but for the FBI, not Republicans like Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), who released the 1023 form, or right-wing media figures like himself who promoted it.

“When presented with information from a source that the agency so trusted for what, now 14 years, the FBI, as exposed by Sen. Grassley, they sat on that 1023 document and they did so for years,” Hannity claimed. “He was still working for the FBI and without any performance of any due diligence, they never looked into it.”

“So it's clear that only after Sen. Grassley made the 1023 public that the FBI then investigate the allegations of the document,” he added.

Hannity was somewhat more candid on his radio show (https://www.mediamatters.org/sean-hannity/sean-hannity-reacts-fbi-informants-arrest-lying-fbi-about-joe-and-hunter-biden-i-guess) Friday. “I'm mad that the FBI informant, the 1023 form in this case, that now this guy has been charged,” he said. “It appears that Alexander Smirnov was not to be trusted.”

“I guess I was stupid,” he concluded.

Layering on more conspiracy theories

The right-wing media have spent the last several years constructing a ludicrous, overarching conspiracy theory (https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/trumpist-media-demanding-politicized-justice) that federal law enforcement agencies are left-wing institutions which persecute conservatives. Some of Fox’s biggest conspiracy theorists are leaning on that to explain Smirnov’s arrest, alleging that the informant’s story is true and he’s only being charged with a crime because the deep state is trying to help Biden.

Prime-time host Jesse Watters — who has promoted a lengthy list of conspiracy theories (https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/jesse-watters-prime-time-fox-news-show-cesspool-bizarre-conspiracy-theories), including spreading doubt about the brutal assault (https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/even-body-camera-footage-paul-pelosis-assault-didnt-stop-rights-conspiracy-theorists) of Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) husband during a home invasion — claimed on Friday that Smirnov had been arrested because “he was too credible.” He attributed the charges to the president directly, alleging that “this is the second informant Biden has arrested for blowing the whistle about his bribes” (it is true that this is the second indictment (https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/waiting-whistleblower) of a supposed “whistleblower” whose unverified, dramatic claims were previously touted by Republicans and right-wing media).

Watters went on to claim that “everyone who blows the whistle on the Biden syndicate or is connected to it has been arrested.” He then brought on former FBI agent Stuart Kaplan, who claimed that the Bidens “took out a hit on this informant, Smirnov. They have now disabled him, and now the public is going to believe, well, this guy is a liar.”

Video file

Maria Bartiromo, whose treatment (https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/problem-foxs-dominion-defamation-wasnt-lawyering) of purported election fraud during the 2020 election helped put Fox on the hook for a record defamation settlement, offered a similar reaction to Smirnov’s indictment (https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/maria-bartiromo-accuses-doj-intimidation-201435785.html) on her Fox Business show on Friday.

Diverting viewers to a different, similarly dubious Biden scandal

Some Fox hosts are following the right's typical cycle (https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/waiting-whistleblower) by moving on to a new MacGuffin after the failure of the old one.

Fox host Brian Kilmeade, for instance, presented Smirnov’s arrest as part of a “rollercoaster week” for “the Biden family business drama.” He briefly noted that Smirnov had been charged with fabricating the Biden bribery story, adding that it “turns out not to be true, but keep in mind that is an FBI informant, nothing to do with Republicans.”

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CitationFrom the February 17, 2024, edition of Fox News' One Nation with Brian Kilmeade.

Having relieved Republicans and their media allies of any responsibility for endlessly promoting Smirnov’s tale, Kilmeade moved on to the new shiny object: the deposition of Tony Bobulinski, a disgruntled former business partner of Hunter Biden.

“He knows it all,” Kilmeade raved. “He testified that he has got receipts. He's got emails. He has got text messages showing that this business existed and thrived.”

“I cannot wait to see this publicly,” he concluded. “I can't wait to read the transcripts. That's all coming your way, he is going to testify.”

Sure, Bobulinski told his story on Fox’s own airwaves nearly four years ago (https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/sean-hannity-gops-impeachment-hype-man-tony-bobulinski-edition) and it dissolved under scrutiny. But this time … this time is going to be different.

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Rumble promotes the flat Earth conspiracy theory among its “editor picks” | Media Matters for America (https://www.mediamatters.org/rumble/rumble-promotes-flat-earth-conspiracy-theory-among-its-editor-picks)

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an 2 24

On the eve of the Iowa caucuses, the right-wing Real America’s Voice network sponsored an online Twitter space town hall (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bonus-episode-twitter-space-with-alex-jones-roger/id1585243541?i=1000641903172) hosted by Human Events Daily podcaster and pizzagate promoter Jack Posobiec and featuring conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, former Trump official Michael Flynn, and political dirty trickster Roger Stone. The more than two-hour conversation on Elon Musk’s X platform was a window into the fearmongering and conspiracy theories being used to rile up Trump’s base for this year’s presidential election.

The MAGA celebrities had good and bad news for their fans, telling them:

Trump is heading for a landslide in the GOP primaries and victory in the presidential election;

Trump’s enemies are in a “total panic” and will stop at nothing to deprive him of his rightful power, including a “racial uprising” and “subversion.”

The MAGA movement must drive conservative turnout to record highs to overcome efforts to rig the election against Trump.

Jones and others worked themselves into a lather over recent news coverage (https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/trump-military-fears-rcna129159) about legal experts, democracy advocates, and members of Congress thinking about ways to protect against the prospect of a vengeance-seeking, authoritarian President Trump giving orders to misuse the military against his political opponents.

Jones claimed that Trump opponents are scheming to generate a “communist uprising” and “racial uprising” against Trump while stripping him of the power to quell the violence. “Subversion against the country is treason,” Jones said. “It is a coup.” He suggested that Trump’s enemies are “scared to kill Trump” so they are “war-gaming their plan B.”

Flynn went even further, calling the preparations to resist potential authoritarian orders by Trump “a form of subversion,” but adding that there might not even be an election. He suggested that Democrats are plotting “other scenarios” and “other plays” that would leave the country with something other than a duly elected president.

Flynn also insisted that “there’s no way in the world they’re going to allow a Joe Biden to go to a convention this summer” and said there are behind-the-scenes plans to get Biden “out of the way.”

“Do not underestimate this enemy,” Flynn said. “And I call them that very precisely because they are adversaries of our way of life, they are adversaries of our constitutional duties and responsibilities. And these are, many people are anti-American. They’re part of the Democratic Socialist Party of America, or worse, the Communist Party of America, and they are inside of our government. They’re inside of our institutions.”

Who exactly is the enemy? Among the people and institutions cited by Jones, Flynn, Stone, and Posobiec were Barack and Michelle Obama, the Clintons, former Attorney General Eric Holder, philanthropist George Soros, “globalists” in general and the World Economic Forum in particular, and “communists” in government and other institutions.

Among the plots they attributed to these enemies are a coming purge of military leadership, a potential assassination attempt, the release of a new virus before the election, and “domestic terror” in the form of a “racial uprising.” Flynn claimed that the left in America is “replaying” the “Bolshevik revolution of the 1920s.”

Jones said that Trump needs to be telling Americans that “they’re up against a deep state coup.” Flynn, who had supported calls for Trump to declare martial law in December 2020, insisted that “we’re in the middle of a coup,” adding, “The coup has been ongoing, folks.”

Jones, Flynn, and Stone posturing as defenders of democracy comes across as high-level gaslighting given that they were all deeply involved in “Stop the Steal” efforts to keep Trump in power illegally after voters rejected his bid for reelection.

“We really have a country to save and the only guy that’s capable of doing that right now in sort of the near term is Donald J. Trump,” said Flynn, who travels the country with the Christian nationalist ReAwaken America tour (https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/michael-flynn-reawaken-america-tour/), which uses MAGA celebrities to draw in audiences who are then exposed to far-right ideology and conspiracy theories.

The panelists were careful to say that, while Trump’s momentum has his opponents in a panic, MAGA activists would still have to work hard to ensure his victory. Jones promised to knock on doors to help achieve the 75 to 80 percent conservative voter turnout he said would be needed to overpower attempts to rob Trump of the election.

The group also speculated about potential running mates for Trump. Roger Stone said he’d like to see former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard on the ticket, but Flynn said that he knows Gabbard and is “not a fan.” Flynn said Trump should “absolutely not” consider Nikki Haley, saying she would undermine him “from day one.” Sen. Rand Paul’s name was floated for vice president or Secretary of State. Stone said Flynn should serve as Secretary of Defense.

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Over the last two decades, and in particular over the last five years (https://www.nature.com/articles/s44159-022-00133-0), there has been a growing scientific interest in conspiracy theories and people who believe in them. Although, some may think belief in such stories is linked to intelligence, research is beginning to show that how people think could be more important.

Scientists agree that having a measure of skepticism (https://www.nature.com/articles/s44159-022-00133-0) about official accounts of events is healthy and important, but conspiracy theorising can lead to dangerous consequences (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352250X22000823) for the individual and for society.

Some conspiracy theories, for example the QAnon conspiracy (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/53498434), can be considered a minority belief, with a 2021 YouGov poll (https://d3nkl3psvxxpe9.cloudfront.net/documents/Globalism21_ConspiracyTheories_AllCountries.pdf) showing that 8% of those polled in the UK endorsed this conspiracy theory. However, some beliefs are more widespread. A 2018 survey of people from around Europe found 60% of British participants (https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/nov/23/study-shows-60-of-britons-believe-in-conspiracy-theories) endorsed at least one conspiracy theory. So, who are the people who are more susceptible to conspiracy theorising?

There is a dramatically growing (https://www.nature.com/articles/s44159-022-00133-0) body of research endeavouring to understand this question. First, let’s re-examine those assumptions about who engages with conspiracy theories.

People with high education levels (https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/article-abstract/2808358), such as doctors and nurses, have been reported to propagate conspiracy theories. So it’s not just about intelligence – education won’t necessarily make you immune.

Critical thinking

Research shows that our thinking style (https://www.mdpi.com/2079-3200/11/11/207) can be predictive of susceptibility to conspiracy theories. The dual processing theory of cognitive style (https://www.mdpi.com/2079-3200/11/11/207) suggests that we have two routes which we can use to process information.

One route is the fast, intuitive route which leans more on personal experiences and gut feelings. The other route is a slower, more analytical route which instead relies on elaborative and detailed processing of information.

Conspiracy theory belief seems to be linked to thinking style.

What you tend to see is that people who are not necessarily smarter but who favour the more effortful, analytical thinking style are more resistant to conspiracy beliefs. For example, a British 2014 study (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0010027714001632?casa_token=EczBVWzrbWsAAAAA:Hq12hyS1txB3Ia_eM5yCVuReXqoVyGafhz2CTrq5U2JkTDsJs7Wl-LKm7Op_H3JVXWF9K5YQLQ) found that those who scored highly for questions such as “I enjoy problems that require hard thinking” were less likely to accept conspiracy beliefs. It also found those who were less likely to engage in effortful thinking styles and more likely to use intuitive thinking showed a higher belief in conspiracy theories.

Similarly, a 2022 study across 45 countries used a cognitive reflection test, which measured engagement in analytical thinking in three questions. It found that participants who engaged in the labour intensive thinking style were less likely to endorse (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0191886922001702) COVID 19 conspiracy theories.

Critical thinking is a valuable skill, particularly within education, and has been shown (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0010027714001632) to buffer susceptibility to (https://theconversation.com/how-to-talk-to-someone-about-conspiracy-theories-in-five-simple-steps-197819) conspiracy beliefs. This is probably because this more arduous thinking style allows people time to identify inconsistencies in theories and look to additional resources to verify information.

Thinking style is not the same as intelligence

A 2021 meta-analysis study (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0191886920305134) indicates that an intuitive thinking style is unrelated to intelligence. So, even really smart people could be susceptible to conspiracy beliefs – if they are more inclined to revert to faster, intuitive thinking styles.

Research shows that belief in conspiracy theories is predicted by cognitive biases that come from a reliance on mental shortcuts when processing information. First, conspiracy beliefs seem to be predicted by the flawed belief that big events must have big consequences (http://www.ask-force.org/web/Discourse/Van-Prooijen-When-consequnce-size-predicts-belief-2014.pdf).

This is known in psychology as proportionality bias (https://www.thebehavioralscientist.com/glossary/proportionality-bias). It is difficult to accept that events which have such world-changing consequences (for example, the death of a president or the COVID-19 outbreak) can really be caused by comparably “small” causes (for example, a lone gunman or a virus). This is how thinking styles reliant on gut feelings and intuition can lead people to endorse conspiracy theories.

Another example of intuitive thinking styles influencing conspiracy beliefs is the conjunction fallacy. A conjunction fallacy (https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1984-03110-001) is the erroneous belief that the likelihood of two independent events occurring together is higher than the probability of the events occurring alone. Have a try at the Linda Problem:

*Linda is 31 years old, single, outspoken, and very bright. She majored in philosophy. As a student, she was deeply concerned with issues of discrimination and social justice, and also participated in anti-nuclear demonstrations. Which is more probable?

a) Linda is a bank teller.

b) Linda is a bank teller and is active in the feminist movement.

The most probable is a) Linda is a bank teller as, statistically, the probably probability of one event occurring is always higher than the combination. However, research shows that higher conjunction fallacy errors (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/acp.2995) are associated with stronger conspiracy beliefs. So people prone to conspiratorial thinking would be more likely to say b.

Exposure to conspiracy beliefs have also consistently been shown (https://bpspsychub.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/bjop.12018?casa_token=r4JDrnxTCu8AAAAA%3A-Pcye9myJ9Wo0npNCXco7jIsoT-_JUrv1K07NwRqZF8_a15-qg6nCx-jKKzaQ-SHaMtEJJUrTyNzAy8w) to increase people’s susceptibility to them, even if they don’t realise that they have had a change in belief (https://kar.kent.ac.uk/18928/).

It may sound concerning that anyone could be susceptible to conspiracy beliefs. However, these studies are helping researchers find interventions which can increase analytical and critical thinking styles and so buffer against susceptibility to such beliefs. A 2023 review (https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0280902&s=03) of 25 different studies found these types of interventions were a promising tool to tackle the dangerous consequences of conspiracy beliefs.

The more we understand about the psychology behind conspiracy theories, the better equipped we are to tackle them.

Darel Cookson (https://theconversation.com/profiles/darel-cookson-1133760), Lecturer in Psychology, *Nottingham Trent University (https://theconversation.com/institutions/nottingham-trent-university-1338)

This article is republished from The Conversation (https://theconversation.com/) under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article (https://theconversation.com/intelligence-doesnt-make-you-immune-to-conspiracy-theories-its-more-about-thinking-style-220978).

ref

The efficacy of interventions in reducing belief in conspiracy theories: A systematic review | PLOS ONE (https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0280902&s=03)

abstract

Conspiracy beliefs have become a topic of increasing interest among behavioural researchers. While holding conspiracy beliefs has been associated with several detrimental social, personal, and health consequences, little research has been dedicated to systematically reviewing the methods that could reduce conspiracy beliefs. We conducted a systematic review to identify and assess interventions that have sought to counter conspiracy beliefs.

Out of 25 studies (total N = 7179), we found that while the majority of interventions were ineffective in terms of changing conspiracy beliefs, several interventions were particularly effective. Interventions that fostered an analytical mindset or taught critical thinking skills were found to be the most effective in terms of changing conspiracy beliefs. Our findings are important as we develop future research to combat conspiracy beliefs.

...

implications for research / practice / design

This review identified a number of directions for future research. Firstly, we recommend that future studies on conspiracy belief interventions focus on using longitudinal designs. Understanding the effects of these interventions beyond their immediate changes is important in terms of identifying how effective they are at challenging conspiracy beliefs. Second, we recommend that future studies be conducted with non-western populations, with more of a focus on cross-cultural sampling. Conspiracy beliefs may often be specific to cultural context, as such we recommend that research be expanded beyond British and American samples.

In terms of practical implications for challenging conspiracy beliefs, we recommend that those with an interest in reducing the misinformation that conspiracy theories spread should do the following:

Avoid appealing to emotions and affect: Interventions that manipulated the emotional state of participants, or appealed to feelings of empathy had small effects in terms of changing conspiracy beliefs.

2.Counterarguments are not effective: Counterarguments against specific conspiracy beliefs that are given after participants have been exposed to a conspiracy theory tend not to be particularly effective.}:

Prevention is the best cure: Interventions that provided counterarguments for conspiracy theories were most effective when the counterargument came before the participants were exposed to the particular conspiracy theories that the study focused on. The findings suggest it is more difficult to challenge conspiracy beliefs once participants have started to believe in them. If participants have been taught why certain conspiracy theories are implausible before they have been exposed to conspiratorial media they are much more resistant to conspiracy beliefs.

An analytical mindset and critical thinking skills are the most effective means of challenging conspiracy beliefs: Participants who were primed to have an analytical mindset were less likely to have conspiracy beliefs than controls. Furthermore, when interventions moved beyond putting participants in an analytical mindset, and actually explicitly taught them how to evaluate conspiracy beliefs using specific critical thinking skills, they were much less likely to have conspiracy beliefs.

Conclusion

In conclusion, this review sought to investigate how effective current interventions are at changing conspiracy beliefs. We found that overall, the majority of current conspiracy interventions are ineffective in terms of changing conspiracy beliefs. Despite this, we have identified several promising interventions that may be fruitful to pursue in future studies. We propose that a focus on inoculation-based and critical thinking interventions will bear more promising results for future research, though further efforts are needed to reduce participant burden and more easily implement these interventions in the real world.

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an 2 24

Middletown Township, Pennsylvania man was arrested after claiming to have beheaded his father, a longtime federal government employee, and posting gruesome video of what he said is the severed head to social media. The suspect, 32 or 33 year-old Justin Mohn, is facing first degree murder charges. He also decried “far left woke mobs,” BLM and LGBTQ people, President Joe Biden, the federal government, and spewed other right-wing conspiracy theories.

“Some of the talking points made by Mohn echoed those of prominent online conspiracy theorists and far-right political commentators,” local news outlet LevittownNow.com (https://levittownnow.com/2024/01/31/beheading-suspect-justin-mohn-held-without-bail-on-murder-charge/) reports.

“Mohn made inflammatory statements advocating for attacks on federal employees and properties. He expressed hostility towards illegal immigrants, President Joe Biden, senior federal officials, communists, ‘far-left woke mobs,’ Black Lives Matter supporters, and members of the LGBTQ community,” LevittownNow.com added. “In his rant, Mohn discussed Christian scriptures, called for debt cancellation, called for more adherence to Judeo-Christian values, spoke about human trafficking, and accused a major tech company of tax evasion. Additionally, he claimed that militias should protect him and mentioned previous FBI threats of arrest.”

READ MORE: ‘You Bend the Knee to the Orange Jesus’: Democrat Blasts House Republicans in Fiery Takedown (https://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/2024/01/you-bend-the-knee-to-the-orange-jesus-democrat-blasts-house-republicans-in-fiery-takedown/)

WPVI (https://6abc.com/justin-mohn-levitttown-middletown-township-pa-father-killed/14373700/), a local ABC affiliate, adds that “Mohn referred to himself as a militia leader and called his father a traitor to the country for being a federal employee for 20 years.

“In the video, which YouTube has since removed, the son called his father a ‘traitor’ and said he’s happy that he is dead,” The Philadelphia Inquirer (https://www.inquirer.com/crime/bucks-county-beheaded-father-son-levittown-arrest-20240131.html) adds. ”’He is now in hell for eternity,’ he said, according to the complaint.”

The New York Post (https://nypost.com/2024/01/30/news/pa-son-arrested-after-posting-video-of-fathers-severed-head-report/) notes that in the since-removed YouTube video, “the man, who identifies himself as Justin Mohn, says to the camera before going on an unhinged rant against the government in line with QAnon conspiracy theories, calling for ‘militias’ across the US to unite and kill federal officials ‘on site.'”

“Mohn faces charges of first-degree murder, abuse of corpse and possessing instruments of crime, according to a Middletown Township Police Department criminal docket viewed by The Post,” the paper adds

qanon dad killed 2 kids? wife?

Tom Winter, Valeriya Antonshchuk, Patrick Smith and Caroline Radnofsky @ NBC News (https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/pa-man-arrested-decapitating-father-youtube-video-rcna136509): Pennsylvania man arrested after allegedly killing his father and displaying his decapitated head on YouTube.

In the video, which has since been removed, Justin Mohn says his father was a federal employee and refers to him as a traitor while voicing right-wing conspiracy theories.

Angry White Men (https://angrywhitemen.org/2024/01/30/stew-peters-somalis-are-filthy-cockroaches-thatve-infested-minneapolis/): Stew Peters: Somalis Are ‘Filthy Cockroaches That’ve Infested’ Minneapolis.

On the Jan. 30, 2024 episode of his Rumble show, white nationalist and Holocaust denier Stew Peters went on a vile, racist rant about Somali immigrants. While interviewing British Neo-Nazi Mark Collett, Peters called Somalis “gross,” “low IQ” “parasites” and “filthy cockroaches” who “infested the city of Minneapolis” and “hate white people.”

Kiera Butler @ Mother Jones (https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/01/stew-peters-antivax-antisemitism-covid-conspiracy/): Anti-Vax Influencer Stew Peters Has a New Fixation: “The Jews.”

He says he’s not sure whether Hitler was a bad guy, because of all the “propaganda.”

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EASTMAN justifies election fuckery b/c deep state , also says secret compartment of bogus votes in machines GUK

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PSY-OP ERRUPTION 1 24 AROUND TAYLOR SWIFT SUPERBOWL TIGHT END PFIZER AD VACCINE

OAN host calls nude AI images of Taylor Swift "another psyop" | Media Matters for America (https://www.mediamatters.org/one-america-news-network/oan-host-calls-nude-ai-images-taylor-swift-another-psyop)

Fox News' Charlie Hurt gives credence to conspiracy theory that Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are working with Joe Biden | Media Matters for America (https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/fox-news-charlie-hurt-gives-credence-conspiracy-theory-taylor-swift-and-travis-kelce-are)

Charlie Kirk: "I don't really watch movies because they're all CIA psychological operation programming" | Media Matters for America (https://www.mediamatters.org/charlie-kirk/charlie-kirk-i-dont-really-watch-movies-because-theyre-all-cia-psychological-operation)

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mma 1 24

Following news that a session at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting would be focused on the World Health Organization’s preparations for a potential epidemic of a currently unknown pathogen dubbed “Disease X,” right-wing media figures pushed conspiracy theories about a supposed plan to kill off “excess population” and fearmongered over the possibility of another pandemic and lockdowns. Some sought to capitalize on the fear by selling “medical emergency kits” that contain an unproven COVID-19 treatment.

For years, the WHO has been preparing for so-called “Disease X” — a potential undetermined pathogen that could cause a future epidemic

At the World Economic Forum’s January 2024 annual meeting at Davos, WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus spoke about the need to prepare for an “unknown Disease X.” In the lead-up to the event, Ghebreyesus and the WHO claimed that Disease X could potentially result in “20 times more fatalities” than COVID-19. World Economic Forum, accessed [1/17/24 (https://web.archive.org/web/20240114021825/https://www.weforum.org/events/world-economic-forum-annual-meeting-2024/sessions/preparing-for-a-disease-x/)]

Disease X is a placeholder name for a currently unknown pathogen that the WHO uses for hypothetical epidemic prevention planning. The WHO adopted the moniker “Disease X” in 2018. It stems from a series of epidemic prevention plans that began in 2015 in response to the 2014 Ebola crisis. WHO, accessed \3/1/20 (https://web.archive.org/web/20200301083134/http://origin.who.int/blueprint/priority-diseases/en/#::text=Disease%20X%20represents%20the%20knowledge%20that%20a%20serious%20international%20epidemic%20could%20be%20caused%20by%20a%20pathogen%20currently%20unknown%20to%20cause%20human%20disease%2C%20and%20so%20the%20R%26D%3B%20Blueprint%20explicitly%20seeks%20to%20enable%20cross%2Dcutting%20R%26D%3B%20preparedness%20that%20is%20also%20relevant%20for%20an%20unknown%20%E2%80%9CDisease%20X%E2%80%9D%20as%20far%20as%20possible.); The Economist, [3/23/18 (https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2018/03/23/what-is-disease-x)]

Right-wing figures and social media users have fearmongered and spread conspiracy theories about Disease X

On his Infowars show, Alex Jones claimed that Disease X was a “virus scare power grab” by entities that he claimed “want control of our bodies.” In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Jones suggested there is a “Globalist Plan to Launch #DiseaseX to Install World Government.” Twitter/X, \1/17/24 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4015346); Infowars, The Alex Jones Show, [1/17/24 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4015323)]

On Newsmax, disgraced Conservative Political Action Conference chair Matt Schlapp speculated that Disease X was a scheme to kill off “excess population”

because they “want less people.” Schlapp stated: “I think they must know something, and I’m not going to discount the fact that probably Disease X is a thing and could happen, and some people — as evil and dastardly as it sounds — thinks killing millions of people actually could be good for the rest of us who survive.” Additionally, host Chris Plante said that at the meeting, “globalists at Davos ... might not be preparing for imaginary situations, but rather assembling their next global power grab.” Newsmax, Chris Plante The Right Squad, \1/17/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4015318); CNN, [12/16/23 (https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/16/politics/matt-schlapp-cpac-sexual-assault-allegations/index.html)]

Conspiracy theorist Russell Brand posted an episode of his Stay Free livestream titled “‘Disease X Is Imminent!!’ The Next Pandemic Is Here?!” In the episode, Brand claimed that a supposed vaccine for Disease X was being developed “using technology that potentially caused the last pandemic, in a facility that also produces bioweapons.” Rumble, Stay Free, [1/15/24 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4015327)]

Conservative podcast host Graham Allen, whose show Dear America is exclusively on Rumble, suggested in a livestream that Disease X is a plan “to stop a Trump presidency and/or possibly take over the world.” Later in his stream, Allen’s co-host highlighted a user comment reading “COVID was a test run” for Disease X, and Allen agreed. Rumble, Graham Allen’s Dear America, \1/17/24 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4015326), 1/17/24 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4015325), accessed [1/10/24 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4015077)]

Users in private right-wing Facebook groups spread conspiracy theories about Disease X, sharing right-wing media coverage and claiming that “genocidal depopulation” and “lockdowns” are coming. Users shared right-wing articles and videos — including from The Gateway Pundit, Russell Brand, and Rumble videos — stoking fears about Disease X in groups with tens of thousands of members. Facebook, accessed [1/18/24 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4015328)]

Conspiracy theories about Disease X and imminent lockdowns also spread on far-right platforms such as Truth Social, Telegram, and 4chan. Conspiracy theorists and QAnon figures fearmongered that “Preparing for Disease X” was a top priority of the meeting in Davos, with QAnon influencer Jordan Sather writing on Truth Social, “TRY ANOTHER SCAMDEMIC YOU GLOBALIST SCUM.” On 4chan, users claimed that “Disease X is officially spreading, lockdowns incoming” and that “this time … restrictions will never be lifted.” On Telegram, anti-vaccine figure Sherri Tenpenny suggested that a vaccine for Disease X is under development. Truth Social, \1/11/24 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4015329); 4chan, 1/16/24 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4015330), 1/16/24 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4015342); Telegram, 1/15/24 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4015331); PolitiFact, accessed[1/18/24 (https://www.politifact.com/personalities/sherri-tenpenny/)]

Right-wing figures are using fear of Disease X to sell “medical emergency kits”

Dr. Peter McCullough, who has spread conspiracy theories about COVID-19, used Disease X to promote an “emergency kit” that sells for $300 and includes ivermectin, which is an unproven COVID-19 treatment.McCullough is the “chief science officer” for The Wellness Company, a right-wing media-associated company that sells supplements. Discussing Disease X during a media appearance, McCullough said, “Wellness Company’s got a wonderful kit at home you can have.” Twitter/X, \1/17/24 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4015332); The Daily Beast, 12/1/23 (https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-wellness-company-is-being-spruiked-by-kari-lake-laura-loomer-naomi-wolf-and-others); The Wellness Company, accessed 1/18/24 (https://archive.is/DNrr0); NIH, accessed [1/18/24 (https://www.covid19treatmentguidelines.nih.gov/therapies/miscellaneous-drugs/ivermectin/)]

The Gateway Pundit used Disease X to promote The Wellness Company’s “medical emergency kits.” In a “sponsored message” titled “‘DISEASE X’ — Are The Globalists Planning Another Pandemic?” The Gateway Pundit urged readers, “Don’t be caught unprepared for whatever the WEF has in mind” and “Don’t regret not acting today” in purchasing The Wellness Company’s emergency kits. The post stated, “The Wellness Company and their doctors are medical professionals that you can trust and their new medical emergency kits are the gold standard when it comes to keeping you safe and healthy.” The article also noted that Gateway Pundit would benefit from the sale of emergency kits. The Gateway Pundit, accessed [1/17/24 (https://web.archive.org/web/20240116160244/https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/01/disease-x-are-globalists-planning-another-pandemic/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=disease-x-are-globalists-planning-another-pandemic)]

The Wellness Company also sponsored an article in Breitbart, which encouraged readers to start “stocking up” on medications included in the “medical emergency kits.” The article urges readers to “protect you and your family from drug shortages, ‘Disease X,’ or whatever comes your way,” and it quotes anti-vaccine figure Dr. James Thorp, who claims that the WEF is “threatening us that there’s another pandemic coming.” Breitbart, accessed \1/18/24 (https://web.archive.org/web/20240116133456/https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2024/01/16/here-we-go-wef-hosts-panel-tomorrow-for-disease-x/); Real Clear Politics, [2/24/23 (https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2023/02/24/dr_james_thorp_the_pushing_of_the_experimental_covid_vaccines_is_the_greatest_violation_of_medical_ethics_in_history.html)]

The Telegram channel for Steve Bannon’s War Room promoted a Gateway Pundit article that included promotion of The Wellness Company’s emergency kits. The post urges readers: “Before The Next Crisis Hits – Prepare With A Medical Emergency Kit (Includes Ivermectin and Z-Pak).” Telegram, \1/12/24 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4015333); The Gateway Pundit, [1/12/24 (https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/01/wef-who-globalist-elites-discuss-disease-x-upcoming/)]

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TheBlaze’s Jason Whitlock hosts notorious antisemite to denounce supposed Jewish control of US government, Black people | Media Matters for America (https://www.mediamatters.org/blazetv/theblazes-jason-whitlock-hosts-notorious-antisemite-denounce-supposed-jewish-control-us)

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Far-right figures are spreading antisemitism and conspiracy theories in response to news of a tunnel under a New York synagogue | Media Matters for America (https://www.mediamatters.org/antisemitism/far-right-figures-are-spreading-antisemitism-and-conspiracy-theories-response-news)

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Leaked footage shows Michael Flynn on Zoom call telling QAnon influencers: “I love you guys” | Media Matters for America (https://www.mediamatters.org/michael-flynn/leaked-footage-shows-michael-flynn-zoom-call-telling-qanon-influencers-i-love-you)

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Trump ally Laura Loomer: Nikki Haley and the deep state might be using “weather manipulation” to “rig the Iowa Caucus” | Media Matters for America (https://www.mediamatters.org/laura-loomer/trump-ally-laura-loomer-nikki-haley-and-deep-state-might-be-using-weather-manipulation)

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an 1 24

during a Tuesday night, October 9 broadcast (https://twitter.com/Acyn/status/1744897719578055029), Fox News' Jesse Watters claimed that Taylor Swift is part of a "Pentagon psyop" conspiracy.

Watters told viewers, "Have you ever wondered why or how she blew up like this? Well, around four years ago, the Pentagon psychological operations unit floated turning Taylor Swift into an asset during a NATO meeting. What kind of asset? A psy-op for combatting online misinformation."

The Fox News host tried to make his case by citing a video (https://twitter.com/MikeBenzCyber/status/1744633598408319432) that MAGA Republican and Donald Trump ally Jeffrey Clark (https://twitter.com/JeffClarkUS/status/1744778315821387880) reshared on X, formerly Twitter.

The Daily Beast's William Vaillancourt notes (https://www.thedailybeast.com/jesse-watters-airs-truly-bonkers-taylor-swift-conspiracy-theory?utm_source=web_push), "That video was an excerpt from the 2019 International Conference on Cyber Conflict, which was held in Estonia and organized by the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defense Centre of Excellence (CCD COE). The speaker in the clip is Alicia Marie Bargar, a research engineer at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, who appears to simply mention Swift as an example of the power of influencers with large followings."

Watters and Clark aren't the only ones on the far right who have been promoting conspiracy theories involving Swift.

Former Trump White House adviser Stephen Miller (https://twitter.com/StephenM/status/1732540747809796267), on December 6, 2023, tweeted, "What's happening with Taylor Swift is not organic."

READ MORE:UC Berkeley’s Taylor Swift course will combine 'literature, economics, business and sociology' (https://www.alternet.org/taylor-swift-blackburn/)

Jack Posobiec (https://twitter.com/newrepublic/status/1733259178586603556) claimed that Swift's "girlboss psyop has been fully activated."

Nonetheless, Watters acknowledged that he "obviously has no evidence" that Swift is "a front for a covert political agenda."

READ MORE:Could Taylor Swift be democracy's last best hope? (https://www.alternet.org/trump-fascism-2665728927/)

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MMA HANNITY CIA Asset says infowars jones

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covid-19-was-deployed-as-a-weapon-in-globalist-scheme-to-dethrone-trump-says-kari-lake (https://boingboing.net/2024/01/05/covid-19-was-deployed-as-a-weapon-in-globalist-scheme-to-dethrone-trump-says-kari-lake.html)

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Donald Trump Jr. calls QAnon supporters "patriotic Americans" | Media Matters for America (https://www.mediamatters.org/donald-trump-jr/donald-trump-jr-calls-qanon-supporters-patriotic-americans)

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mma 1 24

JESSE WATTERS (HOST): The Central Intelligence Agency has been interfering in our elections for years. 1964, 1968, 2016, 2020, just to name a few. And in 2024, Biden's going to need all the help he can get. Black, Hispanic, youth support -- evaporating. And he's losing to Trump in every battleground.

...

But maybe Biden knows something we don't. Maybe he thinks it's in the bag. Maybe it is in the bag. A former CIA analyst says we can expect the intelligence agencies who've been turbocharged by diversity, equity, and inclusion to reemerge this year and subvert the Republican nominee.

...

So the deep state went woke in order to kneecap Republican presidential candidates who threaten their corporate and ideological agenda. That's what DEI has really been about: using inclusivity as an excuse to hire ideological hit men and hit women to do the dirty work. Remember, you're not allowed to ask recruits about their politics. But if you hire DEI-type recruits, you can assume what their politics are without having to ask.

Also, remember, the CIA does the bidding for corporate America. And if a Republican candidate threatens corporate America's agenda by controlling the border, starting trade wars with China, challenging the Green New Deal, they'll be dealt with by the CIA -- especially a CIA stacked with liberal recruits who think they're saving democracy, but they're only saving a CEO's bottom line.

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YYY 2

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review mma 12 23

During his tenure at Fox News, Jesse Watters has risen from compiling blatantly racist on-the-street ambush interviews for disgraced former Fox host Bill O'Reilly to becoming one of the network’s highest-rated hosts.

That rise has been fueled in part by Watters' embrace of the network's favored conspiracy theories, including questioning the integrity of the 2020 election, casting doubt on a 10-year-old rape victim to push radical anti-abortion narratives, and baselessly scapegoating offshore wind energy development for the deaths of endangered whales.

Since the departure of top-rated Fox host Tucker Carlson, Watters has taken up his former colleague’s mantle in the Fox prime-time lineup as the network’s preeminent merchant of nonsense — which, like Carlson, he often camouflages in “just asking questions”-type language. In fact, irresponsibly floating outrageous conspiracy theories with no evidence has become a hallmark of Watters’ top-rated show.

Media Matters found that in 2023, Watters toyed with at least 24 different conspiracy theories, ranging from the threat of “transhumanism” turning everyone into mindless robots to baseless accusations of corruption at the highest levels of government.

Jesse Watters has spread many of the right's favorite debunked conspiracy theories during his decades-long career at Fox News

Watters played a pivotal role in a smear campaign denying the existence of a 10-year-old rape victim who traveled to Indiana to receive an abortion due to Ohio’s anti-abortion laws. Watters spent multiple shows discrediting the initial report and targeting the doctor who provided the abortion, arguing that the story was a “hoax” to fearmonger about the consequences of restricted health care access. In July, the rapist that Watters said didn’t exist was sentenced to life in prison. Media Matters, \7/13/22 (https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/after-discrediting-report-10-year-old-ohio-girl-needing-abortion-foxs-jesse-watters-now), 7/15/22 (https://www.mediamatters.org/jesse-watters/jesse-watters-repeatedly-fails-efforts-suppress-critical-reporting-ohio-ten-year-old), 7/6/23; (https://www.mediamatters.org/jesse-watters/rapist-jesse-watters-said-didnt-exist-was-just-sentenced-life-prison) The Daily Beast, [7/14/22 (https://www.thedailybeast.com/fox-news-host-jesse-watters-pats-himself-on-the-back-after-suggesting-child-rape-story-was-hoax)]

Watters was the first Fox News host to falsely claim that offshore wind developments resulted in whale deaths. While he had no evidence to back up his claim, Watters ran numerous segments suggesting that the recent deaths of whales across New York and New Jersey beaches were caused by the development of offshore wind turbines. This narrative became a recurring talking point used by right-wing media and conservative politicians to slow renewable energy development. Media Matters, \2/2/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/fox-news-rapidly-escalating-its-anti-offshore-wind-campaign), 7/17/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/jesse-watters/jesse-watters-bringing-his-egregious-brand-climate-denial-8pm-hour); NPR, [2/22/23 (https://www.npr.org/2023/02/22/1158826107/misinformation-is-spreading-that-washed-up-whales-died-from-offshore-wind-develo)]

Watters has cast doubt on election integrity in the 2020 election. Watters emphasized that Biden “allegedly” got more votes than any previous presidential candidate. Watters also pushed lies about Arizona’s election audit, claiming that tens of thousands of “questionable ballots” were found in Maricopa County. Media Matters, \10/8/22 (https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/fox-news-jesse-watters-lies-about-maricopa-county-audit-promote-debunked-election-fraud), [1/20/22 (https://www.mediamatters.org/jesse-watters/foxs-jesse-watters-casts-doubt-joe-bidens-vote-total)]

Watters was instrumental in spreading doubt about the attack on Paul Pelosi, saying, “If we’ve learned anything about the Pelosis, you just gotta keep asking questions.” Watters continued to “keep asking questions” about Pelosi’s attack even after police released body cam footage that seemingly undermined Watters’ preferred — and extremely homophobic — narrative that Paul Pelosi was attacked by his leftist gay lover: “We still don’t know who opened the door. Was it Paul? Was it the cops? Did they not play that part of the footage in the courtroom? Why is this, such a simple detail, so hard to pin down?” Watters asked. Twitter/X, \10/31/22 (https://www.mediamatters.org/%E2%80%9Dhttps%3A//twitter.com/ndrew_lawrence/status/1587220901560565762%22); Media Matters, [12/16/22 (https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/even-body-camera-footage-paul-pelosis-assault-didnt-stop-rights-conspiracy-theorists)]

In 2023, Jesse Watters pushed even more outlandish conspiracy theories

CONSPIRACY THEORY: The Biden administration is selling oil from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve to China in order to buy guns for IRS agents. Watters alleged a scheme between the Biden administration and the Chinese Communist Party to “prop up Democrats before the midterms” by selling “taxpayer oil to the Chinese, the companies with the Hunter connection, and then use the revenues to buy guns for IRS agents.” Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, [1/2/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4013932)]

CONSPIRACY THEORY: The CIA is working with drug cartels to “destabilize Mexico” and ensure a cheap labor market. Watters claimed it is “suspicious” that the Biden administration seemingly “buries” stories about the threat of cartels at the southern border, then suggested the supposed leniency was due to the FBI and CIA helping Biden win the 2020 election after then-President Donald Trump threatened the cartels with a border wall. Watters cited an unnamed “journalist” to boast that this theory used to be considered a “conspiracy,” but now “everybody just assumes” the CIA is working with cartels. He warned his audience “the U.S. government's working with the narcos” to keep Mexico as an “economic puppet” and “juicy labor with natural resources that our multinationals can take advantage of.” Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, [1/6/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4013940)]

CONSPIRACY THEORY: PBS gave a softball interview to Biden because he threatened to defund the network. Watters claimed that PBS did not hold Biden accountable “for being crooked” because the public broadcast network is “a government-owned channel” that “is doing interviews with their own boss.” He suggested that Biden threatened to take away the outlet’s funding if it asked uncomfortable questions, saying, “Hey, take it easy on me or I am going to cut your paycheck.” Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, [2/9/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4013933)]

CONSPIRACY THEORY: Global warming is solely “corporate propaganda” encouraged by big businesses to price gouge their products.Watters downplayed the threat of global warming as “a sunburn” and argued that climate change is “more about corporate propaganda. They’re just saying, ‘You have to buy, or you’re going to die.’” Watters explained that “you’ve got to get a new car, you got to get solar panels, you got to get a new stove,” while corporations “get the money and our prices go up.” Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, [2/1/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4000991)]

CONSPIRACY THEORY: Democrats colluded with the FBI, CIA, and Big Tech to censor conservatives and hijack elections. Watters touted the debunked “Twitter Files” to assert that Democrats colluded with the FBI, CIA, and Big Tech to censor conservatives and rig the 2020 election for Joe Biden. Watters claimed that instead of refuting the accusations, Democrats decided to “punish these journalists for blowing up the silent censorship arm of the Democratic Party.” Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, \3/9/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4013944); Media Matters, [12/15/22 (https://www.mediamatters.org/twitter/musks-twitter-files-repackage-debunked-claims-falsely-allege-crime-collusion-and-conspiracy)]

CONSPIRACY THEORY: Germany, Denmark, and Great Britain are going to use offshore windmills to spy on the U.S. In an effort to villainize green energy, Watters suggested that offshore wind would become “our biggest national security threat.” He then described how Germany, Denmark, and Great Britain “own our precious coastlines for wind” and warned that those countries could be susceptible to foreign bribes to spy on the United States. “Sure, they're our allies, but every ally can flip,” he said. “Our enemies would pay good money to these countries for a slice of our coast.” In an interview with Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ), Watters said that “a couple decades ago, we were killing a lot of Nazis,” and questioned whether Germany could put “little espionage technology” into the windmills or even “launch a missile” from them. Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, [3/24/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4013953)]

CONSPIRACY THEORY: The Biden administration is paying $100 million to “fight extremists” as a bribe to exploit African countries for their resources and ensure the implementation of the Green New Deal. Watters claimed that Biden sent Vice President Kamala Harris to pay off African countries to allow the U.S. to mine minerals needed for electric vehicle manufacturing and the Biden family could make money on “the front and the back end.” Watters called Harris “the Black face of American colonialism” and alleged that the $100 million in security aid Harris announced was a bribe to allow the United States to “plunder every inch of Africa until every American child rides an electric school bus.” Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, [3/27/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4013954)]

CONSPIRACY THEORY: Joe Biden is a pivotal member of the “deep state” who orchestrated all of Trump's legal woes, including his impeachments, criminal indictments, and the FBI search in Mar-a-Lago. Watters falsely suggested Biden “spied on the Trump campaign,” sent “a political hitman into the DA’s office” to arrest him in New York, and even “personally signed off on the raid on Mar-a-Lago.” Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, \4/4/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4013956); CNN, 8/29/20; (https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/29/politics/trump-spying-campaign-obama-fact-check/index.html) Media Matters, [9/6/22 (https://www.mediamatters.org/mar-lago-search/right-wing-media-continue-push-false-claims-biden-ordered-mar-lago-raid-time)]

CONSPIRACY THEORY: Democrats don't want Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to debate Joe Biden because he will expose that the CIA killed President John F. Kennedy. After playing a clip in which Robert F. Kennedy Jr. claimed he had “overwhelming evidence” that his uncle was killed by the CIA, Watters suggested that “maybe this is why the Democrats are trying to keep RFK. Jr. off the debate stage” because “they do not want him talking.” Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, [5/8/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4014038)]

CONSPIRACY THEORY: Target is working with the “rainbow mafia” to fund gender-affirming surgery in schools. After suggesting that Pride Month is a “Trojan horse” to sexualize kids, Watters decried “the rainbow mafia” and attacked Target for pushing inclusivity a “little too far” by selling trans-inclusive clothing. Watters later cited a report by Fox News Digital to claim that Target is “funding the sex-change surgeries in schools behind parents’ back and the nuking of Mount Rushmore.” Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, [6/5/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4014037)]

CONSPIRACY THEORY: As vice president, Joe Biden was working as “an intelligence op” for the FBI, which then installed Biden as president after blackmailing him for a decade.Watters claimed without evidence that then-Vice President Joe Biden was acting as “one of the FBI’s top informants” and “took a $5 million bribe … from a foreign national in exchange for a policy decision” without President Barack Obama’s knowledge. Watters reasoned that the FBI “put their guy in the White House” because it has blackmail over Biden, who was “installed” by the bureau “so that he can take orders.” Over the next month, Watters repeated this conspiracy theory. On the June 26, 2023, edition of Jesse Watters Primetime, the host declared, “I know Joe Biden is an intelligence op.” Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, \6/5/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/fox-news-jesse-watters-claims-fbi-installed-joe-biden-president-intelligence-op-after), 6/15/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/fox-news-jesse-watters-claims-biden-family-has-been-intelligence-op-least-decade), 6/26/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/fox-news-host-jesse-watters-i-know-joe-biden-intelligence-op), [11/30/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/fox-news-host-jesse-watters-bidens-puppet-or-hes-being-blackmailed)]

CONSPIRACY THEORY: The Secret Service “incinerated” the cocaine found in the White House to protect Hunter Biden. Watters suggested that the incineration was intentionally planned to prevent evidence from coming forward. “Did the White House blow up the coke while they were testing it for fingerprints, or after they tested it?” Watters asked, declaring that “when you destroy evidence, you're participating in a cover-up.” Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, [7/18/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4014031)]

CONSPIRACY THEORY: The details in the drowning death of the Obama family’s personal chef don’t add up. Citing a Daily Mail report, Watters cast doubt on the circumstances of the death of the Obama family’s personal chef, Tafari Campbell, who drowned in a pond near the ex-president’s home on Martha’s Vineyard. “There is something strange going on with the police call logs on the night Obama’s chef drowned,” Watters said. “In the section where the cops are supposed to write the reason for the call, it was left blank. Could be a mistake, but every other call that night was properly filled out.” Even though police ruled Campbell’s death an accident, Watters baselessly suggested that a conspiracy might be afoot. When police released the audio of two 911 calls reporting the drowning, Watters told his audience those calls were “heavily redacted, likely in order to protect the first family,” before raising a series of bizarre questions about why those calls did not mention the Obamas or the staffer that was supposedly with Campbell when he died. “There's no mention of the Obama's on the call. But we now know the former president arrived at the incident command post after the 911 call was placed and spoke to Secret Service and police. There's also no mention on the call of the female Obama staffer who was paddle-boarding with Tafari when he drowned,” Watters said. Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, \7/27/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4014028), [10/24/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/fox-news-jesse-watters-raises-bizarre-questions-about-911-call-following-death-obamas)]

CONSPIRACY THEORY: “Big trans” preys on “confused kids” for profit. Watters blamed the media pushing “gender fluid ideology on children,” which he claimed had created “a generation of kids doing harm to themselves” by seeking gender-affirming care. “Big Trans is taking advantage of confused kids and they’ve created a billion-dollar industry that preys on minors,” Watters added. Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, [7/27/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4014027)]

CONSPIRACY THEORY: Russia's attacks on the Donbas region of Ukraine had something to do with a “blackmail operation” involving Ukrainian energy company Burisma and the Bidens. During an interview with Fox host Rachel Campos-Duffy, Watters hinted at an apparent blackmail scheme between the Biden family and the Ukrainian government that supposedly influenced Russia to attack the Donbas region of Ukraine. Watters suggested that Burisma, the now-defunct Ukrainian energy company that once counted Hunter Biden among its board members, “had the oil and gas leases … for the Donbas region,” which supposedly indicated to Watters that a “a big blackmail operation” was underway. “We might have something on this tomorrow,” he teased. Seemingly intrigued by Watters’ vague suggestion of Biden family corruption, Campos-Duffy agreed, “We’re shoveling money there … to cover up the tens of millions of dollars that the Biden family took,” before adding, “I’m really happy you’re on that story, I really think there’s something there.” Watters never revisited the supposed blackmail scheme. Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, [7/31/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4014026)]

CONSPIRACY THEORY: Grand Canyon National Monument is a Biden scheme to funnel uranium money to foreign governments.Watters claimed that President Biden declared the Grand Canyon a national monument to block uranium mining in the canyon’s surrounding areas to fund “Russia’s dangerous uranium monopoly.” Watters then speculated on Biden’s motives, questioning why the president’s “entire energy policy favors Russia and China.” “Well, does it have anything to do with the three and a half million dollars the Russians paid the Biden's? Or the Porsche Panamera that the Kazakhstanis gifted Hunter? Does it have anything to do with the three and a half carat diamond that the Chinese slipped the first son? There's something very mysterious going on in the international uranium market that involves the Bidens and the Russians.” Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, [8/8/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/jesse-watters/jesse-watters-claims-grand-canyon-national-monument-biden-scheme-funnel-uranium-money)]

CONSPIRACY THEORY: The Weather Channel is a Biden propaganda outlet.Watters claimed the Weather Channel gave Joe Biden a softball interview because “the owner of the Weather Channel is a prolific Democrat donor.” He continued, “A corrupt, confused, weak, and terrified man is being protected by the ideological professional class who runs corporate media.” Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, [8/9/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4013955)]

CONSPIRACY THEORY: Biden and his team are doing “absolutely nothing” to stop fentanyl trafficking because “they prefer a passive public.” “China’s sending us the fentanyl, the Mexicans are trafficking it here, and Joe’s doing absolutely nothing about it. Why?” Watters asked, before answering his own question. “The professional class decided it's okay to kill yourself. It's pro-euthanasia. They find this behavior acceptable. They prefer a passive public.” Watters added that those in power are “fine” with “tranq heads and fentanyl heads” because — unlike the “wild” people who were addicted to stimulants during the crack epidemic — “they’re not asking questions, they’re not participating, and they’re not a threat.” Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, [8/9/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4013957)]

CONSPIRACY THEORY: Corporate diversity, equity, and inclusion training is a “shakedown” to encourage more racism so diversity trainers get paid. Watters argued DEI training was a “shakedown” in which diversity consultants earned “big money” training corporate employees on racism in the workplace so that their companies could publicly broadcast — and profit from — the idea that they are not racist. (“My company is not racist, please buy our products,” Watters described.) Watters’ guest, Erec Smith, a “former diversity trainer” turned supposed whistleblower, argued that diversity trainers like racism because it keeps them in business. “If you’re making all that money off racism, the last thing you want is for racism to go away. You’re going to perpetuate it. You’re going to see it where it isn’t,” Smith claimed. Summarizing Smith’s arguments for his audience, Watters said, “They were seeing racism where it never existed in order to get paid.” Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, [8/28/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4013943)]

CONSPIRACY THEORY: The Biden family’s Chinese business partners paid them in diamonds to avoid the IRS. Watters baselessly claimed that a Chinese company illegally paid the Biden family in diamonds to avoid drawing the attention of the IRS. “Everybody knows diamonds \are] a time-tested way to launder money, and hide that money from IRS agents,” Watters said, adding, “Diamonds and art, both spaces that Hunter plays in. There’s no paper trail or record-keeping with diamond transactions.” [Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, [9/18/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4013942)]

CONSPIRACY THEORY: Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) is the victim of a smear campaign engineered by the CIA and the Biden administration as part of a conspiracy to help Democrats. After Menendez, the former chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was indicted on charges of bribery, fraud, and extortion related to his dealings with the Egyptian government, Watters argued that the CIA was using “the same Trump playbook they used last time” to smear Menendez as a “traitor” and a spy. Watters baselessly alleged that Menendez — who has since been accused of acting as an unregistered agent of Egypt’s government — was “such a threat to Democrats” that the Biden administration and the CIA “smeared \him] as a spook” to supposedly cover up President Biden’s criminal behavior. “What does gold bar-Bob have on the Bidens? That’s the question,” Watters said. Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, \9/29/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/fox-news-jesse-watters-claims-senator-robert-menendez-victim-cia-smear-part-conspiracy); Associated Press, [9/22/23 (https://apnews.com/article/bob-menendez-wife-egypt-gold-bars-4d4a3f37a39143e86340572038acc0df), [10/12/23 (https://apnews.com/article/bob-menendez-indictment-c1850764b8ce7c613fc50f0e4f495e87)]

CONSPIRACY THEORY: Biden framed Menendez as a ploy to sell Turkey F-16s and grant Sweden NATO membership.Watters alleged that President Biden had hatched a scheme with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to remove “gold bar-Bob Menendez” from office because he was supposedly holding up the sale of $20 billion worth of F-16 jets to Turkey, which was in turn blocking Sweden’s entrance into NATO. “Look how nicely things fall into place for Biden and his boys, when two gold bars are found in a Senator's house,” Watters said, before adding, “Eh, it's probably a conspiracy theory.” Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, [10/2/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/jesse-watters-claims-joe-biden-framed-sen-robert-menendez-funnel-f-16s-turkey-and-grant)]

CONSPIRACY THEORY: Joe Biden is installing kill switches to disable cars on Election Day and keep people from voting. Watters falsely claimed a provision in the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act stipulating that new vehicles should include drunk driving prevention technology by 2026 was a ploy engineered by “big tech and big government to monitor your freedom of movement.” Watters also speculated that the Biden administration could “hit the kill switch on every pickup truck in Pennsylvania on Election Day” to keep people from voting. Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, \11/8/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/jesse-watters-says-joe-biden-installing-kill-switches-disable-cars-election-day-and-keep), Associated Press, [3/3/22 (https://apnews.com/article/fact-checking-402773429497)]

CONSPIRACY THEORY: “Transhumanist” tech executives and the Biden administration want to turn you into a mindless “RoboCop.” Watters said “executives in Silicon Valley and the eggheads at the World Economic Forum” want to “transform what it means to be human” through transhumanism: the technological enhancement of human brains and bodies using microchips and other implants. “It’s not just about dominating your attention with their screens, apps, and devices, and extracting all of your information for cash. It’s also about control,” Watters declared.” Once you join their universe, you’re dependent on them — they can control you, track you, or they can turn you off.” Watters hosted Laura Aboli, whom he introduced as an “activist and entrepreneur.” Aboli claimed that President Biden had signed an executive order that would “channel funding and resources to bioengineering and biomanufacturing” for the “transhumanist agenda.” Watters asked, “Like we all get turned into RoboCop?” “I’m afraid that’s probably what they want for us,” Aboli replied. Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, \11/20/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4013941); The Guardian, [5/6/18 (https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/may/06/no-death-and-an-enhanced-life-is-the-future-transhuman)]

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mma 12 23

also soros and a witch

Pizzagate conspiracy theorist Jack Posobiec accused Swift of being a “psyop” and “a statecraft asset for years” in a series of absurd social media posts and claimed “2024 will be the full payoff” for Democrats. In one post, Posobiec claimed that “conservatives who applaud Taylor Swift Time Mag award psyop” will be responsible for losing the country. Twitter/X, \12/6/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4014668); 12/6/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4014742); 12/6/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4014670); [12/6/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4014671)]

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AHA DOH CONSPIR AS SMEAR ~ TARGET = DIRTY TRICK BUT REQ ALT FACT EARTH 2 MURDOCH FUCKERY

AN 12 23

When special counsel Jack Smith announced 37 federal criminal charges against former President Donald Trump in the Mar-a-Lago documents case in June, Rep. Adam Schiff (https://ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/news/2023/06/12/schiff-warns-trump-special-counsel-will-face--relentless-attacks---death-threats) (D-California) warned that he would be "the subject of relentless attacks" and could expect "death threats."

Schiff definitely called it.

Smith has been inundated with death threats (https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/4048807-trump-unloads-on-special-counsel-jack-smith-in-speech-hours-after-arraignment/) not only because of that case, but also, in response to his election interference case against the former president. Trump and his loyalists have repeatedly used words like "deranged" to attack Smith, who has become a major target of MAGA conspiracy theorists.

In an article published by Mother Jones (https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/12/the-far-right-pushes-a-new-conspiracy-theory-to-discredit-jack-smith/) on December 13, journalists David Corn and Dan Friedman describe an anti-Smith conspiracy theory that is showing up on far-right websites.

"A new conspiracy theory rising on the right is being deployed to help Donald Trump," Corn and Freidman explain (https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/12/the-far-right-pushes-a-new-conspiracy-theory-to-discredit-jack-smith/). "It claims that Jack Smith, the special counsel who is prosecuting Trump for his attempt to overturn the 2020 election and for his alleged swiping of classified documents, was part of a multimillion- dollar extortion scheme when he was the chief prosecutor investigating and prosecuting war crimes in Kosovo. In the past two weeks, this unsubstantiated narrative has started popping up on fringe right-wing sites and social media posts."

The reporters continue (https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/12/the-far-right-pushes-a-new-conspiracy-theory-to-discredit-jack-smith/), "Michael Flynn, Trump’s former national security adviser and QAnonish MAGA champion, has promoted this tale…. This campaign against Smith is based on documents circulated by John Moynihan, a onetime DEA employee who says he handled money laundering investigations for the agency."

According to Corn and Freidman (https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/12/the-far-right-pushes-a-new-conspiracy-theory-to-discredit-jack-smith/), MAGA Republican and former Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne "has claimed credit for helping to launch Moynihan's allegations against Smith."

READ MORE:Fani Willis speaks out about racist death threats and 'bold-faced lie' following Trump indictment (https://www.alternet.org/fani-willis-trump-2666014324/)

The journalists note (https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/12/the-far-right-pushes-a-new-conspiracy-theory-to-discredit-jack-smith/), "Byrne tweeted a link to a story on the Moynihan charges that appeared on Gateway Pundit, a fringe-right site, and he declared, 'I DID THAT. Well, the extraordinary federal John Moynihan and I.' He added laughing emojis. A website he created called Deep Capture was among the first to post the Moynihan complaint."

---

Jake Tapper slams Vivek Ramaswamy over 'frankly, unhinged' Federal Reserve theory - Alternet.org (https://www.alternet.org/tapper-ramaswamy-unhinged-reserve-theory/)

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JUST A SLUR TO THROW LIKE PUTIN NAZI?

Rumble, an extreme right-wing video-sharing platform that has been the official streaming site (https://web.archive.org/web/20231218203655/https://rumble.com/gop-debate) of the 2024 Republican presidential primary debates, on December 4 listed as one of its “editor picks” a video featuring a conspiracy theory about supposed “lizard people” controlling the world.

The lizard people conspiracy theory, also known as the reptilian conspiracy theory, was popularized by infamous (https://www.theguardian.com/news/2019/feb/20/conspiracy-theorist-david-icke-hits-back-after-australia-revokes-visa) conspiracy theorist (https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2016/apr/07/conspiracy-theory-paranoia-aliens-illuminati-beyonce-vaccines-cliven-bundy-jfk) David Icke (https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-52198946). Business Insider (https://www.insider.com/lizard-people-conspiracy-theory-origin-nashville-bomber-qanon-2021-1) noted the likely antisemitic background of the concept, noting that Icke’s written commentary about the conspiracy theory is “clearly evocative of the centuries-old blood-libel conspiracy theory, which alleged that a cabal of Jews were controlling the world and drinking the blood of Christian children.” The lizard people conspiracy theory has also been tied to multiple violent incidents, including a man who killed his brother (https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/crime/god-told-me-he-was-a-lizard-seattle-man-accused-of-killing-his-brother-with-a-sword/) with a sword in 2019 anda man who (https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/29/us/anthony-quinn-warner-nashville/index.html) exploded his recreational vehicle (https://www.newschannel5.com/news/newschannel-5-investigates/nashville-bombers-bizarre-writings-reveal-belief-in-aliens-and-lizard-people) in downtown Nashville in 2020.

Rumble’s “editor picks” (https://www.mediamatters.org/rumble/rumble-promotes-video-suggesting-jacksonville-shooting-was-false-flag-among-its-selected) section (https://www.mediamatters.org/rumble/911s-anniversary-rumble-promoted-multiple-videos-pushing-conspiracy-theories-about-attacks) is apparently curated to highlight specific videos available on the platform. A video titled “Lizard Climate Scam ReeEEeE Stream 12-03-23” was featured in Rumble’s “editor picks” section on December 4. The video was posted by “TheSaltyCracker,” who has amplified (https://www.mediamatters.org/maga-trolls/far-right-message-boards-push-murder-conspiracy-theory-regarding-rep-ilhan-omar) conspiracy theories and (https://www.mediamatters.org/twitter/right-wing-media-cheers-violence-against-climate-activists) harmful (https://www.mediamatters.org/rumble/rumble-right-wing-creators-use-violence-israel-and-gaza-spread-antisemitic-anti-muslim-and) rhetoric (https://www.mediamatters.org/4chan/right-wing-media-narratives-have-put-indiana-abortion-provider-danger-hate-spreads-through) before. The thumbnail features an image (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4014716) of King Charles III with a long cartoon tongue sticking out, seemingly a reference to the conspiracy theory about lizard people.

CitationScreenshot of Rumble's "editor picks" section taken on December 4, 2023

During the video, “TheSaltyCracker” criticized attendees of COP28 (https://www.mediamatters.org/broadcast-networks/national-tv-news-coverage-cop28-was-sparse-and-inconsistent), the United Nations' annual climate summit, saying that “you just saw all these lizard people fly in to Munich, Germany, on private jets screaming about … climate change. They don’t care about climate change. It’s a scam.”

CitationFrom a video uploaded to Rumble on December 3, 2023

“THESALTYCRACKER”: But look the hell around. These people lied about everything. Lied about everything. They tell you about the polar bears, the polar ice. They say, “No, go out there and take a bunch of experimental vaccines. Everything's going to be totally fine.” Nope. I’m good. I’m good. Also, don't worry about all the stabbings. I’m worried about all the stabbings. There’s a lot of stabbings popping off lately. I’ve worried about a wide open border. “No, there’s no such thing as an open border.”

These fucking people are lying about everything. Everything they tell you to not be worried about, be worried about. Everything they tell you to be worried about, it’s a fucking scam. It’s a total scam. You just saw all these lizard people fly in to Munich, Germany, on private jets screaming about [unintelligible] climate change. They don’t care about climate change. It’s a scam. It’s a straight up scam.

He also criticized (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4014697) King Charles III for calling for action (https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/01/climate/king-charles-cop28-uae-investment-unsg-climate-intl/index.html) to address climate change in a speech at the summit, claiming that he has “tiny lizard balls.”

“TheSaltyCracker” also attacked former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) for her criticism of former President Donald Trump, claiming that “every single apparatus of lizard person fucking monstrosities are throwing everything that they got against Donald Trump.”

CitationFrom a video uploaded to Rumble on December 3, 2023

“THESALTYCRACKER”: By the way, you were on the receiving end of this, you dumb cow, you Miss Piggy-looking son of a bitch. We told you. We don’t give a fuck. We don’t care who hates Donald Trump. We don’t care who likes Donald Trump. We just understand that every single apparatus of lizard person fucking monstrosities are throwing everything that they got against Donald Trump. Everything. Everything. This corrupt fucking judicial system, the kid-fuckers in Hollywood, the dipshits on the sports ball fields, everybody. Everything’s against my dude, everything.

He also claimed (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4014700) that Cheney was “the fucking spawn of a lizard person war criminal,” referring to her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney.

Rumble has previously featured videos as “editor picks” that were dedicated to the QAnon conspiracy theory (https://twitter.com/AlKapDC/status/1668376408639324160), 9/11 trutherism (https://www.mediamatters.org/rumble/911s-anniversary-rumble-promoted-multiple-videos-pushing-conspiracy-theories-about-attacks), and a claim that an August mass shooting in Jacksonville, Florida, was a false flag (https://www.mediamatters.org/rumble/rumble-promotes-video-suggesting-jacksonville-shooting-was-false-flag-among-its-selected).

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https://www.alternet.org/alternet-exclusives/etsy-conspiracy/

no lnx

Crazy alert! The Pizzagate crowd has a new unhinged conspiracy theory about Etsy

Thom HartmannDecember 18, 2023

Are conservatives trying to clean up “Tricky Dick” and convince you that Watergate was a set up because it helps Trump and other Republican con-men look less extreme? The rush is on in GOP circles to normalize Trump’s lifelong criminal behavior, his incompetence and malice in office that unnecessarily killed over a half-million Americans and plunged the nation into debt, and his recent rhetoric about becoming a dictator “on day one.”

The first and most visible part of their strategy is to come up with any excuse they can find to impeach Joe Biden, and I’m more than willing to bet there will be an impeachment vote a few months down the line, so Trump can go into the 2024 election saying he’s not the only guy who’s been impeached for “high crimes and misdemeanors.”

The second and more subtle part is to try to rehabilitate former criminal Republican presidents. Yesterday morning on MSNBC, for example, former corrupt Republican Ohio Governor John Kasich lied to that network’s audience about Caspar Weinberger, saying he hadn’t committed any crimes and Iran/Contra was a sham, politically-motivated prosecution. In fact, Weinberger was facing years in prison for his role in helping Reagan and Bush Sr. cut a deal with the Iranian mullahs to hold the US hostages and then pay them off with illegal US weaponry. President George HW Bush, on the advice of his Attorney General Bill Barr, pardoned Weinberger on Christmas eve, 1992, to avoid being prosecuted himself, as you can read in detail here.

But this goes way beyond Kasich’s pathetic efforts to rewrite the history of the Reagan and first Bush administration’s criminal activities. Now young conservatives are trying to reinvent Tricky Dick Nixon, who was busted for taking cash bribes in the White House from Jimmy Hoffa and the milk lobby, organizing and covering up a break-in at the DNC, wiretapping and sending the IRS against his enemies, and prolonging the Vietnam war (killing an additional 20,000+ Americans) just to get re-elected in 1972.

As Ian Ward writes for Politico, the movement is being led by hardcore rightwing crazies like Vivek Ramaswamy, who said in a speech at the Nixon Library, “He is by and away the most underappreciated president of our modern history in this country — probably in all of American history.” Calling themselves the “new Nixonians,” these younger people who are comfortable with criminals occupying the White House are all-in on redefining Nixon as a great president, particularly his criminal foreign policy decisions like illegally bombing and killing millions of civilians in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.

I wrote an article some time ago wondering out loud how different America would be if four of the last six Republican presidents hadn’t committed treasonous felonies to become president or get re-elected to office. It’s still a damn good question. We’ve lost so much human potential and so badly damaged America’s reputation around the world…

— Where is the missing binder filled with top-secret super-highly-classified intel including the names of our spies in Moscow, last seen on Trump’s desk? CNN is reporting that for the past two years the national security agencies in our government have been going nuts trying to find the binder of information — including raw intelligence directly from our spies in Russia — about how Putin helped Trump get into the White House in 2016. Trump had demanded it be brought to him a week or so before he left the White House in January, 2021 and it hasn’t been seen anywhere since.

Keep in mind, the Mueller Report, contrary to the initial lies told about it by Bill Barr, found that Putin had manipulated our election on Trump’s behalf and that there were ten specific areas they wanted to investigate more thoroughly that looked criminal but in each of the ten they were blocked — criminally — by Donald Trump himself or his agents and family members. Mueller identified these ten instances of obstruction of justice so, he said, government prosecutors could use them for prosecutions when Trump was out of office, but Merrick Garland hasn’t shown any interest in finishing the job.

When the FBI searched Mar-a-Largo, the binder of raw intelligence was one of the things they were most vigorously looking for, but it’s gone. Did Trump enlist Rand Paul for a second run, flying a second secret packet of documents from DC to Moscow on Trump’s behalf like he did in 2017 shortly after Putin gave Trump his marching orders at Helsinki? Did Mark Meadows burn it, because it was the only set of originals showing that Putin put Trump into office? Is it buried in Ivana’s weed-overgrown grave at Bedminster? Did Trump hand it off to a Putin agent while going to a rally or other event? Inquiring minds want to know.

— Morbidly rich billionaires in America haven’t just been buying Supreme Court justices — they’ve also purchased over 100 federal judges... Lever News is reporting on research that discovered over 100 federal judges have been getting lavish vacations and trips around the world, fully paid for by some of America’s most politically aggressive billionaires and their companies and foundations. We thought the corruption was limited to Clarence Thomas, Sam Alito, Neil Gorsuch, John Roberts, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett but now it appears the rot is much deeper.

The story is truly grotesque and explains why so many Americans are losing faith in our nation’s institutions. When five corrupt Republicans on the Supreme Court legalized political bribery with Citizens United in 2010, they apparently also legalized the bribery of judges up and down the line, including themselves.

Never ones to miss an opportunity, several billionaires and their foundations have stepped forward to pick up their very own federal judges while they’re still going for cheap. Invest a few million in luxury vacations, make billions when the regulatory or tax laws are struck down or changed by the judges who took the vacations: buying judges and politicians is the best investment available in America today.

— How Trump screwed working people to pay for his tax cuts for the rich... When Republicans were putting together Trump’s massive tax cut for himself and his billionaire buddies back in 2017, they wanted to squeeze an additional few billion out of average working people to pay for some of Trump’s billionaire tax cuts. So they ended, from 2017 to 2025, the deductability of “personal casualty” losses: things like money lost to scams, or homes destroyed by weirding weather. The result has been a wave of middle class people being wiped out after being scammed out of their life savings because now they can no longer deduct those stolen funds from their tax obligations but instead have to pay taxes on them as if they’d “stolen” the money themselves.

The article in The Washington Post has a self-explanatory headline: “How Congress leaned on crime victims to pay for Trump-era tax cuts.” After all, it’s the Republican way: screw the little guy to make the rich even richer. They’ve been doing it right out in front of us all ever since the Reagan Revolution of 1981; whatever would have caused us to think they’d stop anytime soon?

— Are “manosphere influencers” promoting abuse and violence against women? Rush Limbaugh pioneered trashing women in the media as a badge of honor for Republican partisans, with his “FemaNazi” tag and the “Hillary Clinton Nut Cracker” ad he ran on his show every Christmas. Particularly since Hillary Clinton’s run for president, bashing, trashing, and ridiculing women has become a must-do for young Republican men bent on proving their rightwing street cred and building a social media following. As Media Matters notes, “Parents, in particular, should be aware of the dangers these figures pose.”

— Anti-abortion groups are attacking Kate Cox for getting an abortion, likening the procedure to eugenics....say what?! Now that a Texas woman has apparently succeeded in getting an abortion to save her own life and future fertility, anti-abortion and anti-woman groups across the country are doing their best to turn her into a villain or even characterize her as some sort of monster. Their goal, obviously, is to limit the damage to their movement from women like Cox going public, essentially forewarning other women and girls that if they publicly tell their stories and/or defy Republican state authorities they’ll get the full-on Shea Moss/Paul Pelosi treatment. These people aren’t even remotely “pro-life.” They’re simply interested in returning American women to their pre-1972 status when it was illegal to possess birth control outside of marriage and women couldn’t get a credit card or sign a contract without a husband, brother, or father’s co-signature.

— Crazy Alert! The Pizzagate crowd have a crazy new conspiracy theory about Etsy and it involves photos of pizza being clever messages…you can’t make this stuff up! The latest hysteria among the Qanon crowd is the suggestion that some of the items for sale on Etsy — specifically, things that have the word “pizza” in their description — are actually vehicles for trafficking children or porn. Maybe Etsy didn’t pay their protection money this year to the RNC?

RELATED ARTICLES AROUND THE WEB

Etsy Latest To Crackdown On QAnon Conspiracy Theory ›

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Claim tying Etsy to Wayfair, 'pizzagate' conspiracy theories is ... ›

Conspiracy Theorists Are Convinced Etsy Is Child Porn Hub ›

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E-commerce company Etsy is the latest target of a baseless far-right conspiracy theory: “The new Wayfair” | Media Matters for America (https://www.mediamatters.org/qanon-conspiracy-theory/e-commerce-company-etsy-latest-target-baseless-far-right-conspiracy-theory)

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mma 11 23 j6 tapes

Police suffered injuries at the hands of the rioters and allowed some movement in an attempt to de-escalate

The police union has said 140 police officers suffered injuries from January 6.The Washington Post, [1/27/21 (https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/police-union-says-140-officers-injured-in-capitol-riot/2021/01/27/60743642-60e2-11eb-9430-e7c77b5b0297_story.html)]

Police battled to keep rioters out of the Capitol but in some cases stood by because they were outnumbered or engaged politely to try to de-escalate.CNN reported:

The claim that the rioters were invited into the Capitol is false. ... There were hours-long battles between police and rioters near some entrances. CNN obtained footage from police body-worn cameras showing how dozens of officers engaged in hand-to-hand combat with rioters in a desperate effort to keep them out of the building. There are plenty of instances where rioters waltzed into the Capitol without a fight, but only after they had stormed past barricades and, in some cases, even stepped through broken windows. In some areas, police were so outnumbered by the mob that they retreated, stood aside or tried to politely engage with rioters to de-escalate the situation rather than fighting or making arrests, but that is clearly not the same as welcoming rioters into the building. CNN, [1/4/22 (https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/04/politics/fact-check-capitol-insurrection-january-6-lies/index.html)]

Capitol Police Chief Tom Manger stated that Capitol Police “did their best to use de-escalation tactics to try to talk rioters into getting each other to leave the building.” In a memo to staff, Manger disputed “outrageous and false” claims that Capitol Police served as “tour guides” for Jacob Chansley, aka the QAnon Shaman. Manger wrote that “Capitol Police were badly outnumbered on Jan. 6” and that “those officers did their best to use de-escalation tactics to try to talk rioters into getting each other to leave the building.” The Washington Post, [3/7/23 (https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/03/07/capitol-police-tucker-carlson-footage/)]

Capitol Police officers testified to the January 6 Committee that the day was “nothing short of brutal,” that there was “carnage” and it was a “war scene.” The committee also aired body camera footage from the officers that showed rioters shoving officers and pushing down barricades outside the Capitol. NPR, \7/27/21 (https://www.npr.org/2021/07/27/1019736664/jan-6-insurrection-hearing-police-nancy-pelosi-committee), 6/23/21 (https://www.npr.org/2021/06/18/1008211655/new-videos-underscore-the-violence-against-police-at-the-jan-6-capitol-riot), The Associated Press, [6/10/22 (https://apnews.com/article/capitol-siege-government-and-politics-riots-d690e70ac850d8652b82c0c3e2fba5bf)]

Police onsite were massively outnumbered by rioters, with an estimated 2,000 people entering the Capitol building and under 200 officers at the Capitol building itself. Forbes, \12/16/21 (https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamandrzejewski/2021/12/16/where-were-the-us-capitol-police-when-protestors-stormed-the-capitol-on-january-6th/?sh=2f663cad294e), ABC7, [1/6/22 (https://abc7.com/jan-6-insurrection-us-capitol-riot/11428976/)]

Right-wing media claim police allowed protestors to enter the Capitol and suggest that means it wasn’t a violent insurrection

Newsmax host Greg Kelly stated that it is “actually not true” that rioters broke into the Capitol and instead “some people were invited inside, and the police officers seemed to welcome them there.” While showing footage of protestors entering, Kelly also asserted that “this blows open the preferred January 6 narrative.” Newsmax, Greg Kelly Reports, [11/17/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4013918)]

Newsmax host Eric Bolling said the footage shows Capitol police “escorting the protestors.” He asked his guest Rudy Giuliani, “I mean, does that look like an overthrow of the United States government to you, sir?” Newsmax, Eric Bolling The Balance, [11/17/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4013920)]

Also on Newsmax, host Rob Schmitt claimed that protesters in the Capitol looked like they were taking “a tour,” adding that the “QAnon Shaman was actually escorted into the Capitol by police.” Schmitt acknowledged that there was some violence but nevertheless told his audience, “This is a much different day than it was portrayed by the media and by your members of Congress” and called the footage “an important reminder to always, always question what you are told by your government.” In fact, as The Associated Press reported in March, court documents and video footage from the attack show that the QAnon Shaman “entered the Capitol without permission, was repeatedly asked to leave the building and was not accompanied at all times.” Newsmax, Rob Schmitt Tonight, \11/17/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4013922); The Associated Press, [3/7/23 (https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-january-6-jacob-chansley-tucker-carlson-193191103193)]

Conservative podcast host Kyle Becker called the footage “bizarre” for showing rioters “casually walking the halls.”He posted, “This newly released J6 video is BIZARRE. All of these dangerous ‘insurrectionists’ casually walking the halls... right next to Capitol Police and FBI agents in full riot gear. WHAT is going on here? 👀” Twitter/X, [11/18/23 (https://twitter.com/kylenabecker/status/1726081349914681693)]

Right-wing personality Liz Wheeler claimed that Capitol police were “directing the insurrectionists” with a “handshake & pat on the back.” She posted, “Capitol police directing the insurrectionists who to insurrection with a handshake & pat on the back. Mark my words, the key to alllll of this lies with Nancy Pelosi.” Twitter/X, [11/17/23 (https://twitter.com/Liz_Wheeler/status/1725662405722571056)]

Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk asserted that “the J6 Committee’s violent insurrection narrative has crumbled” and called for the immediate release of rioters. He posted, “And just like that the J6 Committee’s violent insurrection narrative has crumbled. The Capitol Police facilitated the protesters passage through the building. The vast majority of J6ers should be immediately released.” Twitter/X, [11/17/23 (https://twitter.com/charliekirk11/status/1725664210879951276)]

Conservative commentator Benny Johnson noted police “were giving handshakes to protestors” and determined that “this is not an insurrection.” He posted, “Capitol Police were giving handshakes to protesters. Now ask yourselves this; In which ‘insurrection’ or ‘Rebellion’ in history would this have happened in? None — because this is not an ‘insurrection.’” Twitter/X, [11/17/23 (https://twitter.com/bennyjohnson/status/1725655688318251468)]

Conservative commentator Rogan O'Handley, also known as DC Draino, posted, “Wow what an ‘insurrection’! Watch as J6ers slowly walk past Capitol Police who just watch. Democrats said this was worse than 9/11.” X, [11/17/23 (https://twitter.com/DC_Draino/status/1725621271742877943)]

Right-wing conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer dismissed concerns of right-wing violence at the Capitol because Capitol police were “fist-bumping” rioters. She said: “Oh, if these cops are so concerned, and this was really worse than 9/11 and Pearl Harbor combined, and, you know, it's like a modern day Nazi rally in our nation's capital, why is it that the Capitol Police are fist-bumping these people?” Rumble, Loomer Unleashed, [11/17/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4013921)]

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an 11 23

the security surveillance dump announced this week that many Republicans claim will show the Jan. 6 Capitol riot was a mostly peaceful affair is about to blow up in their faces, an analyst wrote Wednesday.

Writing for Salon, Amanda Marcotte says the tactic of releasing the footage as an attempt to absolve those who participated "doesn't seem like the smartest electoral strategy."

"But the GOP now is primarily composed of professional trolls who cannot turn down an opportunity to spew noxious gases online," she writes. "Sure enough, some of the most annoying people in Congress tweeted conspiracy theories about the footage in language so fevered you could practically hear them panting as they typed."

:{:{:{Also read:Legal expert maps out realistic ways Trump can stop all of his trials (https://www.rawstory.com/donald-trump-prosecution-2666332957/):}:

Marcotte also points to a tweet from Republican Utah Sen. Mike Lee, in which he shared a picture of a convicted rioter who he claimed was an undercover federal agent — a claim that was easily debunked by NBC News reporter Ryan Reilly. (https://www.rawstory.com/mike-lee-january-6/)

Marcotte also points out that Georgia GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene shared Lee's tweet, but later deleted it after it was shown to be fake. Lee, nevertheless, doubled down on the claim.

"We know Lee is lying because, while Lee may not be the smartest man, almost no one is stupid enough to believe this 'FBI did it' conspiracy theory," Marcotte writes, adding that the point of these conspiracy theories, "Is not to believe them, but to sucker liberals into go-nowhere arguments with disingenuous actors."

"The end game is to overwhelm their opposition with so many lies and bizarre digressions that people eventually just get exhausted and give up."

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Jesse Watters says Joe Biden is installing kill switches to disable cars on Election Day and keep people from voting | Media Matters for America (https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/jesse-watters-says-joe-biden-installing-kill-switches-disable-cars-election-day-and-keep)

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Tom Cotton slammed for boosting conspiracy theories about journalists - Alternet.org (https://www.alternet.org/tom-cotton-journalists/)

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an 1123

in 2020, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was, according to the FBI and U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) officials, the target of a kidnapping plot (https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2023/09/18/whitmer-kidnapping-trial-verdict-guilty-acquitted/70889492007/) by far-right militia extremists. The would-be kidnappers, angry over Whitmer's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, reportedly planned to subject her to a fake "trial" (https://michiganadvance.com/2020/10/08/law-enforcement-uncover-militia-plot-to-kidnap-and-possibly-kill-whitmer-storm-capitol-incite-civil-war/) and execute her if convicted.

Altogether, 14 people (https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2020/10/15/whitmer-plot-charges-nessel/3661482001/) faced federal criminal charges (https://www.npr.org/2022/10/26/1131607112/michigan-governor-gretchen-whitmer-kidnapping-convictions) for their alleged roles in the plot; five were convicted by a jury, four entered "guilty" pleas, and five were acquitted (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/michigan-governor-gretchen-whitmer-kidnap-plot-william-null-michael-null-eric-molitor-acquitted/). Two of the ones who were acquitted, twin brothers Michael and William Null, were recently honored by far-right Michigan State Rep. Rachelle Smit — who, the Daily Beast reports (https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-right-is-rewriting-the-whitmer-kidnapping-case?ref=home?ref=home), honored them at a late-October ceremony."

In a report published on November 8 (https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-right-is-rewriting-the-whitmer-kidnapping-case?ref=home?ref=home), the Daily Beast's Kelly Weill emphasizes that Smit and other far-right MAGA Republicans are seriously distorting the facts in the plot to kidnap Whitmer.

At the ceremony, Weill reports (https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-right-is-rewriting-the-whitmer-kidnapping-case?ref=home?ref=home), Smit gave Michael and Wiliam Null a certificate that read, "Michael Null is an outstanding example of the kind of person who is not content to sit idly while the forces of tyranny attack our Republic. Through his courageous efforts to expose the government's false-flag Whitmer conspiracy, he has made it clear that we all have opportunities each and every day to put our love of country to good use in helping out our fellow citizens."

The certificate also said (https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-right-is-rewriting-the-whitmer-kidnapping-case?ref=home?ref=home), "Michael Null could have given up. His government — state and federal — betrayed him: it sent members of its secret police forces to concoct a plot to 'kidnap' Gretchen Whitmer, and to persecute innocent men in this government-orchestrated conspiracy, for the purpose of political theater and political gain."

But Smit, according to Weill (https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-right-is-rewriting-the-whitmer-kidnapping-case?ref=home?ref=home), downplays the fact that nine of the defendants in the Whitmer case were either convicted or pled guilty.

"When the FBI announced the arrests of 14 men accused of plotting to kidnap Whitmer, Michigan’s Democratic governor in 2020, commentators on the right were quick to call it a hoax," Weill explains (https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-right-is-rewriting-the-whitmer-kidnapping-case?ref=home?ref=home). "While on the 2022 campaign trail, Michigan Republicans even falsely accused Whitmer of concocting the plot herself. When two men were acquitted in the scheme, a GOP gubernatorial candidate running against Whitmer baselessly asserted that 'the FBI conceived a plot to kidnap Gretchen Whitmer and preyed on Michiganders to push it along.'"

READ MORE:'Bitter disputes' and MAGA extremism are leaving the Michigan GOP 'starving for cash': report (https://www.alternet.org/michigan-gop-2664589396/)

The MAGA gubernatorial candidate that Weill is referring to is Garrett Soldano. (https://michiganadvance.com/blog/soldano-floats-conspiracy-theory-that-whitmer-staged-kidnapping-plot-to-influence-2020-election/)Far-right conspiracy theorist Julie Kelly, Weill notes, has also described the kidnapping plot as a "hoax."

In response to Smit honoring the Hull Brothers, former Michigan GOP Chairman Jeff Timmer told the Beast (https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-right-is-rewriting-the-whitmer-kidnapping-case?ref=home?ref=home), "It's this normalizing, inch by inch, of political violence, making what would've previously been intolerable tolerable in the sense that we just have become numb to it. It's not too distant — if it's distant at all — from the Republican Party, its elected officials, and its party officers…. many of whom, prominent members of Congress from Michigan, members of the legislature, members of the elected party apparatus, have ties to these people who were part of the kidnapping plot."

Barbara McQuade, a former federal prosecutor and frequent legal analyst for MSNBC, described honoring the Hull Brothers as "a very dangerous and reckless move."

McQuade told the Beast (https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-right-is-rewriting-the-whitmer-kidnapping-case?ref=home?ref=home), "They were acquitted at trial. And certainly, that means that the jury found that the government had failed to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt, and we should respect that verdict. But it's quite another thing to celebrate political violence."

READ MORE:Muslim Republicans increasingly frustrated by Michigan GOP’s 'strong push toward Christian nationalism' (https://www.alternet.org/kristina-karamo-2665891053/)

*Read The Daily Beast's full report at this link (https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-right-is-rewriting-the-whitmer-kidnapping-case?ref=home?ref=home) (subscription required).

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mma10 23

CHARLIE KIRK (HOST): Now look, Joe Biden is a traitor, I just think everyone is taking the wrong, I think they're burying the lede here. Like, wow. Okay, yeah, the FBI had informants and they knew that, you know, Joe Biden was super corrupt and all that. Okay. I see it a little bit differently.

I don't like this new standard where all of a sudden the FBI just permanently spies on the people, the individuals holding government positions that the people deem in power.

I don't think that's a good -- that’s a good track record for the country. Now the counterargument is that the FBI is not arresting Biden and they have all of this information and he is a traitor and he was doing these things. And they're not arresting him. That's a fair argument.

What I'm trying to say though is that this story should be, in a legitimate country, a reason for a bipartisan Church and Pike Committee to get the FBI to heel. That's what it should be in a functioning country.

And, we’ll get into this in the next segment, it probably means that the FBI was blackmailing Joe Biden and using the informants as a way to control him. But that's not okay. That's really bad. Again, I'm not a defender of Joe Biden. He should be in Gitmo. He's a traitor to the country.

This is just going to happen to the next president. What's going to say, if Donald Trump wins in a triumphant victory, what’s to say that they won't just blackmail him and they won't just spy on him?

This is how the administrative state rolls. This fourth branch of government is actually running the country, regardless of who is president.

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demonization?

https://www.mediamatters.org/michael-knowles/daily-wires-michael-knowles-suggests-radical-environmentalists-set-maui-wildfires (https://www.mediamatters.org/michael-knowles/daily-wires-michael-knowles-suggests-radical-environmentalists-set-maui-wildfires)

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YYY

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mma 8 23

...

conspiracy theorists and right-wing media personalities use images and footage, some of which have been doctored, to claim the fire was caused intentionally

While smoke from Canada’s wildfires blanketed (https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/06/08/upshot/new-york-city-smoke.html) U.S. cities in June, claims that these fires had been set deliberately by the U.S. government or some other antagonistic force, proliferated on TikTok. (https://www.mediamatters.org/tiktok/tiktok-driving-conspiracy-theories-about-canadas-wildfires) These conspiracy theories were revived during the recent Hawaii wildfire, giving rise to more misleading content.

Images (https://twitter.com/RVAwonk/status/1689840406018551808?s=20) of completely unrelated events (https://twitter.com/Shayan86/status/1691486661375406080?s=20) such as a SpaceX rocket launch or an oil refinery explosion, as well as doctored (https://twitter.com/MattWallace888/status/1690536031018242048?s=20) images of the actual Lahaina fire, were held up as proof that the public did not know “the truth” about what happened on Maui. The BBC (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-66457091) and The Associated Press (https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-maui-fire-photos-misrepresented-conspiracy-555091357957) were quick to contextualize the misleading content, some of which received millions of views on Twitter (recently rebranded as X), TikTok, and Instagram.

Other conspiracy theorists continued to insist the damage caused by the fire looked in some way suspect. Videos (https://twitter.com/Milennial_con/status/1690842806405804032?s=20) of melted cars (https://twitter.com/JackMedia7/status/1690789744832139264?s=20) on Lahaina’s iconic Front Street, burnt boats in the marina, and aerial shots (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4010273) of the decimated neighborhoods (https://twitter.com/meantweeting1/status/1690170265072726016?s=20) served as evidence (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4010259) that this was not the work of a regular wildfire, according to right-wing media personalities and online conspiracy theorists who cited some vehicles and palm trees that appeared to be less damaged than their surroundings. (“It’s actually very common that wildfires will burn out structures and vehicles but leave surrounding trees, utility poles, and other vegetation unscathed,” Michael Gollner, an associate professor of mechanical engineering who leads a fire research lab at the University of California, Berkeley, told AP News (https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-maui-wildfires-trees-poles-standing-944458337667).)

Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk suggested there is a cover-up happening in Lahaina, comparing the aftermath of the fires to the Chernobyl disaster: “There is something else going on here,” Kirk said. “This feels like Chernobyl. That something happened here and they do not want the world to find out.” Real American’s Voice, The Charlie Kirk Show, [8/21/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4010368)]

Newsmax host Greg Kelly suggests what happened in Maui wasn’t a forest fire: “I'm sorry, it doesn't look like one to me.” “Everything is crazy right now,” Kelly explained. “For instance, you know what happened in Maui. Actually, I don't think anybody knows what happened in Maui. This was a forest fire? I'm sorry, it doesn't look like one to me. I noticed in the early stages of this disaster, no one was really — excuse me — talking about the cause. It was just well, this horrible, horrible fire, But how did it start? Power lines? There are a lot of strange patterns that people are noticing. I don't think we have the full story yet.” Newsmax, The Greg Kelly Show, [8/15/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/greg-kelly/newsmaxs-greg-kelly-i-dont-think-anybody-knows-what-happened-maui)]

Right-wing commentator Lana Asanin: Maui fire was a “devious act by the gIobalist oligarchs.” “‘A Fire That Melted Metal’ A DEW strike of catastrophic proportions in Maui. Devious act by the gIobalist oligarchs. It takes over 1200° degrees for many minutes in exact area to melt aluminum like this. Yet the pavement/concrete is not scorched at all. Even the trees didn’t burn. Doesn’t this question you at all ?#MauiFires #Hawaii.” Twitter/X, [8/14/23 (https://twitter.com/LanaAsanin/status/1691210184943628288?s=20)]

Video with 5.2 million views shared by conspiracy theory account Truth Pills: “This fire thing on Maui doesnt add up. How did all the boats on the water burn as well and there is a perfect circle of fire around the city.” Twitter/X, [8/11/23 (https://twitter.com/pills_truth/status/1690058504449478656?s=20)]

QAnon account CBKNews, whose posts have garnered hundreds of thousands of views on TikTok, posted supposed screenshots taken from other social media with the caption: “Maui Hawaii two nights ago, it was an attack!!!!!!!?” A community note was later added to the post explaining that the image actually “dates back to a 2018 event in Michigan” and shows “a combination of a meteor, a fire, and a cold-weather phenomenon.” Twitter/X, \8/10/23 (https://twitter.com/CBKNEWS121/status/1689692087338549250?s=20); Snopes, [1/18/18 (https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/did-energy-weapon-strike-michigan/)]

Right-wing media baselessly claims that arsonists started the fire

As news of the fire spread, right-wing media jumped to the evidence-free conclusion that it was the work of one or more arsonists — a drumbeat (https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/fox-breaks-out-all-tools-denier-playbook-downplay-climate-changes-role-western-wildfires) used (https://www.mediamatters.org/google/youtube-made-money-videos-pushing-false-antifa-wildfires-claim) time and time again to delegitimize concerns about the role of climate change and extreme weather during wildfires.

Scientists have warned (https://apnews.com/article/wildfire-smoke-canada-climate-change-new-normal-f22a68e7df9688ef8eccd970efde3baf) that a buildup of dry fuel during unusually hot and dry weather driven by climate change creates the perfect conditions for wildfires to spread quickly. In the case of Hawaii, a confluence of factors (https://grist.org/extreme-weather/wildfires-just-destroyed-a-maui-town-next-year-could-be-worse/) including flash droughts in July, an “abundance of dry grass (https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2023/08/16/hawaii-fires-disaster-declarations/42292206-3c68-11ee-aefd-40c039a855ba_story.html),” and high winds from Hurricane Dora made the fires deadly. An investigation (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-did-maui-fire-start-cause-lahaina-hawaii-wildfire/) as to what exactly caused the fire is still underway, but video footage (https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/08/15/maui-fires-power-line-cause/) suggests it could have been a faulty power line run by the state’s energy utility which malfunctioned during the heavy winds.

The Daily Wire's Michael Knowles suggested “radical environmentalists” set the Maui wildfires and that recent evidence pointing to malfunctioning power lines was “a weak theory.” “The main theory of how the fire started, the one that you have most likely heard because it's the favorite of the establishment media, is that it was caused by catastrophic climate change, which, of course, it was not because catastrophic climate change or global warming or global cooling or whatever they're gonna call it tomorrow, is not real,” Knowles said. “Compared to the most likely culprit. Not just the most likely culprit in my mind, but, apparently, in the mind of Hawaiian officials. And that's arson. … And who would do such a thing? We can't say for certain who might have done it here, but we can say for certain the answer to who would do such a thing. And the answer is environmentalists.” The Daily Wire, The Michael Knowles Show, [8/21/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/michael-knowles/daily-wires-michael-knowles-suggests-radical-environmentalists-set-maui-wildfires#::text=Not%20just%20the%20most%20likely,someone%20is%20intentionally%20setting%20them.)]

Infowars’ Alex Jones says Maui wildfires are “staged.” “And they've busted antifa and leftists all over the world,” Jones claimed. “Big fires in France right now, big fires in Germany. When the winds get high and it's dry, out come the Extinction Rebellion leftists. … They had emergency crews stand back and only protect elitist properties with the fire departments. So this is staged, but it wasn't done with a laser. Even though that's sexy and fun to talk about. It was done with a lighter or matches and gasoline. You can bet your bottom dollar on that.” Infowars, The Alex Jones Show, [8/14/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/alex-jones/alex-jones-says-maui-wildfires-are-staged-blames-globalists-and-antifa)]

Executive director of climate denier organization CO2 Coalition Gregory Wrightstone said on OAN’s In Focus that the wildfires were “probably human-caused” even though “we haven’t seen any arrests for arson.” “The other interesting thing about Hawaii: Very, very few thunderstorms occur, so there were no noted lightning strikes during this period, so these were all probably human-caused and we haven't seen any arrests for arson,” Wrightstone said. “We know that two months ago, several people were arrested for setting fires.” OAN, In Focus, [8/13/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4010253)]

Steve Bannon said Hawaii fires were not influenced by climate change: “They’re saying it’s all climate change, climate change, climate change,” Bannon claimed. “You watch, when we find out, I believe 85% of these wildfires are started by humans, and right now they haven’t said — they’re saying they’re still investigating. So the climate change thing is just another part of the climate change cult, talking about this fire being a part of climate change.” Real America’s Voice,War Room, [8/11/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4009922)]

Right-wing health influencer Mike Adams said the fire was started by “climate cultists trying to blame climate change.” “Was the catastrophic, deadly fire in Maui, Hawaii started by a #climate cultist trying to blame climate change for more disasters? No way to know for sure, but we've seen MANY cases of left-wing arsonists caught trying to start wildfires, which the left-wing media blamed on ‘climate change.’ Remember, there's NOTHING these lunatics won't do to terrorize the planet into obeying their climate cult agenda.” Twitter/X, [8/10/23 (https://twitter.com/HealthRanger/status/1689706419044450304?s=20)]

Frequent Fox News guest and climate change denier Steve Milloy: “Hawaii state officials suspected arsonists were at work in Maui previously. Now it is more expedient to blame 'climate change.' Scoundrels.” Twitter/X,[8/10/23 (https://twitter.com/JunkScience/status/1689644761362333696?s=20)]

Internet trolls blame 15-minute cities, renewable energy for the fire

Conspiracy theorists have speculated that a so-called direct energy weapon attack could be motivated by a land grab facilitated by celebrities (https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8NN7p5B/) with property on the island or an attempt by globalist elites to clear the historic town of Lahaina to make way for an AI-governed smart city (https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZPRWbajXw/) or a so-called 15-minute city.

There is no evidence to back any of these claims. While some celebrities do own homes in Maui, their properties (https://www.newsweek.com/oprah-winfrey-maui-wildfires-home-hawaii-1819611) are not near (https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/10/us/maui-fires-celebrity-homes.html) Lahaina. And needless to say, discussions of smart city technology and AI have been internationally (https://www.politico.eu/article/uk-pm-rishi-sunak-promise-big-ai-summit-but-running-out-of-time/) ubiquitous (https://fall.smartcitiesconnect.org/) for years. (These two concepts are separate from 15-minute cities, though some conspiracy theorists have conflated the ideas or used the terms interchangeably.) Though these concepts have faced some legitimate skepticism (https://e360.yale.edu/features/why-the-luster-is-fading-on-once-vaunted-smart-cities), there is simply no connection to the wildfires.

Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones said “globalists” wanted to make Maui a “smart island.” “There's no way that government was that incompetent,” Jones said. “They've had the globalists licking their lips, declaring they're going to make it a smart island. They have a conference coming up in just a week and a half. Oprah Winfrey and Zuckerberg and all of them saying they've been trying to force people to sell their land.” Infowars, The Alex Jones Show, [8/16/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4010148)]

Conspiracy theorist and crypto influencer Matt Wallace spread viral misinformation about the fires on Twitter and YouTube:“Now, A Lot of Those Locals Are Forced To Sell Their Land and Many Tragically Died in The Flames. Oprah Winfrey Has A Luxury Mansion in Maui; It’s Completely Fine. Jeff Bezos Has A Luxury Mansion in Maui; It’s Completely Fine. Lady Gaga Has A Luxury Mansion in Maui; It’s Completely Fine. Bill Gates Has A Luxury Mansion in Maui; It’s Completely Fine. Morgan Freeman Has A Luxury Mansion in Maui; It’s Completely Fine. Will Smith Has A Luxury Mansion in Maui; It’s Completely Fine. Julia Roberts Has A Luxury Mansion in Maui; It’s Completely Fine. HOW DID THE FIRE KNOW TO AVOID THE MOST EXPENSIVE MANSIONS? WAKE UP!” Twitter/X, \8/13/23 (https://twitter.com/MattWallace888/status/1690818087229030400?s=20)] [YouTube, [8/13/23 (https://www.youtube.com/live/oDTUy_CiYF0?app=desktop&feature=share)]

Conspiracy theorist and podcast host Liz Churchill: “Problem…Reaction…Solution. Hawaii allegedly voted to be the first AI governed WEF ‘Smart City’ Concentration Camp…and suddenly there’s a ‘Climate Change’ fire…and now they need to rebuild due to the ‘Climate Change Disasters’ that they are trying to pawn off as ‘natural’.”Twitter/X, [8/15/23 (https://twitter.com/liz_churchill10/status/1691622760366153880?s=20)]

Conspiracy news show Redacted: “Are the fires in #Maui a land grab scheme? Is it part of a WEF plan to make Maui a 15-minute island using only renewable energy? We'll explore the facts using U.S. government data and public sources, so you can draw your own conclusions.” #MauiFires #RenewableEnergy”Twitter/X, [8/15/23 (https://twitter.com/TheRedactedInc/status/1691448576445190144?s=20)]

To back up their claims, conspiracy theorists have fixated on a Digital Government Summit (https://events.govtech.com/Hawaii-Digital-Government-Summit.html) to be held in Honolulu in September, as well as a conference (https://lists.aisnet.org/pipermail/aisworld_lists.aisnet.org/20220429/044769.html) on information technology management that occurred in January. Both events have been occurring annually for years (the Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences has been happening since 1968) and host discussions on a wide array (https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2023/aug/14/instagram-posts/no-hawaii-fires-werent-set-intentionally-to-turn-m/) of topics, not just AI and smart cities.

Renewable energy opponents have also circulated a speech (https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2023/07/12/green-highlights-hawaiis-sustainability-plans-keynote-address-un-meeting/)that Hawaii Gov. Josh Green made at the United Nations Economic and Social Council in July touting the state’s sustainability accomplishments, and a 2018 article from the World Economic Forum (https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/08/how-hawaii-plans-to-be-the-first-us-state-to-run-entirely-on-clean-energy/) doing the same. But Hawaii’s own legislature has long been working toward its clean energy goals, and it isn’t surprising or controversial that its achievements are being internationally recognized.

In Europe and the U.S., initiatives aiming to reduce traffic and curb pollution have triggered conservative fearmongering over the idea of 15-minute cities, (https://www.mediamatters.org/climate-deniers/right-wing-media-use-misinformation-around-15-minute-cities-pivot-toward-climate) an urban planning concept that necessities such as schools and grocery stores should be just a short walk or bike ride away, reducing the need to regularly commute substantial distances. Instead, right-wing media have inaccurately painted 15-minute cities as open-air prisons that would severely restrict travel.

QAnon streaming show Woke Societies: “I'm sure it was just a coincidence this tragedy occurred a month before the Digital Summit of 2023. My tin foil hat is tingly.”“Do you really wanna know what happened to Maui? This was perfectly orchestrated by elites like Oprah Winfrey, Jeff Bezos, and other celebrities to pour money into Lahaina Maui to usher the first smart city controlled by AI. … And I'm sure it was just a coincidence this tragedy occurred month before the Digital Summit of 2023. My tin foil hat is tingly. What do you think?” Twitter/X, [8/14/23 (https://twitter.com/wokesocieties/status/1691171375774314498?s=20)]

Right-wing conspiracy theorist Mindy Robinson wrote that “climate tyrants” will use the fire to “rebuild it as some dystopian ‘smart city.’” “How long before you think these climate tyrants use the Maui fire as an excuse to rebuild it as some dystopian ‘smart city’ …on the tax payers dime, of course? Anyone else getting tired of watching our government fail, so the criminals in DC can profit off murdering us?” Twitter/X, [8/14/23 (https://twitter.com/iheartmindy/status/1691135129060888576?s=20)]

Writer Efrat Fenigson said the goal of the fires was to turn a “historical town” into an “entire island governed by AI” with “everything electric.” “Remember ‘Build Back Better’? The picture gets clearer after reading this: ‘The government of Hawaii states goal for rebuild is to make the entire island of Maui the first Smart ISLAND. They want the entire island governed by AI as outlined in the Hawaii Digital government summit of 2023 that they have planned to host next month Monday, September 25, 2023 on Maui. Plans to implement a Digital AI government in Hawaii. … Last January of 2023 there was a Smart City Conference in Maui to turn Maui in an entire smart city ISLAND. Pushing everything electric and making 15 minute smart cities. Lastly there was a contract last year that was signed to build high-rise condos and businesses in Lahaina.. which was a historical town that couldn’t have any new development done to it.. but now? It can.#MauiFire” Twitter/X, [8/14/23 (https://twitter.com/efenigson/status/1691033876703870976?s=20)]

Health influencer Raylene Short in a video on TikTok with over 1 million views argued that the goal of the fires was to clear the way for 15-minute smart cities and making “the entire island governed by AI.” “The government of Hawaii states their goal is to rebuild and make the entire island of Maui the first smart island. They want the entire island governed by AI, it’s outlined in the Hawaii Digital Government Summit of 2023 that they plan to host next month on September 25, 2023, on Maui. Wow, now they’re going to come to the rescue for this horrible problem. And last January in 2023 there was a smart city conference in Maui, to turn Maui again into the smart city island, pushing everything electric, making 15-minute smart cities.” TikTok, [8/13/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4010224)]

In a video with nearly 400,000 views, one TikTok creator claimed that the fires were in response to “pushback” against making Lahaina a 15-minute city and alluded to the use of “directed energy weapons.” “The plan was to do something to Lahaina and turn it into a smart city. They were talking about smart streets, smart cars, smart cities. Well, what’s a smart city? Or a 15-minute city? Look it up, 15-minute city. A 15-minute city is basically a big-ass high rise. … That’s what they want to do. Who’s they? Well, you’re going to have to look into that and figure that out because I’m not going to say it on this platform. … When they pushback, all of the sudden, there’s a fire.” TikTok, [8/14/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4010199)]

CBKNews: “Maui Hawaii DEW 15 minute city world economic forum wef Klaus Schwab laser #MauiFires Lahaina #lahainafires Hawaii #hawaiifires direct energy weapon Joe biden is a pos. There are no coincidences.” Twitter/X, [8/14/23 (https://twitter.com/CBKNEWS121/status/1691222290258644992?s=20)]

Chinese satellite and “Directed Energy Weapons” become scapegoats

For years, conspiracy theorists have attributed wildfires to government weapons (https://www.vice.com/en/article/jg5dpb/maui-fire-laser-beam-conspiracy-twitter) supposedly capable of doing so from spaceand passing them off as accidental. (https://www.vice.com/en/article/jg5dpb/maui-fire-laser-beam-conspiracy-twitter) The idea has resurfaced once again as images and videos purporting to depict a so-called “directed energy weapon” being used to start the fire in Hawaii have spread online.

QAnon influencer John Sabal, known online as QAnon John: The fire was started “to DESTROY the island of Maui using Directed Energy Weapons.” “Just made a thread on X about the TRUTH on what is happening with the MAUI WILDFIRES. here is a COORDINATED effort to DESTROY the island of Maui using Directed Energy Weapons, to build a WEF ‘Smart City’ in its place, that is governed completely by Artificial Intelligence!” Telegram, [8/13/23 (https://t.me/PatriotVoiceOfficial/34518)]

QAnon influencer Michael Jaco said the fire was aused by directed energy weapons in coordination with a human-made hurricane. “DEW used to start and target these fires at just the right time as their HAARP created hurricane passes to the south. Probably on it's way to China. At least 36 dead as fires lay waste to Hawaii, county reports.” Twitter/X, [8/10/23 (https://twitter.com/MichaelJaco9/status/1689609919312314368?s=20)]

Conspiracy theorist Stew Peters: “The Directed Energy Weapons (DEWs) being used on Hawaii are powerful enough to set the Pacific Ocean on fire.” Twitter/X,[8/10/23 (https://archive.is/fZHjV)]

Stew Peters: “Only a Directed Energy Weapon (DEW) can cause this kind of destruction.” “Lahaina, Maui has been RAZED to the ground. The claim that the these ‘wildfires’ were spread by hurricane force winds is bogus bc along with hurricane winds comes LOTS of RAIN. Only a Directed Energy Weapon (DEW) can cause this kind of destruction.” Twitter/X, [8/10/23 (https://twitter.com/realstewpeters/status/1689618791586750464?s=20)]

Health influencer and anti-vaccine influencer Daniel “Alec” Zeck: “I’ve had several people on Maui tell me they believe that the fires were caused by Direct Energy Weapons. We know the Agenda 2030 maps have ecological zones set aside that only select humans can live in. We know that they want climate lockdowns next.” Twitter/X, [8/10/23 (https://twitter.com/Alec_Zeck/status/1689814417771241472?s=20)]

There is no evidence of a space laser targeting Hawaii, nor is there any indication of foreign interference tied to the wildfires. But an incident involving a Chinese satellite that occurred seven months ago is now being used to inaccurately blame China.

In late January 2023, a telescope on Mauna Kea picked an up image of green laser beams (https://www.khon2.com/local-news/chinese-satellite-lasers-recorded-over-hawaii/) over Hawaii. The lights turned out to be coming from a Chinese satellite (https://www.khon2.com/local-news/chinese-satellite-lasers-recorded-over-hawaii/) reportedly collecting data on pollution, but conspiracy theorists are now using the incident to suggest foul play behind the Maui fire.

Far-right commentator Chuck Callesto: “Chinese satellite has been caught on video BEAMING DOWN GREEN LASERS over the Hawaiian Islands.” “JUST IN: News clip from Jan 2023 reveals astronomers claiming Chinese satellite has been caught on video BEAMING DOWN GREEN LASERS over the Hawaiian Islands. I’ve seen A-LOT of images and laser talk on Hawaii, haven’t put much behind it until this.” Twitter/X, [8/12/23 (https://twitter.com/ChuckCallesto/status/1690480292841025536?s=20)]

Right-wing podcast host Chase Geiser suggests the wildfire was connected to “mysterious bright green lasers.”“Were Hawaii’s wildfires deliberately caused by China? In the shadows of Hawaii's sacred Haleakalā volcano, a situation with global implications is unfolding. Just a day before the Space Force grappled with a significant fuel spill atop this cultural landmark, mysterious bright green lasers lit up the night sky above the island, with suspicions pointing towards China. Could there be a connection?” Twitter/X, [8/11/23 (https://twitter.com/realchasegeiser/status/1689908609805606912?s=20)]

Crypto influencer and right-wing conspiracy theorist Tara Bull suggested the lasers are also being used to obscure news about the fire: “Does anyone remember the Chinese lasers over Hawaii? ‘They can shut down any communication nodes if they believe the public is getting too much information.’ –Ray L'Heureux Are you paying attention yet?” Twitter/X, [8/11/23 (https://twitter.com/TaraBull808/status/1690177274023448576?s=20)]

Right-wing streamer Tim Pool defended past comments from Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene (R-GA) claiming Rothschild-controlled space lasers (https://www.mediamatters.org/facebook/marjorie-taylor-greene-penned-conspiracy-theory-laser-beam-space-started-deadly-2018) were used to start a California wildfire in 2018 and suggested she was partly proved right in Hawaii. “Look, we are not on good terms with China right now,” Pool said. “How hard is it to start a fire? It’s ridiculously easy to start a fire. And they can fire lasers.” He later added, “Remember when Marjorie Taylor Green argued that there were like space lasers that could start fires? ... Well, I don’t know about all of that but I can tell you that we have video of lasers being fired from satellites.” Timcast IRL, [8/10/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4010143)]

YouTube and Meta are allowing posts with misinformation about the fires to be monetized

On YouTube, ads appeared on videos promoting the idea that the fire was started by a directed energy weapon, meaning that both the creators and the platform profited. On Meta, posts pushing similar conspiracy theories were monetized, despite the fact that similar organic posts received fact-check labels (https://archive.org/details/screenshot-210), meaning that the ads violate Meta's own rules (https://transparency.fb.com/policies/ad-standards/unacceptable-content/misinformation).

An Instagram ad ran that included a video suggesting that the fire was started by a laser that “could be programmed for different wavelengths.”Instagram, [8/22/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4010439)]

A Facebook and Instagram ad ran that included a video claiming that the fire was deliberately started as part of a government effort (https://www.poynter.org/?ifcn_misinformation=the-blue-beam-a-joint-project-of-nasa-and-the-united-nations-uses-the-most-powerful-technologies-to-spread-a-new-religion-on-earth-and-create-various-simulation-images-to-establish-total-control-ove) to control people using top-secret technology. Facebook, [8/19/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4010322)]

YouTube monetized a video titled “Hawaii Maui Wildfires. We're LASER FOCUSED DEW.”YouTube, [8/19/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4010324)]

An Instagram ad ran that claimed that the Mountain Dew flavor “Maui Burst” was a signal from those in power that the fire was caused by a directed energy weapon, or DEW, and that the government deliberately started the fire to build a smart city: One post claimed that “what happened in Maui was by no means an accident and this mountain dew (Direct Energy Weapons) Maui burst flavor is definitely not just a mere ‘coincidence’ either! Remember, this is exactly how witchcraft and occult works.” Instagram, [8/15/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4010300)]

YouTube monetized a video from the conspiracy theory channel THE END OF THE BEGINNING with the title “SHARE THIS! GREEN LASERS FROM “SPY BALLOON” LIKELY MAPPED OUT TARGET FOR MAUI D.E.W!” YouTube, [8/14/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4010293)]

YouTube monetized a video from a doomsday prepper channel with the title “Maui Fire Survival Lessons and Laser Weapons?” The creator said in the video, “There’s a lot of interesting timing based on new reporting surrounding things like laser weapons which may have some correlation depending on how you want to look at it.” YouTube, [8/13/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4010294)]

YouTube monetized two videos about the fire from conspiracy theorist and crypto influencer Matt Wallace suggesting that a military weapon was used in Maui and the mansions of “elites” were purposefully spared. YouTube, \8/13/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4010298), [8/13/23 (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4010299)]

---

BB 8 23

Remember when conspiracy theories were fun (and usually harmless) entertainment for those of us who appreciated kook culture and the fringes of thought and reason? Sadly, those days are over. Now, as these ideas spread and infect so quickly across social platforms, they can undermine science, destroy trust, polarize us, and incite violence. As part of a research project "to understandwhy and how conspiracy theories persist and persevere over time on social media," sociologist Christine Abdalla Mikhaeil at the IÉSEG School of Management and colleagues outlined the four stages (https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/conspiracy-theories-how-social-media-can-help-them-spread-and-even-spark-violence/) of how conspiracy theories are embraced and then spread:

1. Identity confirmation: Users consult and view different types of content (via fora, mainstream media and social media) to actively verify and confirm their own views.

2. Identity affirmation: Individuals disassociate or pick selectively information from their original sources of information (mentioned above). In the case of "Pizzagate," conspiracy-minded users took pictures from the Clinton Foundation's support work in Haiti, created visual materials supporting supposed connections to a sex-trafficking ring, and then posted them on Reddit and 4chan. While obviously altered and taken out of context, the images were widely shared to promote the conspiracy theory.

3. Identity protection: Individuals safeguard their "informational environment" by actively seeking to discredit individuals or organizations that present contradictory evidence, for example with antagonistic or negative posts or comments.

4. Identity enactment: Individuals seek broader social approval from a more mainstream audience. This can also lead to efforts to recruit more people and call for violent actions, leveraging the community userbase.

"The 4 Stages of Conspiracy Theory Escalation on Social Media (http://the%204%20stages%20of%20conspiracy%20theory%20escalation%20on%20social%20media/)" (SciAm)

"Explaining online conspiracy theory radicalization: A second-order affordance for identity-driven escalation (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/isj.12427)" (Information Systems Journal)

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mma 8 23

WATTERS (HOST): Joe Biden visited the Grand Canyon today to designate it a national monument. This would be the 130th national monument, but as always is the case with Joe Biden, you have to follow the money. When you designate something as a national monument, you automatically stop all industrial and commercial activity in the area, meaning what Joe Biden's really doing is blocking mining activity on a million acres bordering the Grand Canyon. What kind of mining? Uranium mining. Now, why would Joe Biden block uranium mining?

...

So you have to ask, why Joe Biden, who says he's anti-Russia, is funding Russia's dangerous uranium monopoly that puts America's national security and energy independence at risk? Why is our Secretary of State Antony Blinken giving Rosatom execs visas to come speak in DC? Why is the only major Russian company that Biden left off the sanctions list Rosatom? Russia is not only using the billion dollars to fund the Ukraine war, they're modernizing their own nuke arsenal and pointing more lethal weapons at us.Russia's Rosatom's building nuclear reactors in Iran and helping China ramp up its nuke program.

So, instead of mining uranium here at home -- remember made in America Joe, union jobs Joe, no emissions Joe -- why wouldn't he starve this dirty Russian company of cash?It's like Keystone all over again. His entire energy policy favors Russia and China, why is that?

Well, does it have anything to do with the three and a half million dollars the Russians paid the Biden's? Or the Porsche Panamera that the Kazakhstanis gifted Hunter? Does it have anything to do with the three and half carat diamond that the Chinese slipped the first son? There's something very mysterious going on in the international uranium market that involves the Biden's and the Russians.

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an 8 23

~ bobby azorian sp

...Kennedy's candidacy also highlights the curious relationship between conspiracy theories and public interest.

Sometimes, when dialogue around conspiracy theories is suppressed, their allure only intensifies. Dismissing them out of hand can inadvertently make them more appealing to those who distrust authority or feel disaffected by mainstream narratives. Paradoxically, Kennedy's association with such theories, then, could work to his advantage. His position appeals to liberals intrigued by conspiracy theories — who exist in greater numbers than most Americans realize. In fact, a 2017 study (https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2017-35608-009) has shown that restricting communication in an attempt to enforce political correctness actually has the effect of increasing support for Donald Trump, and I imagine the same effect could be occurring right now and working in Kennedy’s favor.

It is also worth noting that most Americans are now aware of many of the real conspiracies from U.S. history that have been acknowledged by the government, such as MK-Ultra (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MKUltra), a 20-year CIA project that illegally experimented on humans with drugs such as LSD and inhumane psychological methods.

Or COINTELPRO (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COINTELPRO), another CIA program that used illegal methods to surveil, discredit and disrupt domestic American political organizations, such as the Black Panther movement.

Or the infamous Tuskegee experiment (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuskegee_Syphilis_Study), where Black men infected with syphilis were deceived and made to believe they were getting medical treatment when they were actually getting placebos — even though treatment was available. As a result, many of these people died completely unnecessarily, and knowledge of this is undoubtedly part of the cause for the current distrust of government and vaccines among the black community, and understandably so.

At least as great as the current distrust of government is the distrust of pharmaceutical companies, especially since shows like {Netflix’s }Painkiller (https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/what-is-painkiller-about) have brought the story of the opioid crisis to millions of Americans, who now understand the role that these corporations played in it out of pure greed. One could argue that it is rational to not trust the companies profiting massively from vaccines when they are the same ones who played a role in killing tens of thousands of people. It is puzzling that the government agencies in charge of educating the public about vaccines have done essentially nothing to address this issue and regain trust with citizens who have reason to be suspicious of motives based on history.

The implication here is far from straightforward: While most “conspiracy theories” are obviously false and potentially harmful, a blanket dismissal of all theories about conspiracies is obviously not the answer, and can lead to the opposite of the intended effect.

Instead, an open dialogue that acknowledges the existence of genuine conspiracies will be necessary to counteract the spread of dangerous misinformation about fact-free conspiracy theories. That’s what re-establishing trust will require, and we will have to embrace this messy subject and devise new educational solutions. Of course, this is easier said than done, because how is one supposed to determine which theories are bogus and which ones could be legitimate?

Just last week, a U.S. House committee conducted a hearing on UFOs where a former Department of Defense official testified (https://www.rawstory.com/ufo-uap-hearing-david-grusch/) that the government has found non-human “biologics” (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ufo-hearing-congress-uap-takeaways-whistleblower-conference-david-grusch-2023/) on crashed vehicles of unknown origins — and has worked to cover it up. With such stories coming out, whether they are true or not, the American public is undoubtedly very confused about what to believe, and how to appropriately apply skepticism when one simply can’t be sure of the truth. If one is not skeptical enough, they can become vulnerable to bogus theories. But if one is too skeptical, they can also become vulnerable to bogus theories, because of their extreme levels of doubt toward mainstream narratives.

What we need is a systematic approach to determining truth, and that can be provided by a method known to scientists and statisticians as Bayesian reasoning (https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/x7kL42bnATuaL4hrD/bayesian-reasoning-explained-like-you-re-five). The term sounds complex on the surface, but it can be applied in a $_{simple form}_$ (https://youtu.be/NEqHML98RgU) by anyone. This may be necessary, as studies have shown that the human brain tends to believe things as a default (https://www.thedailybeast.com/religious-fundamentalism-a-side-effect-of-lazy-brains) because it simply takes more mental effort and cognitive resources to reject something as untrue compared to just accepting it.

Looking ahead, it seems that RFK Jr. is here to stay, at least for the immediate future. His anti-establishment stance, coupled with a generally progressive worldview, provides an attractive option for voters disenchanted with mainstream politicians — including Biden — but reluctant to support Trump over his xenophobia, pathological lying and malignant narcissism.

As RFK Jr. carves his path through presidential politics, his journey serves as a testament to the unpredictability of the American electorate and the nuanced ways in which media narratives can shape public sentiment.

As the upcoming presidential race unfolds, Kennedy's campaign is likely to continue attracting interest and stirring dialogue around the themes of anti-establishment sentiment, conspiracy theories and media bias. We must confront these topics head on. If we don’t, the cancer that is unchecked misinformation will only continue to metastasize, undermining the very foundations of our democracy.

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7 23 nbo lnx

no lnx

'If I was the deep state': Pro-Trump activists release disturbing campaign ad

Brandon GageJuly 25, 2023

Conservative pollster Frank Luntzon Tuesday shared a disturbing digital campaign spot to Twitter's rebranded X that alleges a vast conspiracy orchestrated by "the deep state" to hoodwink the American people. The one-hundred-ten-second video — which concludes by crediting the "Dilley Meme Team" and former President Donald Trump's "online war machine" — contains sinister male-voiced narration declaring that most significant events and major domestic issues in recent memory were lies.

"This is the most alarming political ad I've seen this year," wrote Luntz, who urged users to post their reactions.

The project's ten proclamations are virtually indistinguishable from indicted criminal defendant Trump's grievance-saturated attempt to return to the White House:

If I was the deep state and I wanted todestroy America, I would rig the election with a puppet candidate, one that was so compromised that they would never say a word about it. I would create a false flag that allows for mail-in ballots. I would be in charge of the ballot-counting machines.I would create a false flag to blame all who question the results of the election.

If I was the deep state,I would prosecute anyone that went against me. I would sue and prosecute anyone that spoke up about the fraudulent election. I would use my powers to shut down all your internet businesses and bankrupt you.

If I was the deep state, I would make everyone an example why you should never question a Democrat ever winning an election. I would imprison my foes. I would use my corrupt das and blackmail judgesto destroy you. I would make sure all crimes I ever committed never happened. I would prosecute my biggest competition. I would make sure they could never run for office ever again.

If I was the deep state, I would convince everyone that Ukraine Nazis were good and women are men.

If I was the deep state, I would own every politician that mattered.

If I was the deep state, I wouldpush my pedophilia ambitions on you.

If I was the deep state, you'd question your sexual identity, but not the medical establishment.

If I was the deep state, you would fear to ever resist me.

If I was the deep state, you would wish I was really the devil.

If I was the deep state, I would say mission accomplished.

READ MORE: Robert Reich: A Trump loss in 2024 will show that Americans 'reject fascism' and cherish 'the rule of law'

Watch below or at this link.

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aha this is a conspiracy theory, single cause one simple motive eg greed (projection); plus sci/reality is inconvenient to gop; also ~ sino CCP, shield djt incompetence/fail?

Column: House Republicans give a crash course in how to concoct a conspiracy theory about COVID’s origin

covid origins

Virologists Robert Garry, left, and Kristian Andersen listen patiently at a Congressional hearing Tuesday as a gang of politicians tell them their scientific method was flawed. (House Oversight Committee)

BY MICHAEL HILTZIK

BUSINESS COLUMNIST

JULY 11, 2023

Opening Tuesday’s House subcommittee hearing on the origin of the COVID virus, the panel’schairman, Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio), promised an impartial inquiry.

“This is not an attack on science,” he said. “And it’s not an attack on an individual.”

He and his GOP colleagues proceeded over nearly three hours to accuse Dr. Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases — one of the most respected such scientists in the world — of having masterminded the creation of the virus, with the connivance of Dr. Francis Collins, then the director of the National Institutes of Health.

Misinformation, disinformation and conspiracy theories...have resulted in significant harassment and threats....Online there are so-called kill lists and I have found myself on those lists.

— Virological expert Kristian G. Andersen

The Republicans’ main “evidence,” such as it is, involves a seminal paper in the scientific study of the virus.

Published as a letter in the journal Nature Medicine on March 17, 2020, under the title “The Proximal Origin of SARS-CoV-2,” the paper weighed the two major theories of COVID’s origin: that it reached the human population from infected wildlife (known as zoonosis) or that it leaked from a government lab in Wuhan, China, the teeming metropolis where the first COVID outbreak occurred in late 2019.

Get the latest from Michael Hiltzik

Commentary on economics and more from a Pulitzer Prize winner.

The paper’s authors noted that all the features of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID, are observable in nature, coinciding with the zoonosis hypothesis. They added, “we do not believe that any type of laboratory-based scenario is plausible.”

For years, Republicans have asserted without a scintilla of evidence that Fauci and Collins manipulated the scientific consensus away from the lab-leak hypothesis.

Why have they seized on this theory? Its provenance may offer a clue: It flowered during the Trump administration among political appointees in the State Department, who saw it as a cudgel with which to beat the Chinese government, which they viewed as an economic threat to the U.S. It was also useful to undermine the authority of Fauci, whose skepticism about Trump’s COVID policies was manifest.

Security personnel stand guard outside the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan as members of the World Health Organization (WHO) team investigating the origins of the COVID-19 coronavirus make a visit to the institute in Wuhan in China's central Hubei province on February 3, 2021. (Photo by Hector RETAMAL / AFP) (Photo by HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via

Column: U.S. government debunks COVID lab-leak conspiracy theory, enraging conspiracy theorists

June 26, 2023

Soon enough, it became Republican orthodoxy.

Lab leak proponents in government and Congress have smeared and vilified Fauci and Collins, among other scientists, in the service of purely partisan claims, ignoring the utter absence of any scientific evidence for a lab leak and the mounting evidence that it first reached humans through interactions with susceptible animals being sold illegally at a wildlife market in Wuhan.

The foils for this phase of the GOP effort to construct an evidence-free narrative of COVID’s origin were two of the five authors of the “Proximal Origin” paper, Robert F. Garry of Tulane and Kristian G. Andersen of Scripps Research in La Jolla.

Garry and Andersen sat patiently at the witness table in the committee room as the Republican members used cherry-picked quotes from their emails, misrepresented their research findings and ignored their painstaking explanations of how science is done in the real world. They listened stoically to committee members — some of whom have medical degrees but none any evident expertise in scientific research — harangue them about supposed flaws in their scientific methods.

“We do know something for certain,” Westrup said: “that the drafting, coordination and publication of ‘Proximal Origin’ and downplaying the lab leak was antithetical to science.”

One low note among many others during the hearing came fromRep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas), who charged that “Dr. Anthony Fauci and Francis Collins realized that they had been implicated in the creation of production or the creation of this virus and they were doing everything they could including both of you to come on board as tools or vehicles to undermine that theory.”

Truth to tell, however, the committee majority’s purpose was no secret from the start. The hearing was titled, after all, “Investigating the Proximal Origin of a Cover Up.”

It may be useful to examine the path the subcommittee’s GOP majority traveled to come to its assertions that the Proximal Origin paper was a sham.

[Dr. Scott Atlas speaks as President Donald Trump looks on

BUSINESS

Column: These ‘experts’ sold the U.S. on a disastrous COVID plan, and never paid a professional price

May 23, 2023]

As laid out in written testimony submitted to the subcommittee by Garry and Andersen, it started in January 2020, when almost nothing was known about the virus and not much about its genomic family.

The first examinations of its structure revealed several features unfamiliar to virologists. At first glance, they looked like nothing occurring in nature. Many thought this pointed to some sort of laboratory engineering.

When Andersen brought this concern to Fauci during a call on Jan. 31, Fauci urged him to write a scientific paper about the issue, and suggested that if confirmed, the matter should be referred to the FBI and the British intelligence service MI5.

Jeremy Farrar, an infectious disease expert who is currently the chief scientist of the World Health Organization, convened a conference call on Feb. 1 among nine scientists, including Andersen and Garry. Fauci and Collins joined the call, but by all accounts merely listened in without contributing any opinions.

New data came to the scientific community in a torrent over the next few days and weeks. The unfamiliar features turned out to be more common in nature than many virologists had known, and the process by which they might become incorporated in SARS-CoV-2 progressively better understood.

By the end of February, when the authors of the Proximal Origin paper submitted an initial draft to Nature Medicine, they still did not have enough data to rule out either major theory but had become more certain that a laboratory role was plausible.

The subcommittee Republicans profess to be thunderstruck that a theory about COVID’s origin could be posed and discarded in the space of a few days, but Andersen and Garry tried to explain that they’re wrong.

The scientists started with no data, and incorporated new information into their viewpoints as it arrived. In any event, Andersen testified, the period between the conference and the publication of the paper wasn’t three days, as the Republicans kept insisting, but 45 days. Neither Fauci nor Collins played any role in guiding the authors’ conclusions, the witnesses said.

The published paper, moreover, made clear that the state of SARS-CoV-2 research was in its infancy. “More scientific data could swing the balance of evidence to favor one hypothesis over another,” the authors wrote.

[Column: How Trump’s anti-science meddling erased 3 years of crucial COVID research

May 12, 2023]

But its general conclusion that a lab leak is implausible and the virus probably emerged by natural spillover from animals “has only been further supported by additional evidence and studies,” Andersen told the subcommittee. He and Garry said that if evidence emerged supporting a lab leak, they would examine it objectively and be guided by their findings. As of this moment, there is none.

Under prompting by subcommittee Democrats, the witnesses pointed to the long-term consequences of the Republican efforts to foment mistrust of science by mainstreaming conspiracies.

“Misinformation, disinformation and conspiracy theories around the paper have resulted in significant harassment and threats,” Andersen said. “Including everything from typical targets on social media to emails, to telephone calls to my office ... to death threats.... Online there are so-called kill lists and I have found myself on those lists together with my co-authors.”

The thrust of the subcommittee’s claims, he said, “is that the virus was created and that American scientists played a role in that and have been covering that up.... All of which, as the record clearly shows, is false.... The focus has been that there’s a need to blame someone.”

What has been going on here has been nothing less than a partisan witch hunt. Westrup made clear that the Republican narrative was predetermined: “We’re examining any conflicts of interest, biases or suppression of scientific discourse regarding the origins of COVID-19,” he said. The record shows, however, that what occurred was the scientific method in action.

If the subcommittee members are truly devoted to protect Americans from a future pandemic, they couldn’t find a worse way to reach that goal. “If I was a future scientist, looking at the attacks directed at us, for example, maybe I wouldn’t go into infectious disease research.... It’s incredibly damaging,” Anderson said.

LATEST FROM MICHAEL HILTZIK

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Column: RFK Jr. gets around to blaming the Jews

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70% docs nothing new?

cia = deep state [maralago fbi]

https://www.alternet.org/media/tucker-carlson-jfk/

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comer witness fail --> deep state

https://www.alternet.org/send/nancy-mace- (https://www.alternet.org/send/nancy-mace-2662263070/)2662263070/ (tel:2662263070)

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rfk interview

https://www.alternet.org/roiling-with-conspiracy-theories/

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Eric Hananoki @ Media Matters (https://www.mediamatters.org/rumble/stew-peters-rothschilds-conspiracy-theory-oceangate-sub-was-sunk-hide-truth-it-wasnt-iceberg): Stew Peters’ Rothschilds conspiracy theory: OceanGate sub was sunk to hide truth “that it wasn’t an iceberg that sank the Titanic.”

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https://www.alternet.org/right-wing-media-2661654976/

an 6 23

NO lnx

mAGA Republicans can be highly disdainful of anything they consider "green," be it wind and solar power, recycling or electric vehicles. Now, some of them are raging against new electric cars for not including AM radio.

The Guardian's Katie Thornton reports that Volkswagen and Mazda are joining Volvo, Tesla, BMW and Audi in excluding AM radio from their electric cars. They view it as a technical matter, while Turning Point USA's Charlie Kirk, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and far-right radio host Mark Levin are saying it is a conspiracy against far-right talk radio.

Thornton, in a report for The Guardian published on June 21, notes that some companies "have already dispensed with AM in their electric cars, because AM's already unpolished reception is subject to even more buzz, crackling."

READ MORE: 'That's not appropriate': Fox News host slams Steve Bannon for attacking the right-wing media network

"While some manufacturers have found workarounds for the interference," Thornton explains, "others appear to have decided that it's not worth the engineering expense."

Levin is furious, telling listeners, "They finally figured out how to attack conservative talk radio." Similarly, Kirk, on his radio show, claimed, "Whether they're doing this intentionally or not, the consequence will be.… an all-out attack on AM radio."

Cruz claims, "There's a reason big car companies were open totaking down AM radio.… Let's be clear: big business doesn't like things that are overwhelmingly conservative."

Thornton delves into the history of radio in her article, noting that "in the 1920s, when AM was all there was, listeners would gather around neighborhood and living room radio sets to hear everything from music to boxing matches, soap operas, and presidential speeches." But in the 1960s, she adds, FM — thanks to its superior sound quality — "overtook AM as the band of choice."

READ MORE: 'Fox News in Spanish': The new right-wing media outlet courting Latino voters

"Many music stations deserted AM, leaving it floundering in lo-fi isolation and struggling to secure advertising dollars, until it found its salvation in talk radio,"Thornton observes. "Initially, there was a wide variety of political perspectives on AM, but the deregulation of content and consolidation of ownership of radio during the 1980s edged many minority voices and local owners off the air…. These days, AM radio is somewhat synonymous in the public imagination with conservative blowhards, a place where false claims about the 2020 election, racist notions of a 'Great Replacement' and other conspiracy theories fester and escape into the atmosphere without accountability."

Thornton continues, "Far-right programming is not only ubiquitous, it's monotonous.… But the idea that AM radio is made up of nothing more than conservative talk is a myth that has dangerous implications for the medium."

READ MORE: Revealed: The text that toppled Tucker Carlson

The Guardian's full report is available at this link.

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https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/fox-news-jesse-watters-claims-fbi-installed-joe-biden-president-intelligence-op-after

omg mm a 6 23

JESSE WATTERS (HOST): Powerful people installed Biden so that he can take orders, not give them. Joe Biden's been groomed his whole career to take orders. And now that he's literally slept his way to the top, they won't let him go anywhere. The FBI put their guy in the White House. "You think we're just going to, like, let voters decide if he should serve four more years? We can't afford to take that risk."

Joe Biden has been an intelligence op since he was vice president. One of the FBI's top informants, a guy with impeccable credentials, a great track record, reported an allegation that Joe Biden took a $5 million bribe -- right under Barack Obama's nose -- from a foreign national in exchange for a policy decision. They've been blackmailing Joe Biden with this for a decade. Well, until a whistleblower came forward. And now, James Comer wants the document released to Congress and the FBI's caught in a cover-up.

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recycled?

fbi 5 23 gubmint consp

https://www.alternet.org/mtg-slammed-honeypots-jan-6/ (https://www.alternet.org/mtg-slammed-honeypots-jan-6/)

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https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/worse-than-watergate-how-the-right-uses-disinformation-to-generate-outrage-and-conspiracy-theories/

last week, the right-wing Media Research Center released a report (https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/free-speech/luis-cornelio/2023/05/25/how-bidens-dhs-weaponizing-anti-terror-program-against) featuring the provocative title, “How Biden’s DHS Is Weaponizing an Anti-Terror Program Against Christians, Conservatives & the GOP.” As the title suggested, the report claimed that the federal government is “being used to target the entire spectrum of the political right and Christians,” specifically groups like “The Heritage Foundation, Fox News, Christian Broadcasting Network, Turning Point USA, PragerU, the National Rifle Association (NRA), Breitbart News, the American Conservative Union Foundation and the Republican National Committee.”

The central claim of the report is false, but it has proved irresistible to the right-wing political and media machine that thrives on generating bogus narratives about the supposed political persecution of conservatives.

The report focused on a grant made by the Department of Homeland Security through its “Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention Grant Program (https://www.dhs.gov/tvtpgrants),” which provides funding to local governments, nonprofit organizations, and institutions of higher education “to establish or enhance capabilities to prevent targeted violence and terrorism.”

One of the recipients of a TVTP grant was the University of Dayton, which MRC alleged then used the funding to launch a program known as “PREVENTS-OH,” through which it allegedly held a seminar linking mainstream conservative organizations to neo-Nazi groups.

The University of Dayton used grants from TVTP to create the infamous PREVENTS-OH (https://udayton.edu/blogs/udhumanrights/2023/2023-5-11-preventsohstudent.php#::text=Funded%20by%20a%20grant%20from,process%20of%20radicalization%20to%20violence.) program, which in turn hosted a series of events that maliciously equated mainstream organizations with neo-nazis and other extremist hate groups.

One of the first PREVENTS-OH events was a seminar called “Extremism, Rhetoric, and Democratic Precarity (https://web.archive.org/web/20220122121518/https://ecommons.udayton.edu/human_rights/2021/rhetoric/).” The seminar featured analysis from several so-called extremism experts who recklessly tied conservatives, Christians and Republicans to genocide and terrorism. Among the speakers were DHS Agent Joseph “J.R.” Masztalics (https://sites.ed.gov/whhbcu/files/2022/01/CP3-Field-Ops-Contact-Sheet_9.28.21.pdf) a Regional Prevention Coordinator at CP3—who appeared in his official capacity at the event—and University of Cincinnati researcher Michael Loadenthal (https://www.peacejusticestudies.org/speaker/dr-michael-loadenthal/), a self-proclaimed member of a radical, anti-American Antifa (https://youtu.be/mc6tFQMnL14) group.

During the seminar, Loadenthal shared an outrageous Pyramid of Far-Right Radicalization (https://youtu.be/nRbXNvwSROE?t=1969)” that he claimed depicts the “modern far-right” and extremism in America.

Among the organizations and movements displayed on the pyramid were the Republican Party (RNC), The Heritage Foundation, the American Conservative Union, Fox News, Breitbart News, the National Rifle Association (NRA), PragerUniversity, Tea Party Patriots, the MAGA (Make America Great Again) movement, the pro-police Blue Lives Matter movement and the Christian Broadcasting Network.

Also on the pyramid, as if somehow comparable to the aforementioned reputable organizations and movements, were rabidly hateful groups like the militant neo-Nazi gang The Base (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-guns-rally-the-base-factbox/who-is-u-s-neo-nazi-group-the-base-idUSKBN1ZF2LU) and pro-Nazi publicationThe Daily Stormer (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-guns-rally-the-base-factbox/who-is-u-s-neo-nazi-group-the-base-idUSKBN1ZF2LU).

Right-wing (https://nypost.com/2023/05/25/dhs-funded-college-program-tying-fox-nra-rnc-to-neo-nazis/) media (https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/dhs-sponsored-university-program-lumps-republicans-and-christians-in-with-neo-nazis/) outlets (https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/dhs-funds-terrorism-prevention-program-conservatives-white-supremacists) immediately (https://www.tpusa.com/live/breaking-dhs-anti-terrorism-program-used-to-demonize-conservative-organizations-tpusa) seized (https://washingtonstand.com/news/biden-admin-rewards-group-that-linked-cbn-to-neonazis) upon the “outrageous” Pyramid of Far-Right Radicalization to allege that the Biden administration is using the TVTP grant program to “target” conservatives.

MRC’s founder and president Brent Bozell appeared on (https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/free-speech/luis-cornelio/2023/05/26/bozell-charlie-kirk-weaponized-biden-dhs-youre-not-going) TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk’s podcast last Friday to demand a “criminal investigation” into the grant....[vid]

There has to be, I think, a criminal investigation into what the Department of Homeland Security is doing with federal funds, weaponizing the most radical left-wing government in the history of this nation to shut down anybody who doesn’t toe the narrative with them,” Bozell declared. “That includes the Republican Party, that includes the conservative movement, and that now includes Christians.”

Kirk readily agreed that “this is a smoking gun” and declaring that the supposed scandal is “worse than Watergate.”

Unfortunately for Kirk, Bozell, and the rest of the right-wing movement, the central component of MRC’s report is wrong.

As the links contained in MRC’s own report make clear, the seminar (https://ecommons.udayton.edu/human_rights/2021/rhetoric/) at which the Pyramid of Far-Right Radicalization was shown took place in December 2021. The University of Dayton did not receive the TVTP grant until September 2022 (https://udayton.edu/news/articles/2022/09/dhs_grant_human_rights_center.php).

The university then used the grant to launch its PREVENTS-OH program, meaning that MRC’s assertion that “the University of Dayton used grants from TVTP to create the infamous PREVENTS-OH program, which in turn hosted a series of events that maliciously equated mainstream organizations with neo-nazis and other extremist hate groups” could not possibly be true.

Even Fox News essentially debunked MRC’s allegations in an article (https://www.foxnews.com/politics/university-program-linking-christians-republicans-nazis-granted-dhs-funds-part-anti-terror-initiative) that nevertheless blindly echoed those claims.

According to DHS, the University of Dayton was not a TVTP grantee at the time of the seminar and received a grant the following year — when the department was already aware of what was presented at the event. A DHS spokesperson told Fox News Digital that the award was unrelated to the seminar and rejected the notion that it supports any form of discrimination.

“This seminar was not funded, organized, or hosted by the Department of Homeland Security,” the spokesperson said. “Similarly, the presented chart was not developed, presented, or endorsed by the Department of Homeland Security,and was not part of any successful grant application to the Department of Homeland Security.DHS does not profile, target, or discriminate against any individual for exercising their constitutional rights protected by the First Amendment.”

The University of Dayton similarly described the seminar as being separate from the PREVENTS-OH program.

“The speakers at the programs referred to in the Media Research Center’s report are from the University of Dayton Human Rights Center’s Social Practice of Human Rights Conference in the fall of 2021, which had no affiliation with and predates PREVENTS-OH,” the university told Fox News Digital in a statement. “The University of Dayton Human Rights Center received its PREVENTS-OH grant in the fall of 2022 and, to date, its community awareness events and dialogues have focused on all forms of domestic terrorism, targeted violence, and extremism. As we stated when awarded the grant, ‘We look forward to partnering with Ohioans throughout the Miami Valley across all political and social affiliations and sectors of the community.'”

On top of that, the Pyramid of Far-Right Radicalization image has been around since at least 2019 (https://twitter.com/ironfrontusa/status/1162520398501691392), and clearly states that the institutions listed on the lower tiers are mainstream conservative organizations. In fact, the researcher who used the image, Michael Loadenthal, said as much (https://youtu.be/nRbXNvwSROE&t=1969s) in his presentation, making clear that his focus was on the dangerous extremist groups “on the top tier."

[vid]

loadenthal likewise explained this to Fox News (https://www.foxnews.com/politics/university-program-linking-christians-republicans-nazis-granted-dhs-funds-part-anti-terror-initiative):

According to Loadenthal, the MRC is “misinterpreting and misrepresenting” the diagram as well as his role with it. He sent Fox News Digital a full copy of the image, which included text underneath the pyramid describing the bottom tier with the GOP, the NRA, and the Heritage Foundation as “mainstream conservatism.”

“The chart is meant to show that what is termed ‘the right’ is not monolithic and that some individuals travel to a path of radicalization, beginning with more mainstream sources,” said Loadenthal. “This point is not controversial nor is it deterministic; it is NOT meant to imply that engaging with level 1 inherently leads to level 4. That would obviously be false.”

When the pyramid was presented at the seminar, the text at the bottom was not visible. However, Loadenthal’s notes visible on the screen of the slideshow to the right of the image provide an abbreviated version of the text.

“So today we’re talking about the modern far-right, which depending on who you ask, can include things as mundane as the Heritage Foundation, all the way up to underground cells of militants,” the on-screen text reads. “I like the use of this 4-part taxonomy, although I disagree with some of the groups’ placements.”

Loadenthal also noted that he did not create the pyramid, telling Fox News Digital that he believes it was authored around 2018 — the upper left corner attributes the image to two scholars, McCauley and Moslalenko. “I found it a helpful conceptual scaffolding and used it,” he said.

Despite the fact that MRC’s report was basically debunked right out of the gate, that hasn’t stopped right-wing activists from using it to spin wild conspiracy theories, During Friday’s episode (https://rumble.com/v2q7ji2-wrongthink-5.26.23-3pm-is-the-biden-regime-funding-antifa.html) of her “WrongThink” program, right-wing commentator Anna Perez baselessly alleged that the Biden administration is using the TVTP grant program to “radicalize the youth and turn them into a paramilitary organization” that will attack conservatives. [vid]

"You know what this program is really for?” Perez said. “It’s so that the Biden administration can radicalize the youth and turn them into a paramilitary organization. … He is literally creating more members of antifa by implementing this program, that is why it exists. This program is literally meant to fund antifa.”

This entire saga provides a case study in how the right-wing movement works to generate “controversy” out of thin air, first by misrepresenting basic facts in order to generate outrage, and then using that outrage to gin up wild conspiracy theories. And the fact that the central component of this entire “controversy” is false will not, in any way, stop right-wing activists from continually repeating itin order to generate ever more outrage.

Tags: Anna Perez (https://www.rightwingwatch.org/people/anna-perez/) Brent Bozell (https://www.rightwingwatch.org/people/brent-bozell/) Charlie Kirk (https://www.rightwingwatch.org/people/charlie-kirk/) Media Research Center (https://www.rightwingwatch.org/organizations/media-research-center/)

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5 23

https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/fox-news-miranda-devine-suggests-january-6-pipe-bombs-were-false-flag-operation (https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/fox-news-miranda-devine-suggests-january-6-pipe-bombs-were-false-flag-operation

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https://www.mediamatters.org/tiktok/climate-change-conspiracy-theory-about-cataclysmic-changes-earths-magnetic-field-goes-viral

mma 5 23 no vid

joe Rogan’s podcast is fueling a bizarre TikTok conspiracy theory that falsely attributes climate change impacts to cyclical changes in Earth’s magnetic field, seemingly violating the app’s new climate misinformation policy.

The conspiracy theory’s viral spread on the platform highlights TikTok’s persistent climate misinformation problem, even as it has begun implementing a new policy (https://newsroom.tiktok.com/en-us/earth-day-2023) banning content that “undermines well-established scientific consensus, such as denying the existence of climate change or the factors that contribute to it.”

Inspired by the January 18 episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, content creators have latched onto claims made in a pseudoscientific book called The Adam and Eve Story: The History of Cataclysms. (Along with pushing the cataclysmic pole hypothesis, the book claims (https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6947201/Jesus-scholar-lived-India-book-classified-CIA-claims.html) that Jesus Christ lived in India for nearly 18 years and was abducted by aliens in a “space vehicle” after his crucifixion.)

Between January and April, Media Matters identified seven viral clips from the Joe Rogan Experience episode discussing the conspiracy theory, which garnered over 20 million cumulative views on TikTok. The videos feature clips of Rogan discussing the book with “independent researcher” Jimmy Corsetti, who runs the YouTube channel Bright Insight (https://www.youtube.com/@BrightInsight), and Ben van Kerkwyk, who runs the channel UnchartedX (https://www.youtube.com/@UnchartedX).

Joe Rogan keeps platforming conspiracy theorists and skeptics of human-caused climate change, driving misinformation

In the January 18 episode (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4005364) of The Joe Rogan Experience, the host brought up “the Adam and Eve” theory and asked Corsetti, “How much of that is agreed upon, that there could be a time where the magnetic poles actually shift?”

Corsetti replied that “This is science,” explaining, “The Adam and Eve Story", the theory on that is that it happens in cycles of 6,500 years and that it’s a 90-degree flip, but six days later, around the seventh day, it corrects itself.” He continued to describe “a planet flip, 90 degrees, and that because of it the Earth essentially does a standstill, the sun will be direct — will basically stay in the same spot, causing heating like we’ve never experienced — and that the wind and the waters continue with their momentum, because essentially the wind travels at approximately 1,000 miles an hour at the equator, so the theory is that when that event happens it’s going to be cataclysmic.:

[vid]

corsetti’s nonsensical explanation was widely shared on TikTok, with one viral clip receiving nearly 11 million views (https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRK5KNVQ/).

In reality, NASA reports that pole reversals (https://climate.nasa.gov/explore/ask-nasa-climate/3104/flip-flop-why-variations-in-earths-magnetic-field-arent-causing-todays-climate-change/#::text=Paleomagnetic%20records%20tell%20us%20Earth's,the%20past%20160%20million%20years.), when Earth’s North and South Poles swap locations — which “take place over hundreds to thousands of years,” not a mere seven days— have occurred “183 times in the last 83 million years, and at least several hundred times in the past 160 million years.” Notably:

Plant and animal fossils from the period of the last major pole reversal don’t show any big changes. Deep ocean sediment samples indicate glacial activity was stable. In fact, geologic and fossil records from previous reversals show nothing remarkable, such as doomsday events or major extinctions.

Additionally, there's “no evidence” that any magnetic excursion event (periods of “shorter-lived but significant changes in the magnetic field’s intensity”) has impacted the Earth’s climate within the last 2.8 million years. Scientists aren’t sure when the next pole reversal will occur, but a recent study (https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/earths-magnetic-poles-probably-arent-flip-scientists-say-rcna35673) suggests that won’t be anytime soon. And if it is, a doomsday scenario is unlikely.

Corsetti acknowledged this but claimed that scientists “don’t know what they’re talking about.”

Rogan has previously drawn criticism (https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/jordan-peterson-joe-rogan-interview-climate-change-1290696/) for leveraging his massive reach and influence to amplify climate denial, and his podcast has catered to guests such as Michael Shellenberger (https://ogjre.com/episode/1719-michael-shellenberger) and Bjorn Lomborg (https://ogjre.com/episode/1896-bjrn-lomborg), who use cherry-picked (https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/right-wing-medias-favorite-climate-contrarians-go-fox-shows-bash-bidens-climate-plan) and decontextualized talking points to downplay the devastating impacts of climate change and to attack climate solutions.He has also hosted figures who downright deny the fact that fossil fuel consumption is driving climate change, such as (https://www.mediamatters.org/climate-deniers/right-wing-media-are-having-field-day-physicist-steve-koonins-new-book-climate) Steve Koonin (https://ogjre.com/episode/1776-steven-e-koonin), Jordan Peterson (https://www.mediamatters.org/climate-deniers/jordan-peterson-put-master-class-climate-denial-joe-rogans-podcast), and Randall Carlson (https://www.mediamatters.org/joe-rogan-experience/already-embroiled-controversy-spotifys-joe-rogan-platforms-another-serial), who has appeared on the podcast at least six times and said that carbon dioxide is not driving global warming (https://youtu.be/rbC5KyBEUhY) and that natural factors” are more responsible than human (https://youtu.be/OK-Gf7L4_DA)actions.

In their discussion of The Adam and Eve Story, Rogan and his guests also downplayed (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4005397) the impacts of climate change that millions of people are experiencing and praised Donald Trump for suggesting that the Earth is actually cooling.

“Right now we should be grateful that it’s nice and cozy because we can live when it’s warm,” Corsetti said.

Rogan then cited r Carlson, saying, “Global warming’s not scary. It’s global cooling, that’s what’s really scary.” The host further suggested that climate change is “ this narrative that just gets repeated over and over and over and this fearmongering and everyone gets freaked out. It’s not to say that we aren’t polluting, we certainly are, and it’s not to say that we shouldn’t improve, we certainly should, but if the fucking magnetic poles might shift and we might get hit by a giant rock from space, we might have bigger problems. If we’re going to be concentrating on nonsense, which is really par for the course with human beings, we’re going to be concentrating on these things we’re really not going to fix over the short-term, when something might happen that makes all of it a moot point.”

Media Matters also identified two (https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRKSTxAY/) viral clips (https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRKAMSSx/) of this exchange on TikTok with 2 million and 2.6 million views, respectively.

What is The Adam and Eve Story?

The book was written in 1965 by Chan Thomas, who worked in the aerospace industry and claimed to be a psychic. The book was not available to the public until 2013, however, when 57 pages were released (https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP79B00752A000300070001-8.pdf) by the CIA, and this censorship has captured (https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/weird-news/jesus-easter-cia-files-chan-17125304) the imaginations of conspiracy theorists. Since its declassification, The Adam and Eve Story has worked its way into the broader conspiracy theory ecosystem.

Thomas argued that the Earth’s magnetic poles shift every several thousand years, causing cataclysmic events such as tsunamis that destroy civilizations and drastically alter Earth’s geology — one example he used was the flood in the Noah’s Ark narrative in the Bible’s Book of Genesis. Chan predicted that such an event would occur in the near future, and some are now framing increasingly extreme weather events such as hurricanes, floods, and droughts as evidence that the next cataclysm is approaching.

A TikTok account for a podcast called No Regulars posted a March 1 video (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4005395) that has been viewed nearly 18 million times in which host Darris Watkins says that the book’s explanation of cataclysmic magnetic pole shifts actually “makes sense” in describing climate change and “explains a lot” because “the Sahara desert used to be green and like Antarctica used to have forests … So now like some places turn cold, some places turn hot.[pix?]

the popularity of these conspiracy theories among TikTok users may indicate one way that climate misinformation is evolving to reach young people.

Climate misinformation disguised as ancient civilization conspiracy theories

At the time Thomas wrote The Adam and Eve Story, the public at large was not informed of the consequences of anthropogenic climate change. Despite fossil fuel companies being aware of the potential for human-caused global warming as early as the 1950s (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-018-0349-9), people weren’t yet experiencing the ecological effects of increasing temperatures. But when the book was declassified in 2013, it was released into a world grappling with the dire effects of climate change.

While it was not written to provide an alternative explanation for climate change, The Adam and Eve Story provides a framework for interpreting its effects outside of an anthropogenic explanation. This narrative, which shifts blame away from our fossil fuel economy onto planetary forces beyond human control, can serve as climate misinformation.

Rogan’s guests and other proponents of this conspiracy theory purport to be interested in its ramifications for scientific understanding of ancient civilizations, but climate misinformation often serves as a backdrop for their discussions. At one point in their interview, Rogan suggested (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/4005467) “that there was incredibly sophisticated technology that existed and … was wiped out. And that we’re talking about a really advanced civilization that lived a long time ago that’s more advanced than we are today but moved in a different direction, like we moved in the direction of combustion engines and electronics and they moved in some other direction but achieved maybe many thousands of years more sophistication in that direction than we have with our internal combustion engines.”

While climate change may not take center stage in these speculations, the implications that humans are not having any influence over our warming planet and that near-apocalyptic events are always inevitable as a result of natural cycles in the Earth’s magnetic field are nonetheless harmful misinformation that lets politicians and fossil fuel companies off the hook for their role in the climate crisis. (Meanwhile, the world’s biggest oil and gas companies just raked in record first-quarter profits (https://heated.world/p/putting-big-oils-profits-in-perspective).)

Cataclysm narratives as climate sedatives

Narratives that frame climate change as an inevitable disaster caused by forces beyond our control are a key argument of climate denial: If climate change is caused by changes in the Earth’s magnetic field, then there is no point in implementing sweeping action to curtail fossil fuel emissions. In the past, the Earth’s orbit (https://www.reuters.com/article/factcheck-nasa-climate/fact-check-nasa-did-not-announce-that-climate-change-is-only-driven-by-variations-to-earths-orbital-position-relative-to-the-sun-idUSL1N2YO23I), the sun (https://climate.nasa.gov/faq/14/is-the-sun-causing-global-warming/#::text=No.,enough%20for%20us%20to%20survive.), and cosmic rays (https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/cosmic-rays-not-causing-climate-change/#::text=They%20found%20a%20small%20correlation,cosmic%20rays%20and%20cloud%20formation) have all similarly been used to provide alternative explanations for climate change.

There is overwhelming scientific consensus that climate change is caused by burning fossil fuels. The only way to avert increasing social, political, and ecological effects of climate change is by transitioning away from a fossil fuel economy.

Despite its appearance as a conspiracy theory about ancient civilizations,The Adam and Eve Story is being used to undermine the scientific consensus regarding the cause of climate change. As TikTok ramps up the enforcement of its new climate misinformation policy, the platform should account for the ways climate denial is often incorporated into seemingly harmless conspiracy theories.

Finally, Spotify still has no clear policy regarding the promotion of climate misinformation on its platform. Spotify reportedly paid $200 million (https://www.businessinsider.com/spotify-paid-200-million-for-joe-rogan-experience-podcast-report-2022-2) for exclusive rights to Rogan’s show, which was the top podcast (https://www.forbes.com/sites/marisadellatto/2022/11/30/the-joe-rogan-experience-was-spotifys-top-podcast-despite-protests-about-him-being-on-the-platform/?sh=20178b8f4f52)on its platform in 2022. As Rogan’s contract is expected to expire (https://www.theverge.com/2023/4/25/23697866/spotify-overpay-fears-podcasts-siriusxm-own-renewal-tom-brady-ai) in 2023, Spotify will have to decide whether platforming his misinformation and hate speech (https://www.mediamatters.org/joe-rogan-experience/joe-rogan-wrapped-year-covid-19-misinformation-right-wing-myths-and-anti-trans) is worth the profit.

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mma 4 23 plot to make us buy fat pills

on watters

RACHEL CAMPOS-DUFFY (HOST): Pandemic would have been a really great time to scare America back into shape. We learned early on that one of the biggest predictors of COVID-related deaths was obesity.

But what did Democrats do? They shut down the playgrounds, gyms, and they forced you to stay in your house and order takeout. Instead of focusing on our health, America put on the pandemic equivalent of the freshman 15.

...

If her response sounds strange, this might put some of the missing pieces together. Dr. Stanford has taken thousands of dollars from pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk which manufactures the miracle weight loss drug Ozempic. Can you say conflict of interest?

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https://www.alternet.org/2022/06/tucker-carlson

gubmint anti-dep

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https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/another-far-right-group-was-posting-conspiracy-theories-about-voter-roll-program-as-red-states-cut-ties

tpm 4 23

as Republican-led states pull out of a multistate voter roll program in response to Gateway Pundit-pushed conspiracy theories about the organization, a conservative nonprofit was apparently also part of fanning the flames.

Judicial Watch, a far-right legal advocacy group, published a white paper in early March boosting erroneous claims about the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), a bipartisan program designed to maintain voter rolls across state lines.

The paper, which the non-profit reupped on their website Friday, sought to legitimize debunked claims made by the far-right website Gateway Pundit last year, which falsely argued that ERIC was founded by “left-leaning attorney David Becker” and funded by GeorgeSoros.

Judicial Watch claims that Becker had a “history of left-wing activism and unethical conduct,” and that ERIC “shares the vast amount of sensitive personal data it receives from member states with another liberal non-profit, the Center for Election Innovation and Research,” which they linked to the “Zuckerbucks (https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/conspiracy-theories-voter-fraud-glossary-ballot-trafficking-zuckerbucks)” controversy, another election-related conspiracy theory.

Becker did help a handful of states launch the non-partisan program with a group called the Pew Charitable Trusts in 2012, but Soros never directly contributed to ERIC.Becker has sat on ERIC’s board as a non-voting ex-officio member since its founding, but on March 14 he announced (https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/founder-of-voter-roll-maintenance-program-leaves-board-after-onslaught-of-far-right-conspiracy-theories) that he would be vacating the position due to the conspiracy theories about his role that were being pushed by the right-wing media.

The Judicial Watch report was originally published on March 9, three days after Florida Secretary of State Cord Byrd (R) announced (https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/election-deniers-have-a-new-target-in-big-lie-crusade-a-non-profit-that-does-voter-roll-maintenance) that his state would be withdrawing from the program alongside Missouri and West Virginia. That afternoon, former president Donald Trump attacked ERIC on Truth Social as well:

“All Republican Governors should immediately pull out of ERIC, the terrible Voter Registration System that ‘pumps the rolls’ for Democrats and does nothing to clean them up,” he wrote (https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/109977658422141728). “It’s a fools game for Republicans…”

On March 10, Texas officials also signaled (https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/as-election-deniers-target-a-voter-roll-maintenance-program-texas-may-be-next-state-to-withdraw) their interest in leaving the program, and they’ve since drawn up legislation (https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/texas-gop-proposes-bill-to-allow-sec-of-state-to-overturn-election-results-in-states-largest-blue-county) to do so. Ohio and Iowa announced (https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/two-more-red-states-leave-voter-roll-maintenance-program-attacked-by-far-right) their departures on March 17.

ERIC executive director Shane Hamlin posted an open letter (https://ericstates.org/an-open-letter/) on March 2 trying to bat down misinformation about the program, but it didn’t stop what would become a wave of red state officials cutting ties with the program.

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4 23 rww

a so-called “15-minute city” is a concept (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/15-minute_city) in urban planning that seeks to create urban areas in which the daily necessities of life—education, work, shopping, health care, leisure—are accessible via a 15-minute walk or bike ride from any point within the city. The 15-minute city concept is also a target (https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/01/world/europe/15-minute-city-conspiracy.html) for (https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-15-minute-city-conspiracy-162fd388f0c435a8289cc9ea213f92ee) conspiracy theorists (https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/26/world/15-minute-cities-conspiracy-theory-climate-intl/index.html), so naturally former Rep. Michele Bachmann has gone all in on spreading baseless conspiracies about the idea.

On Wednesday night, Bachmann, who now serves as dean (https://www.regent.edu/news/regent-university-names-michele-bachmann-as-dean-of-the-robertson-school-of-government/) of the School of Government at Pat Robertson’s Regent University,appeared on a World Prayer Network livestream (https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?ref=watch_permalink&v=1199686674055995), where she baselessly claimed that 15-minute cities are really an “electronic leash” designed to prevent anyone from traveling more than 15 minutes away from their homes.

“The 15-minute city is a planned city, a planned community:{ where people are allowed to travel by foot 15 minutes from their house,” Bachmann } claimed (https://youtu.be/RqGUTA9IuQo):{. “}::{So, it’s really a leash, an electronic leash. You see where this QR code comes in on our phones; this contains people to an area that is no more than 15 minutes from home.”}:

“These are so-called smart cities where individuals will be tracked and traced and surveilled, and we can move about freely within 15 minutes from home,” she continued. “In the former Soviet Union, their people were allowed to go 50 miles from home—any further, they had to get permission of the government—so this is a move of totalitarianism, where there’s a limitation on freedom of movement. In the United States government under our Constitution, every American has the right to travel, so this is clearly an unconstitutional move." [vid]

the World Prayer Network is an outgrowth of a prayer movement (https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/this-is-a-coup-michele-bachmann-baselessly-blames-the-left-for-storming-the-u-s-capitol-stealing-the-georgia-election/) that began in the wake of the 2020 presidential election, when religious-right activists began to gather together several times (https://twitter.com/RightWingWatch/status/1336026704842788867) a week to pray (https://twitter.com/RightWingWatch/status/1325811083492401152) for God to intervene (https://twitter.com/RightWingWatch/status/1334887896688549889) and overturn the results. Founded by (https://wellversedworld.org/about-wpn) right-wing activists Jim Garlow and Mario Bramnick, the World Prayer Network livestreams have since become a conduit for the promotion of wild conspiracy theories (https://twitter.com/RightWingWatch/status/1641483907907432451), many of them spread by Bachmann, who is a regular (https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/michele-bachmann-claims-a-fog-of-delusion-is-preventing-americans-from-realizing-the-2022-elections-were-rigged/) participant (https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/michele-bachmann-says-the-election-was-a-coup-and-h-r-1-will-forever-cement-democratic-control/).

Tags: Michele Bachmann (https://www.rightwingwatch.org/people/michele-bachmann/) World Prayer Network (https://www.rightwingwatch.org/organizations/world-prayer-network/)

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4 23 rww

Tags: Michele Bachmann (https://www.rightwingwatch.org/people/michele-bachmann/) World Prayer Network (https://www.rightwingwatch.org/organizations/world-prayer-network/)

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https://www.mediamatters.org/charlie-kirk/charlie-kirks-conspiratorial-fearmongering-and-retaliatory-fantasies-reach-dangerous

no lnx many vids

Charlie Kirk's conspiratorial fearmongering and retaliatory fantasies reach a dangerous new level

Kirk: "We are living in an enemy-occupied country. They have taken over the government and we have to think as dissidents.”

WRITTEN BY SOPHIE LAWTON & JACK WHEATLEY

PUBLISHED 04/03/23

In late March, Turning Point USA’s Charlie Kirk repeatedly told his audience that they must take action against a demonic and tyrannical force that is targeting them for their conservative political views. While Kirk is no stranger to extreme rhetoric, his noticeably more incendiary and alarmist rhetoric is primarily in response to three news stories from the past week — the March 27 school shooting in Nashville, Tennessee; recent reports that the IRS visited the home of journalist Matt Taibbi; and the March 30 indictment of former President Donald Trump by a New York grand jury.

Trump indictment

As reports of Trump’s indictment in New York emerged on March 30, Kirk held a special livestream to speculate about the news and reasoning behind the sealed charges. Kirk claimed that the indictment is a distraction from the shooting in Nashville and is actually a “designed campaign” to goad conservatives into violence. Kirk stated, “They would love nothing more than for people to act uncharacteristic. They need to try to incite you to right-wing violence to justify their mass takeover of the country.”

Kirk also called for retribution against his political opponents, who he claimed are “acting like Stalinists,” and said “we must make them pay a price and a penalty” by indicting Democrats. “They crossed the Rubicon,” Kirk claimed. “They have declared quote-unquote the Roman Civil War.”

Video

CitationFrom the March 30, 2023, edition of Real America's Voice's The Charlie Kirk Show

As a guest on Thursday night’s edition ofThe Ingraham Angleon Fox News, Kirk took to spreading more conspiracy theories following the news of Trump’s indictment. Kirk again insinuated that the left and the “national security state” are “almost trying to incite the American conservative community to act uncharacteristic” and carry out right-wing violence which, in turn, would be used to presuppose the creation of “a Patriot Act 2.0, and that could then further justify their power grab across the country.”

Later on in the segment, Kirk claimed that Trump’s indictment was an act of revenge by those still upset over his election in 2016, saying that “it seems as if there is this bloodthirsty appetite and desire at the highest level of the Democrat eliteto quote-unquote get Trump.” Kirk went on to claim there’s a “kind of Stalinization of the American criminal justice system” that he hopes independent and moderate voters will recognize before the upcoming presidential race. Fox host Laura Ingraham agreed and added, “It’s like Stalin’s purges, right? That’s what we’re seeing.”

Addressing his audience the day following Trump’s indictment, Kirk said the only way to “bring the country together” and “heal” is for conservatives “to win,” then told his listeners that winning will include “a lot of our side going to jail, a lot of their side going to jail.” Kirk reminded his audience to stay peaceful though quickly reverted to inflammatory rhetoric, saying, “The country we grew up in has ended, a new country is born. Who’s going to control it? If we want it, we can win.”

In the same March 31 episode, while introducing an interview withDonald Trump Jr., Kirk told his listeners, “You should be angry today. And this is a time for action, and this a time to realize that the country we love has slipped away and we have to get it back.”

Video From the March 31, 2023, edition of The Charlie Kirk Show

Nashville school shooting

In the wake of the tragic school shooting in Nashville on March 27, Kirk unleashed vile attacks on the LGBTQ community following police reports that the shooter was transgender.

On his March 28 show, Kirk claimed that activists are becoming “trans jihadists” in the name of “this lie of a quote-unquote trans genocide” adding that “people think they’re on kind of a holy crusade.” He said that “there’s a lot of violent fantasies, unfortunately, among the trans radicals,” and went on to specifically blame the transgender community for the tragic attack in Nashville, claiming that they have “a violent undercurrent that tragically manifested in three dead kids and three dead teachers yesterday.” (Labeling all transgender people as violent is a common anti-trans trope.)

In his Tuesday episode with guest and Pizzagate conspiracy theorist Jack Posobiec, Kirk read a statement from a group called the Trans Resistance Network referencing the shooting in Nashville and claimed the group “is blaming us, is blaming Michael Knowles, blaming Matt Walsh, blaming Jack Posobiec, blaming all of us for the massacre of children.”

After discussing the Nashville shooting again on his March 29 podcast, Kirk told his audience, “The trans movement is almost on a jihad.They have been told that people like us want them deadand I’m afraid they’re on some sort of unholy crusade,” adding, “We have to stop it immediately.”

Supposed IRS targeting

IRS agents reportedly made a recent house call to Substack journalist Matt Taibbi, according to a statement from Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Republicans on the House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government based on Taibbi’s own claims. Kirk told his audience that the supposed IRS visit to Taibbi was just the beginning of a “targeted campaign to chill speech” and that the government will be visiting “Real America’s Voice listeners and viewers, grassroots conservatives” first. Kirk called the visit “Stalinistic, Maoist behavior from the Biden regime.”

After once again referring to the IRS visiting Taibbi as “the Stalinization of America” during his March 29 show, Kirk called it “full outright Gestapo behavior.” He then told his audience that “we are living in an enemy-occupied country. They have taken over the government and we have to think as dissidents.”

Video From the March 29, 2023, edition of The Charlie Kirk Show

Kirk’s fearmongering about the government targeting “political enemies,” specifically conservatives, included claiming that “the IRS is one of the most dangerous” and “powerful government agencies that is able to ruin your life,” telling his audience that “political force” will be used to “try and crush you.”

Kirk also suggested the government planned the IRS visit to scare Taibbi out of testifying against “the liberal quote-unquote street gang,” claiming, “If you want out, they beat you up, they kill you.” Kirk questioned, “You have to wonder did somebody plan the IRS visit so Matt Taibbi would reveal his sources? Did they do the house call to his front door the day he was going to testify for the purpose that he would break? Was it the equivalent of waking up with a horse’s head in your bed, how the mob used to operate?”

Other extremist comments

On his March 29 podcast with guest Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO), Kirk defended the Second Amendment by claiming someday Americans may need guns to fight against a “tyrannical, usurpatious government.” Kirk claimed that “the last 100 years shows 150 million people slaughtered because they were disarmed.”

At a Turning Point Faith event that same day, Kirk suggested that conservatives know evil is happening but are afraid to act on it because “the cost is being called something they wish they would not be called. Racist, bigot.” Kirk then said that “racism and bigotry mostly comes from the left,” saying. “We are such a decent, not racist country, that the incentive structure is to fake your own hate crime.”

At the same Turning Point event, Kirk compared the existence of transgender people to “homeless encampments” and said, “We should not have tolerance for public degeneracy or depravity of our streets.”

During an earlier live event on March 28, Kirk went on a rant about how the “woke mind virus” is a product of Satan sent to “destroy the greatest nation ever to exist in the history of the world.”He encouraged American pastors “excommunicate … the demons of the woke,” stating, “Evil should not be tolerated in the American church.”

Video From the March 28, 2023, Turning Point Faith event, livestreamed on YouTube

At the March 28 Turning Point Faith event, Kirk also attacked universities and academics, claiming their actions are “rooted in anti-whiteness” and that “I think they’re trying to start a race war in this country.” Throughout his seemingly endless stream of extreme comments, Kirk also issued calls to action to his listeners.

At the same event, when asked about critical race theory, Kirk called the educational theory a “tumor” in our schools that happened because “good people have allowed evil to spread.” Kirk then called on the audience to be part of stopping such “evil,” claiming it will ”require good people with courage and boldness to stand up against what seems to be an overwhelming force and to say stop.”

“CRT has spread, andnow it’s time for us to remove the tumor,” Kirk concluded.

Video From a March 28, 2023, Turning Point Faith event streamed live on YouTube

Kirk used the “tumor” metaphor again when discussing a recent Wall Street Journal poll showing a decline in patriotism in America. Kirk claimed this generation of Americans are “the most depressed, most suicidal, most alcohol-addicted, most drug-addicted generation in history.” He then told his listeners, “Sometimes you need to get harsh, honest news and then have a battle plan, a plan of attack to remove the tumor” — implying the need to remove unpatriotic people from the country.

vid From the March 27, 2023, edition of The Charlie Kirk Show

Kirk has not specified what he means when he tells his audience to “stop” transgender people or critical race theory, but he’s also promoted preparing for future events by investing in gold and “buying a lot of bullets.”

Video From a March 28, 2023, Turning Point Faith event livestreamed on YouTube

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JOHN RATCLIFFE (FORMER DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE): Well, Maria, I mean, the point is this is election interference. We don't know how – no one really knows how this is going to play out. We just know that it is going to be a factor. We have crossed the Rubicon from people saying, you know, on the left, President Trump should be indicted to the discussion is going to be President Trump was indicted. And however long this case takes, and very clearly, it's not going to play out throughout the court system in less than the year that it's going to take to, you know, to, you know, reach a Republican nominee.

And so this action, this political persecution is going to influence our politics every single day for the next year until a Republican nominee is chosen, and that is, by definition, election interference. This is wholly inappropriate, you know, a complete perversion of our political system, and I think people need to, hopefully, understand and see what's going on here through these imposter D.A.s like Alvin Bragg. But this is coast to coast, you know? This is Kim Foxx in Chicago, this is George Gascon in California, this isGeorge Soros funding all of these people where we've put socialists in charge of the American judicial system. We've put people who don't understand or appreciate orstand up for American values in charge of our legal system to distort it intentionally and deliberately and, unfortunately, Donald Trump is the first but won't be the last person to be persecuted under that system.

MARIA BARTIROMO (FOX NEWS HOST): Well, this is a really good point that you're making because George Soros makes no apology for it. In fact, he wrote an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal just a couple of weeks ago. You're talking about the $40 million that he has donated to get these D.A.s in place. He says I've done it transparently. I've no intention of stopping. The funds I provide enable sensible, reform-minded candidates to receive a hearing from the public. Judging by the results, the public likes what it's hearing. I'm not sure which public he's talking to becausethese D.A.s are using bail reform to put criminals back on the streetexcept if it's Donald Trump.

RATCLIFFE: Maria, they're not D.A.s, they're imposter D.A.s. These are political plants. These are people who are only being supported with, you know, $40 million – in the case of Alvin Bragg a million dollars from George Soros [NOPE]– only because of a promise that you're in this position, you will pursue political prosecution of our opponents, those on the right. And that is, again, happening coast to coast, and that's really what's at stake. This should be a clarion call to Americans who otherwise don't tune in to politics ordon't think that it affects them. It absolutely has, and the bedrock principles of our justice system are clearly under assault where, again, we have socialists who are anathema to, you know, American values in charge largely of our judicial system, you know, through these state D.A.s and prosecutors.

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newsweek bought for 1$?

https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/newsweeks-batya-ungar-sargon-biden-administration-has-effectively-partnered-cartels-kind

child slave labor

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omg

https://www.mediamatters.org/coronavirus-covid-19/guide-stew-peters-violent-rhetoric-white-nationalism-anti-lgbtq-bigotry-and

mma 3 23

stew Peters is a right-wing streamer and influencer who has hosted numerous Republican officials and helped spread viral misinformation. He is also a white nationalist who alleged that Black people are genetically prone to criminality; claimed that Jewish people control the media and Judaism is a “death cult built on the blood of murdered babies”; repeatedly attacked LGBTQ people with slurs and suggested that they be shot; and told his audience that politicians, pro-vaccine advocates, and journalists must be executed.

Additionally, Peters is a purveyor of bizarre and dangerous conspiracy theories, including those related to QAnon, COVID-19, Pizzagate, flat Earth, the Uvalde and Sandy Hook mass shootings, and Russia’s war in Ukraine.

Peters is the host of The Stew Peters Show and distributes other programs (https://www.stewpeters.com/shows/) on his streaming network. In the past, he has worked (https://www.thedailybeast.com/magas-new-shock-jock-is-a-bounty-hunter-with-a-troubled-past) as a bounty hunter and had run-ins with the law. Peters also attempted to be a rapper with no apparent success.

Numerous Republican politicians and officials have appeared on Peters’ show, including Reps. Paul Gosar (https://www.mediamatters.org/january-6-insurrection/rep-paul-gosar-appears-conspiracy-theory-show-claim-democrats-aided-and), Bob Good (https://twitter.com/RightWingWatch/status/1610293155974500355), Pete Sessions (https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/rep-pete-sessions-agrees-that-the-democrat-party-embraces-racism-against-white-people/), and Louie Gohmert (https://rumble.com/veic3b-congressman-louie-gohmert-the-fall-of-america-exclusive-interview-with-stew.html?mref=grx4r&mrefc=7); Arizona state Sen. Wendy Rogers (https://www.mediamatters.org/coronavirus-covid-19/az-state-sen-wendy-rogers-praises-conspiracy-theorist-after-he-falsely-claims); Trump lawyer Christina Bobb (https://www.mediamatters.org/voter-fraud-and-suppression/trump-lawyer-christina-bobb-tells-nick-fuentes-ally-stew-peters-shed); Trump administration officials Kash Patel (https://rumble.com/vpi004-rittenhouse-railroaded-kyle-is-not-on-trial-the-second-amendment-is.html?mref=grx4r&mrefc=2) and Peter Navarro (https://rumble.com/vnek3b-peter-navarro-decertify-the-election-put-trump-back-in-the-white-house.html?mref=grx4r&mrefc=4); Arizona Republican Party Chair Kelli Ward (https://twitter.com/rightwingwatch/status/1416417752139632646); Idaho Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin (https://www.mediamatters.org/coronavirus-covid-19/idaho-lt-gov-janice-mcgeachin-rallying-stew-peters-pro-putin-conspiracy); failed Arizona gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake (https://www.mediamatters.org/qanon-conspiracy-theory/qanon-and-white-nationalist-linked-media-provide-friendly-platform-arizona); and Florida Surgeon GeneralJoseph Ladapo (https://www.mediamatters.org/coronavirus-covid-19/qanon-and-white-nationalist-linked-media-provide-platform-floridas-surgeon).

Peters routinely spreads false information through his show and online, including through Rumble (https://web.archive.org/web/20230307214731/https://rumble.com/c/StewPeters) (over 500,000 followers), Twitter (https://web.archive.org/web/20230306221811/https://twitter.com/realstewpeters) (over 240,000 followers) and Telegram (https://web.archive.org/web/20230306221834/https://t.me/stewpeters) (over 270,000 followers) accounts. He is also a regular guest on the right-wing channel One America News (https://www.mediamatters.org/one-america-news-network).

Stew Peters pushes for the executions of politicians, pro-vaccine advocates, and journalists

On his program, Peters has discussed “potential punishments” including death sentences for “these traitors that have stolen our country." His show has run (https://www.mediamatters.org/voter-fraud-and-suppression/trump-lawyer-christina-bobb-tells-nick-fuentes-ally-stew-peters-shed) the text: “Indict. Try. Fry.”

At a white supremacist conference in Florida last year, Peters said (https://www.adl.org/resources/blog/afpac-iii-elected-officials-support-white-supremacist-event) that Anthony Fauci should be “hanging by the end of a noose somewhere.”

On Telegram, Peters wrote (https://web.archive.org/web/20220611142300/https://t.me/stewpeters/13253) of promotions for the COVID-19 vaccine: “The journos, anchors and hosts that participated should be indicted, tried and fried.”

Peters wrote (https://archive.is/PXqfa) of COVID-19 vaccines: “Hold criminal trials for anyone who invented, manufactured, mandated or any public figure that knowingly endorsed the use of these deadly injections. The only appropriate punishment for the harm they have caused is the death penalty. Indict them, try them and fry them.”

Peters wrote (https://archive.is/f7Ddt) of FBI agents who allegedly tried to silence Trump: “This is TREASON. They should be rounded up, INDICTED, TRIED and FRIED!”

Peters wrote (https://archive.is/tYXqQ): “We need a candidate for president to run on a simple platform: round up Big Pharma, Big Tech and any politicians and/or global elites under American jurisdiction. Then Indict, Try, and Fry them at Nuremberg 2.0.”

Peters wrote (https://archive.is/HQhEd) of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau: “Indict. Try. FRY!”

Stew Peters is a white nationalist who uses bigoted rhetoric: “Diversity isn’t America’s strength”; “white replacement operation taking place in America”; “Jews control Media”

Peters spoke (https://www.adl.org/resources/blog/afpac-iii-elected-officials-support-white-supremacist-event) at white nationalist Nick Fuentes’ 2022 conference, where he said that “America’s enemy is ‘Satan himself,’ who is ‘flooding our schools with blood libel against white people’ and allowing an ‘Islamic insurgency’ in Minneapolis.”

On Telegram, Peters wrote (https://archive.is/gWv1f): “Blacks commit the most violent crimes. PERIOD. This is an inarguable fact, and if you believe or repeat anything different, you’re lying.”

While promoting the white nationalist “great replacement (https://www.npr.org/2022/05/16/1099034094/what-is-the-great-replacement-theory)” conspiracy theory on his show, Peters stated (https://www.mediamatters.org/white-nationalism/rep-paul-gosar-shared-white-nationalist-screed-asking-if-americans-will-be): “If America replaces its existing population with foreigners who are more violent or less capable, then this country will suffer. … Diversity isn’t America’s strength.”

Peters wrote (https://archive.is/7fPQE): “Don’t let the press gaslight you. Don’t let them get away with ignoring the OBVIOUS white replacement operation taking place in America!”

Peters wrote (https://archive.ph/9k9R2): “Watching the hockey game on TV, and I have not seen ONE commercial with white people in it. The great replacement is not ‘conspiracy.’”

Peters on (https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/02/stew-peters-the-far-right-bounty-hunter-behind-the-explosive-success-of-died-suddenly/) Black people and crime rates: “Some of it’s probably cultural. … Some of it’s probably genetic.”

Peters has praised (https://twitter.com/RightWingWatch/status/1478785552421900296) the white nationalist website VDare (https://www.mediamatters.org/vdare) and hosted (https://web.archive.org/web/20220223110827/https://vdare.com/posts/peter-brimelow-on-the-stew-peters-show-standing-for-national-sovereignty-vdare-sets-sights-to-the-supreme-court) its editor, Peter Brimelow.

Peters wrote (https://archive.is/LLn0Y): “CONFIRMED: Gay Mafia, Jews Control Media.”

Attacking a Jewish politician’s defense of reproductive rights, Peters wrote (https://archive.is/c036D) that Judaism “is a death cult built on the blood of murdered babies”: “This woman, who is Jewish, says that banning abortion violates her religious liberty. I have to take her at her word.”

Peters wrote (https://archive.is/0Fne2) that “the enemy” is funded by the Rothschilds (https://www.ajc.org/translatehate/Rothschild): “The enemy has the funding of Pfizer and Moderna and The Rockefellers and the Rothschilds. … We are DEFEATING the dishonest globalist-funded evil ‘media’ and we have to keep our foot on the GAS!”

Stew Peters on LGBTQ people: “F------,” “I hate their -------,” “This country is run by a bunch of cuck f------”

On Telegram, Peters wrote (https://archive.is/7WeQN), “Regarding f------: I don’t hate the f------, I hate their f-------.”

Peters (https://archive.is/a4dSS): “This is nothing to worry about because when China attacks us, our new troops are fully trained in gender fluidity and f-- acceptance.”

Peters stated (https://archive.is/1Bs0a): “Nobody has any freaking testicles. This country is run by a bunch of cuck f------, because we allow it.”

Peters wrote (https://archive.is/tm9Kh#selection-155.26-159.160), “There’s no such thing as a ‘gay Conservative’. There’s nothing ‘conservative’ about two men getting the mud-flaps dirty, going off-roading, pretending to be ‘married’ and buying a baby out of a woman’s womb. Real Conservatives fear God. God hates gay. So let’s stop debating this issue. Walk away from the homo life and repent, or don’t.”

Peters claimed (https://archive.ph/8dcr3#selection-155.112-155.174), “Fake Conservatives like Richard Grenell push homo propaganda in your face, claiming to be ‘followers of Christ’ while sexualizing your kids and hoping to orgasm with anal sex.”

Peters (https://archive.is/9IPNP) complained: “Our Butt-Banging Transportation Secretary is pushing anti-white racism in the middle of the BIGGEST TRANSPORTATION & ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTER IN AMERICAN HISTORY!”

Discussing U.S. Soccer’s pro-LGBTQ uniform, Peters wrote (https://archive.is/Z19De): “God blew up two cities over this degeneracy and depravity. These fudge-packing, pillow-biting Hershey highway butt bandits are always the perverts that target our kids for grooming and pedophilia.” .

Peters (https://archive.is/fYNRZ): “Monkey pox is a HOMO-hoax!”

On Telegram, Peters posted (https://archive.is/sxx6Y) a meme of someone smoking next to pointing a gun at another person with the text: “Smoking a f-- in Britain vs. smoking a f-- in America.”

Stew Peters’ conspiracy theories: QAnon, COVID snake venom, Pizzagate, Sandy Hook, flat Earth

Peters produced (https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2023/02/stew-peters-the-far-right-bounty-hunter-behind-the-explosive-success-of-died-suddenly/) the film These Little Ones, “which promotes the QAnon conspiracy theory that a cabal of pedophile elites kidnap children and drink their blood.” In promoting the film, Peters mentioned (https://archive.is/NLpC4) the QAnon-linked conspiracy theories “frazzledrip (https://www.mediamatters.org/facebook/marjorie-taylor-greene-endorsed-deranged-conspiracy-theory-about-democrats-and-satanic)” and “adrenochrome (https://www.mediamatters.org/tiktok/seemingly-harmless-conspiracy-theory-accounts-tiktok-are-pushing-far-right-propaganda-and).” He also recently invoked (https://archive.is/VwS1S) adrenochrome when falsely (https://twitter.com/travis_view/status/1072262389905539074?t=HQ5bTq7_DYGMqU8tvJgUUQ&s=19) attacking former senior Clinton adviser John Podesta.

Peters was behind the film Watch the Water, which (https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2022/apr/19/watch-water/stew-peters-film-watch-water-ridiculously-claims-c/) “ridiculously claims that the coronavirus is not a virus, but a synthetic version of snake venom that evil forces are spreading through remdesivir, the mRNA COVID-19 vaccines and drinking water to ‘make you a hybrid of Satan.’”

Peters was also behind the film Died Suddenly, which featured numerous (https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/died-suddenly-a-tsunami-of-antivax-misinformation-and-conspiracy-theories/) debunked and ridiculous claims about vaccines supposedly causing (https://www.politifact.com/article/2022/nov/29/died-suddenly-repeats-debunked-covid-19-vaccine-cl/) sudden death as “part of a depopulation scheme by global elites.”

Peters falsely claimed (https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2022/aug/26/facebook-posts/podcast-host-falsely-claims-monkeypox-governmental/) that “Monkeypox is a complete fake sham, just like COVID-19.”

Decrying “the bioweapon genocide,” Peters wrote (https://archive.is/d8FYL): “We all know that the COVID agenda, combined with catastrophic lockdowns and the dangerous and deadly shots, is the first phase of the Mark of the Beast system. Without question, this is the biggest threat facing humanity.”

Peters claimed (https://archive.is/EOFoO) that the May 2022 Uvalde, Texas, mass shooting “was a CIA Psyop for Gun Control.”

Peters is a Pizzagate conspiracy theorist who filmed (https://twitter.com/RightWingWatch/status/1534575100598550529) outside of Comet Ping Pong. He’s written (https://archive.is/HWEqT): “Pizza Gate is VERY real. The difference now, is that they aren’t hiding their evil. The Globalists have made it CLEAR that they are coming for your children. Now, we need to make it clear that we’re coming for THEM.”

Peters is a flat Eartherwho wrote (https://archive.is/WQDEX): “Since I have recently been considering this conundrum, I have not seen any evidence to suggest that there’s any truth to what NASA or the government has been telling me since birth. I don’t believe them. I will NOT be gaslighted into just believing a lie, or assuming something is truth just because it’s repeated relentlessly. If the ‘globe’ is ‘round’, someone is going to have to prove it to me. Just like ‘viruses’ are real, ‘vaccines’ are ‘safe’ and elections are ‘fair’.”

Commenting on (https://archive.is/WkYD5) the Sandy Hook judgement (https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/10/us/politics/alex-jones-sandy-hook-damages.html) against Alex Jones, who claimed the mass shooting was a hoax, Peters said: “We know that what Alex Jones has said is TRUE! The Globalist are SO AFRAID of him that they are trying to destroy him.”

Peters has (https://leadstories.com/hoax-alert/2023/02/fact-check-stew-peters-graphic-does-not-show-trajectory-of-east-palestine-gas-plume.html) pushed (https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/five-scientists-plane-crash/) conspiracy theories about the recent train derailment and environmental disaster in East Palestine, Ohio.

Peters is a supporter (https://archive.is/XIiPz) of Russian President Vladimir Putin and has pushed conspiracy theories related (https://twitter.com/billdmccarthy/status/1631025746125770752) to his invasion of Ukraine, including claiming (https://www.mediamatters.org/coronavirus-covid-19/idaho-lt-gov-janice-mcgeachin-rallying-stew-peters-pro-putin-conspiracy) that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “is a flaming gay, cross dressing, high heels-wearing bondage freak” who “happens to be a full-blown Nazi.”

Peters has (https://www.vice.com/en/article/88qwbx/far-right-conspiracy-theory-wants-you-to-think-ukraine-war-staged) claimed (https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2023/feb/27/viral-image/the-war-in-ukraine-isnt-fake-and-these-photos-dont/) that the war in Ukraine is being staged.

Peters referred (https://archive.is/6FNDb) to the recent assault on Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) husband as “Paul Pelosi’s violent homosexual sex-capade.”

Peters claimed (https://archive.is/PKJiY) that NFL player Damar Hamlin appearing in public after he was injured during a game was actually “fake.”

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https://boingboing.net/2023/03/13/capitol-officer-sicknick-time-traveled-then-died-from-the-covid-vax-suggests-far-right-radio-host.html

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https://www.mediamatters.org/infowars/alex-jones-claims-deep-state-put-incredible-pressure-tucker-carlson-over-his-january-6 (https://www.mediamatters.org/infowars/alex-jones-claims-deep-state-put-incredible-pressure-tucker-carlson-over-his-january-6)

https://www.mediamatters.org/murdoch-family/steve-bannon-claims-tucker-carlson-had-one-night-push-january-6-revisionism-murdochs

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an ah 3 23

if the Arizona Republicans of the 1980s and 1990s had been able to predict the future, they would have no doubt been shocked by the state's political environment of 2023. Arizona, in those days, was a deep red state, and its most influential Republicans were Sen. Barry Goldwater and the conservative who took over his U.S. Senate seat in January 1987, Vietnam veteran John McCain. Goldwater suffered a landslide defeat at the hands of Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964's presidential election; in Arizona, he was a conservative rock star, and McCain was proud to be called a "Goldwater Republican."

But in 2023, Arizona is as much of a swing state as Pennsylvania and Virginia and has a Democratic governor (Katie Hobbs), a Democratic U.S. senator (Mark Kelly), a Democratic state attorney general (Kris Mayes) and a once-Democratic U.S. senator who is now an independent (Kyrsten Sinema). Arizona is way more Democrat-friendly than it was 30 or 40 years ago, yet much of the Arizona Republican Party has moved to the extreme right. And MAGA Republicans like Kari Lake (the conspiracy theorist who Hobbs defeated in 2022) regard the late McCain and his admirers as RINOs (Republicans in Name Only).

In an article published by HuffPost (https://www.huffpost.com/entry/arizona-republicans-bribery-conspiracy-theories_n_64023318e4b08223f12e6a3d) on March 7, journalist Matt Shuham examines the divisions in the Arizona GOP and the disdain that MAGA conspiracy theorists have for more traditional conservatives.

READ MORE:Kari Lake among four women on Trump's VP shortlist: report (https://www.alternet.org/kari-lake-among-four-women-on-trump-s-vp-shortlist-report-2659516130/)

"Since the 2020 elections," Shuham explains (https://www.huffpost.com/entry/arizona-republicans-bribery-conspiracy-theories_n_64023318e4b08223f12e6a3d), "Arizona has been Ground Zero for wild conspiracy theories about supposed voter fraud leading to Joe Biden's victory. The claims gripped state Republicans to the point that nearly the entire slate of GOP midterm candidates for statewide office last year consisted of election deniers. To this day, Kari Lake, who lost the governor's race, maintains that she is actually Arizona’s governor now. Even after getting washed out in the midterms, state Republicans can't quit these outlandish theories. And now, it has thrown the party into chaos. For the past two weeks, Republicans have faced wild accusations of bribery, money laundering and election fixing — from their own supporters."

Two of Arizona's MAGA conspiracy theorists, according to Shuham (https://www.huffpost.com/entry/arizona-republicans-bribery-conspiracy-theories_n_64023318e4b08223f12e6a3d), are attorney John Thaler (https://www.alternet.org/wendy-rogers-2659475742/) and his ally Jacqueline Breger. During her testimony at an Arizona State Legislature hearing (https://twitter.com/brahmresnik/status/1630392012846567424) on February 23, Shuham notes, Breger 'accused everyone from state officeholders to judges, prosecutors and court-appointed medical health care advisers of accepting bribes from a criminal enterprise." And she "alleged that dozens of public officials were on the take, from judges to state officeholders and everyone in between."

Breger has accused fellow Arizona Republicans of being allies of Mexico's Sinaloa drug cartel, whose infamous former leader,Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzman (https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/17/us/el-chapo-sentencing/index.html), is serving a life sentence in a Colorado prison and has been the subject of numerous narcocorridos (Mexican corridos about the drug trade). Thaler and Breger's conspiracy theories, according to Shuham (https://www.huffpost.com/entry/arizona-republicans-bribery-conspiracy-theories_n_64023318e4b08223f12e6a3d), have "created" a "near-civil war…. within the Arizona GOP."

"Following Breger's appearance (at the February 23 hearing) — Thaler left the state months earlier due to fears about his safety, he says — the two became instant celebrities among election conspiracy theorists," Shuham observes. (https://www.huffpost.com/entry/arizona-republicans-bribery-conspiracy-theories_n_64023318e4b08223f12e6a3d) "And Republican politicians now find themselves, some for the first time, on the wrong end of unfounded conspiracy theories and angry right-wing social media mobs."

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an 2 23

Fox News will air a selectively edited "documentary" (https://www.rawstory.com/fox-news-january-6-video-release-danger/) about the Jan. 6 attacks based on the 44,000 hours of footage delivered (https://www.rawstory.com/january-6-2659441803/) to the network's prime-time personality, Tucker Carlson. Carlson will not post all 44,000 hours for the public to view. Instead, he will make his own edits.

The move comes after Carlson spent months arguing that there was no insurrection (https://www.rawstory.com/fox-news-dominion-2659470269/) on Jan. 6, 2021.

"Of all the things Jan. 6 was, it was not a violent terrorist attack," Carlson said on his show on Sept. 22, 2021. "It wasn't an insurrection."

"What are they gonna admit there was no insurrection?" Carlson asked two days later on Sept. 24. He chuckled: "never."

"So, FBI operatives were organizing the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, according to government documents," Carlson falsely claimed during a June 16, 2021, show.

Speaking about the show, MSNBC's Katy Tur aired the teaser aired on Fox to promote the episode that showed footage of the attack and former President Donald Trump's speech.

The voiceover says: "False flags have happened in this country. One of which may have been Jan. 6."

On the screen appears insurrectionists, footage from the Capitol, and Trump, but then it shows footage of Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.It isn't clear why Carlson would choose bin Laden's image, while the voiceover claims there have been false flags in the U.S. in the past.

Carlson isn't the only conservative to claim conspiracies around Sept. 11, 2001. Donald Trump falsely said that he witnessed Muslims cheering on a rooftop in New Jersey (https://www.rawstory.com/2016/09/new-york-lawmaker-shames-trump-im-still-looking-for-the-muslims-cheering-911//). Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) falsely claimed that a plane never hit the Pentagon (https://www.rawstory.com/marjorie-taylor-greene-homeland-security/).

See the clip of the promo in the video below or at the link here. (https://www.rawstory.com/tucker-carlson-fake-documentary/)

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https://www.vice.com/en/article/88qwbx/far-right-conspiracy-theory-wants-you-to-think-ukraine-war-staged

no lnx

david Gilbert @ Vice News: The Far Right Wants You to Think Ukraine’s War Is Staged: ‘It Is Clearly a Psyop.’

a year after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, tens of thousands of civilians have been murdered, tens of millions of Ukrainians are displaced, and billions of dollars in damage have been inflicted on homes and buildings across the country—and the American far right is still pushing the narrative that the war in Ukraine is fake.

Coinciding with the one year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, conspiracists, far-right influencers, and trolls have made a coordinated effort to push the conspiracy theory that the entire conflict in Ukraine has been staged.

The narrative that the war was fake first emerged in the early days of the invasion, and one of the key pieces of “evidence” used by those spreading the disinformation was a video they claimed showed “fake bodies” in body bags.

The video, which shows the body bags moving in the background, was in fact taken at a climate change protest in Austria about a month before Russia invaded Ukraine. Over the weekend, it was once again shared as “evidence” that the mainstream media was lying about the war.

The most popular post came from an anonymous right-wing Twitter account called Amuse, which shared the video with the comment: “Stop Moving - You’re Supposed to be Dead! Psyop?”

The tweet currently has been viewed over 3.9 million times and been liked over 45,000 times.

When it was pointed out that the video was not taken in Ukraine, the account holder responded: “Someone told me it is some sort of crazy four dimensional misinformation—video might be from Austria. Not sure who is pushing it - Ukraine or Russia. Without embedded journalists we’ve got this mess.” They later added: “No one seems to know who is responsible but it is clearly a Psyop.”

The same video was shared widely across Facebook and Twitter in recent days.

At the same time, Catturd, a hugely influential MAGA shitposter favored by Elon Musk, posted a screen on Twitter that questioned the reality of the war in Ukraine because he apparently has not seen any footage from the war front.

“We get no footage, no detailed updates, no graphs explaining how the war is going, who has control of what land,” Catturd wrote. “All we get is Biden fake air raid sirens and one famous actor or politician a day happily prancing around Kiev with Zelenskyy with no helmets or body protection offering him 100s of billion of dollars.”

Catturd’s tweet has been viewed over 10.4 million times, despite Twitter’s fact-checking community appending a note to the post saying: “Footage and analysis of the Russian war on Ukraine from multiple media sources including reporters embedded with Ukrainian troops is and has been available.”

On Truth Social, disgraced former national security adviser Michael Flynn endorsed Catturd’s claims,writing: “What Catturd said, and I double dare anyone to say he is wrong.”

Kyle Becker, a far-right commentator who has in the past worked for Fox News and Tim Pool’s podcast, also shared the claim that there was no footage available of what’s likely the most-documented war in human history.

“I am sick and tired of the lack of footage of the Ukraine war. I worked in cable news. I am initiated. If it bleeds, it leads. Where is the war footage? Where are the Pulitzer Prize winning photos? This smacks of a scam and the American people are fed up,” Becker tweeted.

Meanwhile Stew Peters, a far-right podcaster and COVID conspiracist, added to the conversation by posting a video from the Ukrainian government that shows how the country has been working to fix some of the damage inflicted by the war over the last year.

According to Peters, the video is not a positive story about the resilience of the Ukrainian people, but proof the war is “100% fake” and that the damage was never inflicted in the first place.

Peters spent the weekend pushing the narrative that the media and governments around the world are lying about the war.

“The world is a stage,” Peters tweeted on Sunday. “It’s ALL fake. When enough people realize what has been done to them, and they’re ready to admit it, there will be NOWHERE safe for these criminals to hide.”

One other strand to the conspiracy about the war in Ukraine being fake is a renewed push to surface videos from the former life of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as a comic actor and using it to claim he is merely playing the role of a head of state.

One of the most prominent people sharing this claim in recent days was Donald Trump Jr. who shared a clip of Zelensky dancing in high heels and leather from a 2014 parody video with the comment:

:{:{}:

“Just so we understand, this is the leader of the left’s new religion, Ukraine. He replaced Lord Fauci who replaced goddess Greta as the leader of the leftist lunacy movement. Give him all of your money forever it doesn’t matter how much or for what… the Gods have spoken!”

The tweet has racked up almost 9 million views in the space of just 24 hours.

TAGGED:

UKRAINE DISINFORMATION CATTURD STEW PETERS FAR RIGHT TWITTER WORLD NEWS

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recall blood libel is ur-conspiracy

knowles an 2 23

Right-wing host wants to 'ban transgenderism entirely' because of 'occult sexual rituals' (https://www.alternet.org/michael-knowles-ban-transgenderism-entirely/)

Brandon Gage (https://www.alternet.org/author/brandongage)

Last Thursday, the Kansas State Senate voted 26-10 along party lines to pass what it calls a "Women's Bill of Rights" which seeks "to define a 'woman (https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tag/women)' as a biological female for leg...

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https://www.mediamatters.org/coronavirus-covid-19/trump-lawyer-and-pundit-christina-bobb-its-very-valid-wonder-if-covid-was

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aha recall you cannot negotiate with irrational, so only force violence defend yourself family; rabid dog foams at mouth

not just foreign, black but horde mob is powerful and irrational thus must kill; note hype fear; two scary mysterious tech cell phone [5g] and dna germ [ plus brainwash

https://www.mediamatters.org/alex-jones/alex-jones-says-gang-racist-foaming-mouth-black-people-are-coming-your-family-advises

// an 2 23

Infowars host and chief conspiracy theorist Alex Jones warned on Sunday's show that "foaming-at-the-mouth Black people" would wage war on white populations after they flee "race-specific bioweapons" attacks in Africa later this decade. Jones issued these racist predictions while declaring himself a "vessel" of God.

"They intend on making the world so hellish in the build-up to 2030 that everybody will just 'wink, wink' when they release the race-specific bioweapons starting with Africa that are gonna wipe that continent absolutely out. And you'll be under such invasion from the refugees of the economic warfare in Africa that you will quietly, while you're playing cards with your buddies say, 'well, it had to be done.'And when you go along with that metaphysically, spiritually, culturally, the devil's got your soul," said Jones.

"So I don't like the big giant African hordes being brainwashed against us and the left programming brown people to hate white people. It's all part of a plan, folks. It's all part ofa very sophisticated planand I don't just study history. I don't just study the New World Order," Jones continued. "I have the Holy Spirit. Doesn't mean I'm a perfect vessel, far from it. But I do have deep connection to God and God tells me that if I take part in wiping out the brown people, the Black people, that I will be cut off from God. We’re supposed to lift each other up."

READ MORE: 'I don't tell lies': Alex Jones blabbers of 'self-fulfilling prophecy' after bankruptcy bid blows up in court (https://www.alternet.org/alex-jones-self-fulfilling-prophecy/)

Jones then encouraged responding through violence.

"Now that doesn't mean when a gang of racist,foaming-at-the-mouth Black people come to rape, rob, or kill you, which is just, it's out of control right now, that you don't defend yourself and kill every person you need to protect your family if they're attacking you," he suggested.

"That said though, just because they're brainwashed, some of them, and are being part of that doesn't mean we have to fall into the brainwashing either," the right-wing provocateur added. "And they tell you everything they're doing in the movie, the 'Kingsman,' where they send out the program through the cell phones andcell phone towers to make everybody start killing each other. That's what Klaus Schwab talks about, the angrier world, this is part of that plan. And so the Black people that have succumbed to this have succumbed to it through mind control. Doesn't make them any less dangerous."

Watch below via Media Matters for America (https://www.mediamatters.org/alex-jones/alex-jones-says-gang-racist-foaming-mouth-black-people-are-coming-your-family-advises) or at this link (https://www.alternet.org/kill-every-person-you-need).

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YYY 6

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https://www.mediamatters.org/alex-jones/alex-jones-says-gang-racist-foaming-mouth-black-people-are-coming-your-family-advises

// an 2 23

READ MORE: 'I don't tell lies': Alex Jones blabbers of 'self-fulfilling prophecy' after bankruptcy bid blows up in court (https://www.alternet.org/alex-jones-self-fulfilling-prophecy/)

Jones then encouraged responding through violence.

"Now that doesn't mean when a gang of racist, foaming-at-the-mouth Black people come to rape, rob, or kill you, which is just, it's out of control right now, that you don't defend yourself and kill every person you need to protect your family if they're attacking you," he suggested.

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mma 1 23

CHRIS HAYES (HOST): There's also another thing that I've been watching happening on the right, and I think this is because of the sort of polarization around low trust, high trust. But the InfoWars-ization of right-wing media, and I say this even in the like, even when you move it outside the bounds of polarizing, like did aliens build the pyramids? This is like a hoary conspiratorial cliché for decades, right? That’s the kind of thing you’re seeing right-wing media people talk about now. It doesn’t even score a political point. It's just this view that, like, everything they tell you is a lie, that is more and more taking over that entire universe.

ANGELO CARUSONE (GUEST): Yes, and I think that what's concerning about that, and sort of the fact that has led into it is that, one, obviously social media and, in particular, the metastasizing of the QAnon conspiracy in the spring of 2020 coupled with all of the COVID stuff really helped that sort of, just that toxicity spill over.

But the other factor is that, it's worth keeping in mind that a very large segment of Republican leaders started to organize power on what used to be considered the fringes. And as they started to increasingly organize power on what used to be considered the fringes, using the right-wing media as a conduit for accessing that, they brought all that stuff that, you know, used to be on the fringes more toward the center. That's why something like groomers and pedophilia would be sort of far out there stuff years ago. And that is mainstream Republican orthodoxy now, it's not even controversial to say that, you know, Democrats are sexualizing children. Everyone is saying that in Republican politics. You don't have to be an extremist to make that point.

HAYES: There is a final point here, which I didn't note in the monologue, which is Elon Musk's particular role in this, who purchased Twitter and one of the first, most notable things he did in Twitter. And it was the first time I ever encountered this ludicrous, gross conspiracy theory that the two men had some relationship and that this was, like, a lovers' quarrel or something like that, was Elon Musk tweeting about it in a response to Hillary Clinton. That really put rocket fuel. He has since said he's apologized, but, like, Elon Musk owns a huge share of this entire thing.

CARUSONE: He does, because -- and this is exactly the danger for him being in charge. I mean, he supercharged that conspiracy theory. And it's worth noting that that is sort of the function of Twitter now after Elon Musk, is that it's kind of become a red pill PEZ dispenser, where these conspiracies, these really far out things are increasingly getting supercharged because they're gettingalgorithmic boosts.So even things that Elon Musk doesn't promote, we're actually seeing get supercharged all the time now.

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https://www.mediamatters.org/qanon-conspiracy-theory/election-denial-movement-and-trump-have-become-increasingly-intertwined

no lnx many vids

Media Matters for America

Research/Study

The election denial movement — and Trump — have become increasingly intertwined with QAnon

QAnon now offers a broad extremist network for election denialists to promote themselves and spread conspiracy theories to receptive listeners

Written by Alex Kaplan

Published 01/26/23

Last December, while discussing supposed “election integrity” efforts, Gregg Phillips, a leader of the election denial organization True the Vote, told an attorney for former President Donald Trump that “people want to come in and help,” and “that’s what this Anon movement is about.”

And “help” it has. Five years after “Q” began a movement based on a conspiracy theory that Trump would crush his supposed enemies and a cabal of pedophiles with mass arrests, QAnon had evolved into an online anti-reality network that has shifted much of its focus to boosting other conspiracy theories, including anti-vaccine misinformation and, increasingly, election denial. It is now an online distribution system that the election denial movement and other conspiracy theorists can exploit to spread their false claims and gain attention for their organizations.

QAnon was born out of far-right message boards and grew as supporters repeatedly helped spread misinformation online during years of inaction from social media platforms. The movement became so much of a threat that multiple government agencies issued internal warnings on its supporters, who have committed multiple acts of violence, including the January 6 insurrection.

During the 2022 election cycle, the QAnon community saw a closer level of association with the election denial movement — including Trump and his associates — providing a broad extremist network for denialists to easily promote themselves and spread their conspiracy theories to people primed to support them.

QAnon influencer Juan O. Savin’s election-denial candidates coalition

Leading up to the midterm elections, QAnon influencer Juan O. Savin (whose real name is Wayne Willott) and Nevada secretary of state candidate Jim Marchant recruited election denial candidates for positions where they would be in charge of election administration. Savin boasted of his involvement, claiming that every week he would “have a call to all my candidates from around the country,” including discussing fundraising.

Savin also said he had created the “largest election integrity presentation groups in the country" -- events where denialists, sometimes including coalition members, discussed supposed evidence of voter fraud -- and that he was working “behind the scenes” and hiring QAnon sympathizer Lara Logan to “host” them.

Following the midterm elections, Savin moved to another election denial effort, teaming up with a pair of brothers to promote a long-shot challenge to the 2020 election, which the Supreme Court declined to hear.

Tina Peters

Savin detailed some of his efforts with his coalition during interviews, on QAnon-supporting shows, suggesting, for instance, that he helped convince Tina Peters — the Mesa County, Colorado, clerk who was criminally charged for a security breach of election equipment — to run for Colorado secretary of state. One of Peters’ primary opponents also revealed that Savin encouraged him to drop out of the race and endorse her.

After losing the Republican primary, Peters refused to concede, eventually becoming part of another Savin-linked coalition of Republican candidates in Colorado claiming that they lost their primaries due to voter fraud. Over the following months, these failed candidates went on QAnon shows to promote and fundraise for the coalition and amplify false claims of fraud in their primaries. A member of Peters’ coalition even invoked the QAnon slogan in a July interview on election denier Joe Oltmann’s podcast: “Where we find fraud in El Paso, we find fraud in Colorado, we find fraud nationwide. This is all national security.” “Where we go one,” she said, pausing; the other coalition members joined her in finishing it. “We go all.”

Kari Lake and Mark Finchem

Other candidates in Savin’s coalition also appeared on QAnon-promoting shows during the 2022 election cycle. Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake fundraised and promoted her campaign on a QAnon-supporting show right before the Republican primary, and Arizona secretary of state candidate Mark Finchem also appeared on that same QAnon show during his campaign. Finchem also had a QAnon influencer at one of his fundraisers, which featured a performance of a QAnon song. Both Finchem and Lake also appeared with other QAnon figures during their campaigns.

Election denial groups teamed up with the QAnon community

True the Vote

The long-standing organization True the Vote — whose founder, Catherine Engelbrecht, has been called “the godmother of the election integrity movement” — grew particularly close with the QAnon community in 2022, using its members and infrastructure to spread nefarious allegations about election software company Konnech.

Following the release of its debunked election denial movie 2000 Mules, True the Vote’s Engelbrecht and co-founder Gregg Phillips both began to cultivate relationships with QAnon figures, repeatedly appearing on QAnon shows. They praised the QAnon community’s “spectacularly good” “open source intelligence,” while also recruiting multiple QAnon figures to help with their efforts, such as Phillips’ podcast and “research team.” They also promised to hand off supposed information from the “Anons” to law enforcement that they had partnered with.

We The Media TTV research team chat log

Citation (Left): QAnon figure Chad Vivas (known online as "KagDrogo") alongside True the Vote's Gregg Phillips (Right): Message from Vivas from leaked internal chat logs of members of QAnon influencer collective We The Media

At a True the Vote event in August called “The Pit” — which featured QAnon attendees — the group presented allegations that the Chinese Communist Party rigged elections through Konnech. Attendees were encouraged to further research and spread the claims, which they did, earning praise from True the Vote for their “brilliant” and “great work.” According to The New York Times, Konnech’s CEO and his family were subsequently forced to go into hiding, and other Konech employees “feared for their safety and started working remotely.”

In October — less than two months after an investigator in the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office attended “The Pit,” according to Phillips — the district attorney arrested Konnech’s CEO over allegations similar to True the Vote’s claims. (Charges were dropped in November.) The arrest was fodder for right-wing media to widely spread True the Vote and QAnon supporters’ claims about Konnech, calling it evidence of election fraud, and the story led to local governments announcing they would cancel contracts with the company. A Virginia county “election integrity” task force even gave some of those QAnon influencers’ materials about Konnech to its county election board. Phillips would go on to credit “the Anon community” for having “dug in” on Konnech and creating “focal points … of interest that [Konnech’s CEO is] ultimately going to have to answer to.”

Clean Elections USA

Another figure who attended The Pit was Melody Jennings, a QAnon supporter who had created a group inspired by 2000 Mules called Clean Elections USA, which focused on having people “monitor” ballot drop boxes for supposed fraud. She connected with several QAnon influencers at the event, later appearing multiple times on a show hosted by conspiracy theorists she met there. She credited those QAnon figures with helping her group and connecting her with others. Jennings regularly asked her “team” of QAnon influencers to promote her efforts, which led to complaints of voter intimidation in Arizona and landed Clean Elections USA in court there.

New York Citizens Audit

Another person who networked with QAnon figures at The Pit was Marly Hornik, who founded the election denial organization New York Citizens Audit. Hornik met the hosts of a QAnon show at the event and then repeatedly appeared on their program. There, Hornik promoted her organization and lauded what “the Anons are doing with Konnech,” calling them the “citizen intelligence army.”

Video

Citation From the October 27, 2022, edition of MatrixxxGrooove Show

Other election denial groups and activists

Election denial organizations also associated themselves with the QAnon community outside of The Pit:

Members of a Florida-based “election integrity” group called Defend Florida connected with QAnon-supporting show host Zak Paine at an event hosted by MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell. The members later went on Paine’s show to promote the group and say they asked Paine if they could “come on your show” rather than appearing in mainstream outlets because of “the great work that you’ve been doing for years.”

A Florida “election integrity” activist told a QAnon influencer that he was a “big fan” of his and of Savin.

Paine also connected with a Nebraska election denial group founder at Lindell’s event.

A duo who had filed a class action lawsuit against election software company Dominion, which was a target of election denialists after the 2020 election, told Paine that “everybody loves you” and that their lawsuit would be more popular if Paine was on Twitter.

Well-known election deniers Patrick Byrne and Michael Flynn grew closer to the QAnon community

Patrick Byrne and The America Project

Former Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne, who is a co-founder of election denial organization The America Project, is one of the country’s central election denial funders. Prior to the January 6 insurrection, Byrne met with Trump and fueled his voter fraud grievances. Since then, he has continued election denial activities and cultivated ties to the QAnon community. During the midterm election season, Byrne’s The America Project even funded an effort to recruit veterans to monitor polling sites for supposed fraud.

Byrne has previously suggested that he relied on the “digital soldiers” in the QAnon community and that they were his allies. He went further in 2022:

He directly invoked Q’s call in 2020 for supporters to deny that QAnon exists.

He pushed an effort to harass schools popularized by a QAnon-supporting group.

He furthered his very close relationship with Terpsichore Maras-Lindeman, a QAnon influencer known online as “Tore” who ran for Ohio secretary of state. He offered to aid her activities, including monetarily, and announced that he was working with her on “election integrity” efforts and lawsuits.

Byrne and Savin — both of whom have previously mentioned being connected — disclosed their further ties over the course of the year:

Savin said they worked together in 2020, said they talked “very frequently” with each other, and suggested that Byrne had “helped us out tremendously in the election integrity stuff.”

Byrne lauded Savin as “sophisticated,” “very helpful,” and said they had spent “some good times” together. He also invoked Savin by name to promote a legal case to overturn the 2020 election.

Former Overstock CEO suggests he collaborated with QAnon influencer known for trying to elect Big Lie election administration candidates

July 24, 2022

Former Overstock CEO suggests he collaborated with QAnon influencer known for trying to elect Big Lie election administration candidates

Audio

Citation From a July 24, 2022, online stream

Additionally, some of The America Project’s work and activities during the year were explicitly tied to QAnon supporters. Byrne used multiple QAnon shows to recruit people for the organization’s plan to monitor polling sites. The America Project also brought on QAnon sympathizer Lara Logan, as well as an attorney who has represented Tore, who became The America Projects’s “chief legal strategist.”

Michael Flynn

Michael Flynn, The America Project’s other co-founder and fellow Trump voter fraud adviser, also continued to develop ties with the QAnon community:

He hung out with members of a QAnon influencer collective known as We The Media, including on a Zoom call, according to one of We The Media’s members.

Flynn’s other organization, America’s Future, recruited Liz Crokin, a fellow QAnon conspiracy theorist.

Flynn, along with Lindell of MyPillow, attorney Sidney Powell, and some members of Savin’s coalition, also appeared on a relatively new QAnon channel on Election Day 2022 to push fraud claims.

Trump and his orbit grew closer to the QAnon community, explicitly embracing and lauding the movement

Donald Trump

Trump, the leader of the election denial movement, also embraced QAnon more closely during the past year, as did some of those in his orbit — including associates of his social media company Truth Social, one of his attorneys, and his son.

Trump’s associates claimed in 2021 that they were trying “to weed out any QAnon influences — both adherents and postings — getting close to him,” but the former president and now-2024 presidential candidate only stepped up his association with the QAnon community. (He had also publicly and privately praised QAnon supporters multiple times during his presidency.)

According to a Media Matters count, Trump amplified QAnon-promoting accounts nearly 400 times on Truth Social in 2022 — far outpacing the pace of his QAnon account amplifications when he used Twitter. That Truth Social activity included repeatedly amplifying explicit QAnon content.

Trump Truth Social QAnon content amplifications

:{:{}:

Citation Explicit QAnon content amplified by Donald Trump on Truth Social in 2022

Trump met withCrokin, the QAnon influencer, at Mar-a-Lago, and another QAnon influencer claimed to have met with Trump while visiting Mar-a-Lago.}:

Trump used a song associated with QAnon on his social media and at multiple rallies. During some of the rallies, people would hold up one finger in the air in response, possibly referring to the “one” in “Where we go one, we go all.” Trump would continue to use the song at rallies even after media and others flagged its background.

Truth Social and its leadership

Truth Social also came to embrace QAnon as part of its business model. One of the first accounts to reportedly sign up on the platform, which launched in February, was an account called “@Q” that tied itself to the conspiracy theory. Kash Patel,a former Trump administration official and member of the platform’s board of directors, and Devin Nunes, the platform’s CEO, repeatedly amplified the “@Q” account. The platform also featured QAnon ads and verified QAnon influencers. And the CEO of a shell corporation formed to merge with the company running the platform even went on a QAnon show to advocate for his own shareholders to delay the merger. The platform also helped QAnon figures and election denial activists network.

Patel also went on numerous QAnon shows on behalf of Truth Social, telling the community that “we try to incorporate” QAnon “into our overall messaging scheme to capture audiences” and praised the “good” coming from it. He also signed copies of his book with the QAnon slogan, asking, “What's wrong with it?” and he said he and Trump were “blown away” by the “acumen” of some QAnon supporters.

Video

Citation From the June 16, 2022, edition of The Patriot Party News

A Trump attorney and Eric Trump

One of Trump’s attorneys, Peter Ticktin, repeatedly went on QAnon shows to push election fraud claims. On one of those shows Ticktin even asked the audience to send him “evidence in regard to January 6,” the “fake election,” and “the election fraud.” He also seemingly invoked Q’s 2020 call for supporters to deny that QAnon exists.

Trump’s son Eric Trump, who had posted a QAnon image on social media in 2020 — also went on multiple QAnon shows, and a QAnon show host Eric Trump met with claimed that Trump told him that “his Dad loves what we’re doing.”

Increasingly, where election denial goes one, QAnon goes all

Savin’s swing state coalition members failed to win election and the GOP had disappointing midterm results, but that did not deter the growing bond between the QAnon community and election denial movements. The connections reached a new level this past year, even after the midterms.

:{ The movement continues to grow and metastasize beyond the original Q and its focus, even when Q resumed posting during the year after an 18-month absence. And with the rise of platforms like :{Truth Social, and Twitter increasingly reversing its QAnon crackdown under Elon Musk, the QAnon community could become even more interconnected with election denialists and other conspiracy theories. That could help grow the dangerous and antidemocratic denialist movement, making it easier to spread its misinformation faster and more broadly.}:

In This Article

QAnon Conspiracy Theory Voter Fraud and Suppression

Voter Suppression

In 2021, people thought QAnon would go away -- instead, it continued to fuel attacks on democracy

12/31/21

In 2020, QAnon became all of our problem

12/31/20

How True the Vote cultivated relationships with QAnon influencers to target an election software company and serve as a pipeline to law enforcement

09/15/

---

https://www.alternet.org/harriet-hageman/

an salon 1 23 no vids

Rep. Harriet Hageman, R-Wyo., spewed conspiracy theories about an environmental plan to conserve 30% of US land and waters by 2030 (https://www.nrdc.org/experts/helen-oshea/biden-administration-lays-out-30x30-vision-conserve-nature) ahead of her election last year.

Speaking at R-CALF, a convention for independent cattle producers, Hageman in August 2021 and 2022 baselessly claimed that conservation plans like the global initiative 30x30 (https://conservationcorridor.org/what-is-30x30/) are a government plot led by President Joe Biden to control Americans through starvation.

The congresswoman likened the environmental plans to African dictators starving their people to stay in power.

"Anytime their dictator needed to control the masses and needed to make sure that there would be no uprising, he just starves his people," Hageman said in the previously unreported video. "You can look at Somalia, you can look at the Congo, you can look at country after country after country after country, and what they've done is they control their people with food. That's what 30 x 30 is about. That's what the Green New Deal is about." [vid]

the-then candidate's statements are similar to a number of anti-government conspiracy theories shared by anti-public land extremists. Many of these conspiracy theorists have also equated 30x30 with the Holocaust and Stalin's genocide of Ukrainians in the 1930s.

"History repeats, and I think it's being done again," said one 30x30 conspiracy theorist on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/1378130172259038/videos/596911841218220/). "They did the very same thing in Ukraine, and they intend to do it to us."

In another video, Hageman claimed that 30x30 is the first step towards government-led "starvation" in order to "control" citizens.

"Whenever those leaders want to control the masses, they starve them. They kill them. And that's how they keep control. And that's where the 30 x 30 program is headed," she claimed.

"We need to stop looking at this as preserving the environment," she added. "We need to stop talking about protecting water and natural resources. That isn't what it's about, it's about control. It's about control of you." [vid]

this is not the first, or second, time that Hageman has boosted conspiracy theories: she has a long history of espousing misinformation and fighting against conservation and public lands. Hageman proudly bears the nickname "Wicked Witch of the West," (https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/27/us/politics/harriet-hageman-liz-cheney-trump.html) which she earned after opposing the Clinton administration's roadless forest rule (https://earthjustice.org/features/timeline-of-the-roadless-rule#::text=President%20Clinton%20issues%20the%20Roadless,tremendous%20outpouring%20of%20public%20support.).

"Harriet Hageman's unhinged conspiracy theories show that her motivations for 'oversight' are completely unrooted in reality," Jordan Schreiber, director of the Energy and Environment program at the left-leaning watchdog group Accountable.US, said in a statement to Salon. "The next time she alleges wrongdoing remember that she subscribes to a set of falsehoods that would make Alex Jones blush. She cannot be taken seriously as a legislator or an investigator."

During her unsuccessful gubernatorial campaign in 2018, Hageman suggested transferring one million acres of federal land to the state of Wyoming, which would have sold off significant hunting, fishing, and hiking areas, according to a report from The New York Times (https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/16/us/politics/harriet-hageman-trump-cheney.html).

Two months before the midterm election in 2022, Hageman also claimed that the federal government controls too much land in the United States.

"Joe Biden has absolutely no authority whatsoever to try to take more private land out of production and use in this country," she said (https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/16/us/politics/harriet-hageman-trump-cheney.html) during a September R-CALF conference. "The federal government already has 612 million acres, and frankly, that's too many."

She further accused the World Wildlife Federation of trying to "destroy the livestock industry," calling them "evil people."

"They will put you out of business if you do not comply with their mandates that are going to be coming down the road," she said (https://youtu.be/7huxGCS4j2w?t=1853) of the environmental organization. "They want to either destroy the livestock industry or make sure that it is only the elite that are able to eat beef in the future."

In addition to conspiracy theories, Hageman has also previously shared that she believes regulatory agencies such as the United States Department of Agriculture and the Bureau of Land Management are "destroying our republic."

---

aha note just mirror of std left charge: tucker boost on weaponization revived deep state, along w/ fbi raid on trump

note he like trump is a victim

https://www.alternet.org/ryan-zinke-accuses-deep-state/

United States Congressman Ryan Zinke (R-Montana) delivered a speech on the floor of the House of Representatives on Tuesday in which he proclaimed that a "deep state" along with "liberals" are engaged in a sinister agenda targeting himself and other conservatives.

Prior to his election to Congress in the November 2022 midterms, Zinke served as secretary of the interior under former President Donald Trump. He resigned in December 2018 amid a flurry of ethics scandals (https://www.npr.org/2022/02/16/1081180054/ryan-zinke-interior-investigation-ig-report) and suspicions of corruption (https://rollcall.com/2018/12/15/amid-corruption-charges-zinke-is-leaving-as-interior-secretary/).

Nonetheless, on Tuesday, Zinke declared himself a victim of a vast conspiracy and endorsed House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's (R-California) proposal to create a subcommittee tasked with investigating various federal agencies (https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/08/us/politics/house-republicans-fbi-investigation.html) that have open inquiries into Trump.

READ MORE: Paul Krugman: House Republicans’ economics are as 'divorced from reality' as their election lies (https://www.alternet.org/msn/kevin-mccarthy-2659094838/)

"Mister Speaker, I rise today in support of a select committee to investigate the weaponization of the federal government, something I have a lot of experience firsthand. I proudly served as the fifty-second secretary of interior, and despite the deep state's repeatedly attempts to stop me, I stand before you as a duly elected member of the United States Congress andtell you that a deep state exists and it is perhaps the strongest covert weapon the left has against the American people," Zinke said.

"There is no doubt the federal government deep state coordinates with liberal activists and uses politicians and willing media to carry their water. The deep state runs secret messaging campaigns with one goal in mind – to increase its power to censor and persuade the American people. Dark money groups, funded by liberal billionaires and foreign investors, funnel money to shell organizations and repeatedly attempt to destroy the American West. They want to wipe out the American cowboy completely,remove public access to our lands, and turn Montana into a national park. They want to control our land and our lifestyle," Zinke alleged before claiming that he amassed so-called evidence from a right-wing non-profit.

"Mister Speaker," Zinke added, "I'd like to submit a five-part series of investigative articles by the Capitol Research Center entitled, Arabella's Long War Keep It in the Ground (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/john-kania-19301511_arabellas-long-war-keep-it-in-the-ground-activity-6866114510109974528-_-tk/) into the congressional record."

Watch below or at this link (https://www.alternet.org/ryan-zinke-accuses-deep-state).

---

mma 12 22 1/2 trump "twts" qanon

---

mma 12 22

wonder why no longer richest bastard

Supporters of the QAnon conspiracy theory have celebrated Twitter owner Elon Musk tweeting a phrase that has been regularly invoked in the community, taking it as evidence that he supposedly supports the conspiracy theory in some manner.

On December 12, Musk tweeted (https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1602472202619654144?t=oq7G-tzCMt_3nE_ADExfIw&s=19), “Follow” next to a rabbit emoji. The wording with the emoji would seem to be referring to the phrase “follow the white rabbit,” a reference to the classic fantasy novel Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, which was repopularized byThe Matrixfilm franchise and subsequently adopted as an online rallying cry (https://twitter.com/_MAArgentino/status/1602475853455187973) in the early days of the QAnon movement. The conspiracy theory’s central figure, “Q”, repeatedly (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3998119) referenced (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3998116) the “white rabbit” and the story directly in posts.

QAnon figures, who were already primed to believe (https://www.mediamatters.org/twitter/qanon-supporters-see-elon-musks-takeover-green-light-rejoin-twitter) that Musk was an ally (https://twitter.com/AlKapDC/status/1602480083373015051), hyped (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3998125) Musk’s (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3998128) “clear Q reference” as some kind (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3998138) of green light (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3998131), along with a follow-up tweet from Musk (https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1602490333803139072) in response to a scene in The Matrixabout choosing between taking a blue pill and a red pill (which has been embraced in the far-right as so-called “red-pilling,” (https://www.adl.org/blog/the-extremist-medicine-cabinet-a-guide-to-online-pills) referring to a process by with individuals come to support far-right ideas). Adherents to the QAnon conspiracy theory claimed Musk has been “keeping with the Q Comms” and was “on pace to start posting Q drops to millions of normies,” with some believing the tweet may already be (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3998135) referring to a Q post (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3998132)

[twts]

the QAnon community’s excitement for Musk’s tweet comes as Musk has pushed claims of child trafficking (https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/12/12/musk-child-porn-qanon/) on Twitter and blamed Twitter’s leadership, including targeting Twitter’s former head of trust and safety, who was forced to flee his home (https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/12/tech/twitter-files-yoel-roth/index.html) due to threats. It also comes as more QAnon accounts have (https://www.mediamatters.org/twitter/qanon-influencers-are-trying-use-twitters-new-subscription-service-regain-foothold-platform) come back or at least attempted to come back to Twitter in the midst of (https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/internet/elon-musks-twitter-beginning-take-shape-rcna58940) Musk taking over the platform.

---

an 12 22

Roger Stone is now spinning a bizarre claim about the existence of a so-called "demonic portal" (https://www.mediaite.com/tv/roger-stone-says-theres-a-demonic-portal-above-the-biden-white-house-that-the-media-refuses-to-cover/) that opened above the White House after President Joe Biden took office.

Stone even appears to believe the portal is visible to those who are searching for it. During a recent appearance on "The Eric Metaxas Radio Show," conservative radio host Eric Metaxas asked Stone about his thoughts on the existence of the "supernatural."

That's when Stone claimed to have seen the "portal" himself. “I think that… a portal, a demonic portal, opened above the White House around the time that the Bidens moved in,” Stone said.

READ MORE: Mueller alleges Trump campaign official was 'directed' to ask Roger Stone what WikiLeaks had on Clinton (https://www.alternet.org/2019/01/mueller-alleges-trump-campaign-official-was-directed-to-ask-roger-stone-what-wikileaks-had-on-clinton)

He added, "This was brought to my attention by a Christian who lives in north Florida who sent me a bunch of documents and also a bunch of notations from the Bible about portals.”

Stone admitted that he was initially skeptical before saying:

So, I was skeptical about it but I looked at the photos. Also, there’s a live cam where you can actually see in real-time and there does appear to be something above the White House…At first you say, “Oh, maybe it’s a reflection. Maybe it’s an aerostat balloon. Maybe there’s a logical [explanation.]”

Out of concern, Stone also claims to have called a friend in law enforcement who works for the police department in Arlington, Va. According to Stone, his friend claims he found something.

READ MORE: 'I'm getting ready to start suing people': Roger Stone has a meltdown over Michael Sussman's acquittal (https://www.alternet.org/2022/06/roger-stone-meltdown-michael-sussman)

“He called me back about two-and-a-half hours later and said, ‘You’re not going to believe this, but there’s definitely something there. Other people were there photographing it,'” Stone claims he was told.

Per Mediaite, Stone said, "if one zooms in on whatever is floating above the Biden White House, it can be seen 'swirling like a cauldron.'”

READ MORE: At least 3 members of a pro-Roger Stone group are facing charges in connection with Jan. 6 riot (https://www.alternet.org/2022/05/at-least-3-members-of-a-pro-roger-stone-group-are-facing-charges-in-connection-with-jan-6-riot)

---

mma 11 22

House Republicans appear set on spending the next two years firmly ensconced within the right-wing media bubble, focusing on creating content for its Fox News stars after garnering a slim majority in the midterm elections.

On Thursday morning, just hours after news outlets had projected that Republicans would take control of the lower chamber, Reps. James Comer (R-KY) and Jim Jordan (R-OH) held a news conference (https://www.c-span.org/video/?524331-1/house-gop-plans-investigation-president-biden-familys-business-dealings&live=) detailing what will apparently be the party’s top priority. Their announcement had nothing to do with the issues voters said they cared (https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/08/politics/exit-polls-midterm-election-analysis) the most about when they went to the polls, like inflation or abortion rights. Instead, the incoming chairs of the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees, with the apparent approval (https://twitter.com/GOPLeader/status/1593251548875739139) of likely Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), promised to be laser-focused on business deals President Joe Biden’s son Hunter was involved in years ago.

As they spoke, the caucus’ official Twitter account was tweeting catchphrases that are incomprehensible to anyone who doesn’t spend a significant amount of time in the right-wing information ecosystem[twt]

fox News hosts and their fellow travelers have been trying to use Hunter Biden’s business dealings as a cudgel against his father since before he launched (https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/trump-s-story-of-hunter-biden-s-chinese-venture-is-full-of-holes-1.1326272.amp.html) his run for president. That fixation ultimately triggered Fox’s obsession and then-President Donald Trump’s first impeachment (https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/fox-news-got-cover-it-was-built-get) for corruptly using his power (https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/trumps-ukraine-scandal-fox-news-story) to try to force Ukraine to launch a spurious investigation into the Bidens. The story returned to the fore in the closing weeks of the 2020 presidential election as part of a last-ditch effort (https://www.mediamatters.org/lachlan-murdoch/murdochs-desperate-final-push-use-hunter-biden-reelect-donald-trump) by Rupert Murdoch’s outlets to use revelations from the alleged (https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/hunter-biden-laptop-investigation.html) “Hunter Biden laptop” to keep Trump in office. And as Election Day 2022 approached, right-wing outlets were rife with demands (https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/ahead-midterms-right-wing-media-issue-marching-orders-potential-congressional#paragraph--section-heading--3440843) for Republicans to use the power they might gain to scrutinize what they term (https://twitter.com/MattGertz/status/1593272600003764226) the “Biden Crime Family.”

Indeed, Thursday’s event seemed made-to-order for the right-wing press, which rewarded the House Republican leaders with fawning coverage and airtime.

Fox prime time host Sean Hannity opened his program (https://www.foxnews.com/media/sean-hannity-time-hold-your-government-accountable) that night by crowing that “Republicans now have control of the House and soon, for the first time in two years, this administration will finally get their feet held to the fire” before spending several segments purporting to explain how “the big guy himself, Joe Biden” had “ended up using his crack-addicted son as a bag man.” He aired clips from Comer and Jordan speaking at the news conference, then rewarded Comer with an interview, which he concluded by thanking the congressman “for your hard work and your willingness to take on a hard topic.” During the next hour, hostLaura Ingraham also touted the event and aired clips before bringing on Jordan.

---

lots of consp on AZ 2022 losses

https://www.mediamatters.org/voter-fraud-and-suppression/right-wing-media-erupts-conspiracy-theories-after-gop-losses-arizona

https://www.mediamatters.org/steve-bannon/right-wing-media-push-kari-lake-mount-legal-challenge-arizona

---

[https://www.mediamatters.org/climate-deniers/fox-news-platforms-climate-denial-and-great-reset-conspiracy-theory-during-cop27](===

https://www.mediamatters.org/climate-deniers/fox-news-platforms-climate-denial-and-great-reset-conspiracy-theory-during-cop27

ted%20macd

During%20the%20final%20weekend%20of%20the%202022%20United%20Nations%20Climate%20Change%20Conference,%20known%20as%20COP27,%20two%20Fox%20News%20programs%20invited%20longtime%20climate%20denier%20Marc%20Morano%20to%20discuss%20the%20conference%20and%20link%20it%20to%20a%20conspiracy%20theory%20about%20the%20Great%20Reset.

As%20Media%20Matters%20wrote%20last%20week,%20adherents%20to%20the%20Great%20Reset%20conspiracy%20theory%20absurdly%20believe%20that%20global%20elites%20are%20using%20climate%20change%20policies%20in%20order%20to%20crush%20individual%20freedoms%20and%20install%20a%20global%20dictatorial%20government.%20Morano%20is%20a%20key%20driver%20of%20the%20climate%20denial%20components%20of%20this%20conspiracy%20theory.%20We%20also%20noted%20that%20given%20the%20high-profile%20nature%20of%20COP27%20and%20the%20presence%20of%20numerous%20world%20leaders%20there,%20this%20conspiracy%20theory%20would%20proliferate%20within%20right-wing%20discussions%20of%20the%20conference.

And%20now,%20the%20most-watched%20cable%20news%20network%20in%20the%20U.S.%20has%20prominently%20featured%20the%20false%20claims%20in%20its%20discussions%20around%20COP27.

On%20the%20November%2012%20edition%20of%20Unfiltered%20with%20Dan%20Bongino,%20Morano%20stated%20that%20world%20leaders%20want%20to%20“use%20the%20COVID%20template%20to%20fight%20climate,%20i.e.%20authoritarianism,%20you%20don’t%20have%20a%20say,%20democracy%20goes%20to%20die.”%20He%20also%20falsely%20downplayed%20the%20health%20threats%20associated%20with%20climate%20change,%20wrongly%20dismissed%20the%20need%20for%20climate%20action%20as%20too%20expensive,%20and%20directly%20referred%20to%20COP27%20as%20“the%20Great%20Reset%20summit.”%20

Host%20Dan%20Bongino%20also%20brought%20up%20a%20key%20tenet%20of%20the%20Great%20Reset%20conspiracy%20theory,%20which%20is%20that%20climate%20change%20is%20all%20about%20control.%20He%20stated%20that%20the%20conference%20is%20“a%20totalitarian%20way%20to%20control%20things.%20This%20has%20nothing%20to%20do%20with%20climate%20science.)

ted macd no lnx

During the final weekend of the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference, known as COP27, two Fox News programs invited longtime climate denier Marc Morano to discuss the conference and link it to a conspiracy theory about the Great Reset.

As Media Matters wrote last week, adherents to the Great Reset conspiracy theory absurdly believe that global elites are using climate change policies in order to crush individual freedoms and install a global dictatorial government. Morano is a key driver of the climate denial components of this conspiracy theory. We also noted that given the high-profile nature of COP27 and the presence of numerous world leaders there, this conspiracy theory would proliferate within right-wing discussions of the conference.

And now, the most-watched cable news network in the U.S. has prominently featured the false claims in its discussions around COP27.

On the November 12 edition of Unfiltered with Dan Bongino, Morano stated that world leaders want to “use the COVID template to fight climate, i.e. authoritarianism, you don’t have a say, democracy goes to die.” He also falsely downplayed the health threats associated with climate change, wrongly dismissed the need for climate action as too expensive, and directly referred to COP27 as “the Great Reset summit.”

Host Dan Bongino also brought up a key tenet of the Great Reset conspiracy theory, which is that climate change is all about control. He stated that the conference is “a totalitarian way to control things. This has nothing to do with climate science."

[vid]11/12

MORANO (FOUNDER, CLIMATEDEPOT.COM): I'm here in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, at this conference. And not only is the World Economic Forum here, the home of the Great Reset — they were on the panel with John Kerry when he went to use the COVID template to fight climate, i.e. authoritarianism, you don’t have a say, democracy goes to die when they talk like that. But the World Health Organization was also here to morph COVID and climate together by declaring climate a massive public health threat. Despite the fact, Dan, that climate-related deaths have dropped 99% in the last hundred years and they’ve declined due to wealth creation, and development, infrastructure, and fossil fuels. So, this is very scary. This is John Kerry. Al Gore also is here. Along with John Kerry he's pushing his climate trace app that’s going to be tracing all individual CO2 contributors globally. Remember, humans inhale oxygen; we exhale CO2. So they’re modeling a track and trace app for CO2 to go after businesses and agriculture. This is the Great Reset summit here in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.

DAN BONGINO (FOX HOST): Marc, and you’ve been sounding the alarm about this forever. This is all about control. This has nothing to do with science. When the vax started to lose effectiveness against transmission, they almost doubled down on mandates. Their push for digital ID, digital currencies, you know, CO2 monitors — this is just a totalitarian way to control people. This has nothing to do with climate science.

MORANO: It has nothing to do. Here’s how absurd it is. Goldman Sachs economist two weeks ago said on CNBC that we’ve spent almost $4 trillion to reduce fossil fuels 1%. And so, and you’d would think they’d look at that and say solar and wind are failing, you cannot replace fossil fuels at any scale they’re talking. Al Gore comes this week along with John Kerry and wants private industry to spent $4 trillion per year to fight climate change.

That’s how insane this is. It's almost like the old, you know, socialism never failed, it wasn't done correctly in the Soviet Union, it wasn’t done correctly in Venezuela, it wasn’t done correctly in Eastern Europe, it wasn’t done correctly in Cuba. They are now literally looking at this and saying all the failure we see everywhere is more of a reason to double down. And this is what’s scary, Dan: You have every major corporation listed as quote “main partners” at this U.N. climate Great Reset summit including IBM, Google, Coca-Cola, Bank of America.

The next morning, on Fox & Friends Sunday, Morano again fearmongered about the Great Reset at COP27. In addition to claiming that climate change is all about control, he also invoked the idea of lockdowns and the idea that global elites want to disrupt agriculture — also key tenets of the Great Reset conspiracy theory. He closed the interview by insinuating, again, that COP27 is all about the Great Reset, and that these global elites want to increase their power at the expense of human liberties.

[vid]

CAMPOS-DUFFY (FOX HOST): President Joe Biden pledging $150 million to advance Africa's resilience to climate change. This despite 146 million people across the country going hungry. ClimateDepot.com publisher, and author of The Great Reset: Global Elites and The Permanent Lockdown, Marc Morano joins us now. Marc, always great to have you on the show. So 34 million Africans are actually in danger of famine right now. So, why are they offering them money for climate policies and initiatives and not food?

MARC MORANO (FOUNDER, CLIMATEDEPOT.COM): This is an incredible situation. They have it completely backwards. Instead of looking at all the problems in the world, and saying we need more food production, we need high-yield agriculture, they look at it and say we need to stop climate change. And this whole agenda, they have harmed Africa, first of all through COVID policy —

CAMPOS-DUFFY: Yes.

MORANO: — and this is chiefly occurring through COVID lockdowns, which, by the way, the World Health Organization was there, the World Economic Forum was at this U.N. Climate summit where Biden was. And they're pushing more response to climate as the same template as COVID, which means essentially bypassing democracy. But what the Biden administration’s done, they’re allowing this to happen in Africa. We've seen it in the Netherlands. They're collapsing modern high-yield agriculture. They’re doing it in Australia, in Canada. They’re making food more expensive, creating shortages. They’re doing the same thing in transportation and doing the same thing in energy, all in the name of climate change.

…

CAMPOS-DUFFY: Marc, really quickly, yes or no. Is this summit, and all of the initiatives that they're pushing, even this tracking app — is it about the environment, or is it about the Great Reset and population control?

MORANO: This is all about increasing their power, imposing their vision, and their vision is population control, economic control, and basically civil liberties control of every human on the earth. That is really what this conference is about. That is what the United Nations teaming up with the World Economic Forum is all about.

Later in the program, host Rachel Campos-Duffy again brought up the Great Reset. After a discussion about Biden meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping, Campos-Duffy stated that Morano “wrote a book about climate change and how it is part of the Great Reset. It is really fantastic, being very clear what this is about. Climate change is not about the climate. He actually proves it is not really affecting the climate and certainly not worth the trillions of investment that the world and especially America have made in that. But he says it’s about the Great Reset, it’s about control, and it’s ultimately about population control.”

---

YYY 7

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brendan McConville and Elizabeth Williamson spoke about historic and modern-day conspiracy theories in American. They spoke at the 2022 Library of Congress National Book Festival

:{:{}:

https://www.c-span.org/video/?522529-30/author-conversation-conspiracies-america

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not new but notable persist?

an 11 22

a Michigan Republican spoke to a QAnon podcast just after the 2020 election where she made some bizarre comments about Democrats, Vice News found. (https://www.vice.com/en/article/epzkdp/kristina-karamo-qanon-blood-body-parts)

Kristina Karamo, who is seen as an extremist in the race to control elections as the Michigan Secretary of State, talked about "child sacrifice" by the Democratic Party.

“If you go to the Satanic temple website, they have an entire five-minute video explaining why abortion is a religious ritual,” she said interview (https://redpill78news.com/dominion-voting-whistleblower-melissa-carone-update/). “They literally say that it is a sacrifice, it is a religious ritual for them to have an abortion, it is sick. And as you mentioned, the baby body parts… they sell the organs. There’s a ton of money involved in freshly harvested organs. There’s so much evidence out there.”

Organs aren't fully formed during an abortion and wouldn't help anyone, but that logic escaped Karamo, who described it as a kind of church service happening on Satanic altars instead of in medical clinics. The belief is consistent with one of the main QAnon conspiracies and the concept of drinking the blood of the young was a key piece of the PizzaGate conspiracy theory, in which the right claims Democrats are keeping children in basements to drink their blood. A gunman showed up at the local neighborhood pizza parlor known for being a fun place for families as a result of the lies.

In another appearance with the podcast, Karamo claimed that the Jan. 6 attack on Congress in 2021 was "Antifa posing as Trump supporters." It was a conspiracy theory that Republicans tried to spin during the attack, but there was too much evidence to the contrary.

Karamo became known when she claimed she saw election fraud in 2020 while acting as a poll challenger in Detroit.Her statement was part of a challenge to the 2020 election that was thrown out by the Supreme Court. It wasn't long after she became a leading GOP candidate for the Michigan race.

She faces off against Democratic incumbent Jocelyn Benson.

Read the full report at Vice News. (https://www.vice.com/en/article/epzkdp/kristina-karamo-qanon-blood-body-parts)

---

mma 10 22 paul pelosi?

Conspiracy theories about transhumanism profess that elites are attempting to turn human beings into partial machines that frequently has explicitly anti-transgender ideas. Former Trump aide Steve Bannon has frequently pushed (https://www.mediamatters.org/steve-bannon/steve-bannons-latest-crackpot-theory-globalists-want-eradicate-religion-biotechnology) this theory and praised (https://www.mediamatters.org/january-6-insurrection/steve-bannon-praises-alex-jones-after-playing-video-infowars-host-applauding) Infowars’ Alex Jones for doing the same. (Progressive transhumanists reject (https://gen.medium.com/how-to-avoid-becoming-a-fascist-8c0132483151) the version of the ideology expressed by Bannon and Jones.)

oct 28 out#

EMILY COMPAGNO (FOX NEWS HOST): Not everyone in their homes is safe as Paul Pelosi's situation has now demonstrated, frighteningly, and Jackie, I wonder, you know, is it too late, is the climate of violence, politically motivated or otherwise, again we don't know in this particular situation, is it too far to go back? Have the elected officials not done a good enough job of not only condemning violence across the board, but also turning down the temperature rather than sort of increasing rhetoric all across the board that maybe has people sort of riled up and taking things into their own hands, those sort of unfettered criminals and otherwise?

JACKIE DEANGELIS (FOX BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT): I think that's a great question, and again, we're waiting to find out what the motivation was, but there are two things that we could have in our hands there. You know, a crime situation that just happened more randomly or with some motivation but wasn't really targeted at the Pelosis per se. That shines a light at what's happening not only in San Francisco but all these other cities.If we have a situation where this is politically motivated, you have to step back and say, why is our country so divided? President Biden, you got up to the podium and said you were going to bring us together, and that was one of the things you promised people. It's one of the reasons they voted for you and they backed away from Trump because they did think that he was divisive. So why is this happening and why are we so polarized? It's a huge question right now. [semi-fasc?]

---

beast

Intruder Reportedly Yelled ‘Where’s Nancy?’ During Attack on Paul Pelosi

‘VIOLENTLY ASSAULTED’

The 42-year-old suspect, who reportedly shared conspiracy theories about COVID and the 2020 election online, “has always had an opinion,” his stepmom told The Daily Beast.

Justin Rohrlich

Emily Shugerman

Decca Muldowney

Dan Ladden-Hall

Updated Oct. 28, 2022

A 42-year-old man, who reportedly shared COVID conspiracy theories online and lived with a nude activist, was arrested Friday morning for allegedly breaking into House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s home in San Francisco andbludgeoning her husband with a hammer.

Paul Pelosi was hospitalized after being “violently assaulted,” the Speaker’s spokesman said in a statement, by an intruder who reportedly broke in through a rear entrance at about 2:27 a.m.

The assailant was identified by San Francisco Police Chief William Scott as David DePape. Scott said officers encountered DePape and Mr. Pelosi “both holding a hammer” when they arrived. “The suspect pulled the hammer away from Mr. Pelosi and violently assaulted him with it. Our officers immediately tackled the suspect, disarmed him, took him into custody, requested emergency backup, and rendered medical aid.”

The motivation for the attack is still under investigation, Scott said. However, CNN reported that the intruder shouted, “Where is Nancy, where is Nancy?” after entering the home, and tried to tie Mr. Pelosi up “until Nancy got home.”

The intruder reportedly broke into the Pelosi home through a rear entrance.

KGO TV via ABC via REUTERS

According to CNN, DePape had posted YouTube videos about 2020 election conspiracies and the House committee investigating the Capitol riot and shared conspiracy theories about the origins of COVID-19 in other social media posts.

Reached by phone at her home in British Columbia, DePape’s stepmother, Teresa DePape, told The Daily Beast, “David has always had an opinion.”

“I’m one of these people who thinks everybody has an opinion, and I was raised when sticks and stones would break your bones, but words will never hurt you,” she said. “But hammers are not words.”

She said the family had not yet spoken to DePape, who remains in police custody, and DePape’s father, Gene, was at work and unavailable to comment.

She said her stepson chose to stay in B.C. with Gene when Gene divorced DePape’s mother. His only sibling, a sister, moved away, she said.

DePape eventually moved to California, got married, and had kids, Teresa said, describing her shock at the news of her stepson’s arrest. Gene told CNN his son followed a love interest to California about 20 years ago.

“I only have him as a good kid,” Teresa told The Daily Beast before getting off the phone to call the San Francisco PD, saying she wanted to speak to DePape first before commenting further. “Although, at this point, he’s not a kid anymore.”

DePape appears to have sold hemp jewelry, though the website for his business is currently down. (His only tweet reads “Mushroom Hemp Necklaces” and contains a broken link; his Pinterest page contains broken links to several multi-colored necklaces.)

Two relatives told CNN that DePape is estranged from his family, and an acquaintance from eight years ago said he was struggling with hard drugs at the time but was “trying to create a new life for himself.” She said she cut off contact with DePape after receiving “disturbing” emails in which he sounded “dangerous” and “out of touch with reality.” A second woman who worked with DePape about a decade ago said he told her he spoke to angels and that there was “a hard time coming.” Both women said he lived in a storage shed or storage unit at the time.

DePape’s last known address was in Berkeley, California, where he lived with nude activist Gypsy Taub. (Taub is perhaps best known for her nude nuptials in San Francisco, where DePape served as best man.) An SF Gate article from 2013 described the apartment as a three-bedroom, six-person flat that was “perpetually freezing.” DePape reportedly served as a “father figure” to Taub’s three children, who also lived in the apartment.

DePape, Taub, and her children attended a communal Thanksgiving dinner at a market in Oakland in 2008, according to the Oakland Tribune. Taub was quoted as saying, “We like to meet our neighbors. I want my children to learn that everyone is a human being and a friend.” Attempts to contact Taub on Friday were unsuccessful.

Two sources who spoke to the Associated Press said Mr. Pelosi sustained blunt force injuries to his head and body during the early morning attack, leaving him with bruising and severe swelling.

A spokesperson for Nancy Pelosi, who was in D.C. at the time, said her husband was taken to the hospital “where he is receiving excellent medical care and is expected to make a full recovery.”

Shattered panes of glass in what appeared to be the Pelosi home’s rear entrance were visible in footage from a local news chopper hovering over the scene.

The United States Capitol Police said in a statement that the Speaker was in D.C. with her protective detail at the time. It’s not clear what security detail was at the Pelosis’ residence, if any.

“Special Agents with the USCP’s California Field Office quickly arrived on scene, while a team of investigators from the Department’s Threat Assessment Section was simultaneously dispatched from the East Coast to assist the FBI and the San Francisco Police with a joint investigation,” Capitol Police said in a statement, adding that the assailant’s motive was still under investigation.

Larry Kamer, Mr. Pelosi’s spokesperson, told The Daily Beast on Friday morning that he did not have any information to provide.

Assaults are up 11 percent this year in San Francisco, and robberies are up 5 percent, although burglary has actually fallen significantly in 2022, according to statistics on the city police department’s website.

Threats against members of Congress, specifically, have skyrocketed recently, with the number of investigations launched by Capitol Police rising from 3,939 in 2017 to 9,625 in 2021, according to stats provided to The Hill last month.

Members have been granted additional funding for home security, but more is needed as threats continue to escalate, according to the AP.

According to a report released last week by Princeton University’s Bridging Divides Initiative, threats and harassment against public officials have reached “an inflection point.” Focused primarily on local officials, the report found “increasing general support for the use of threats and harassment... with respondents justifying such attacks on ideological grounds.”

Of 400 cases between 2020 and 2022, about 40 percent were related to election issues, 30 percent were related to education issues, and 29 percent to health issues—overwhelmingly COVID-19, the report found, noting that female officials were targeted 3.4 times more than men.

“Thank God [Nancy Pelosi’s] husband Paul is safe after being attacked in their home by an assailant,” Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA) tweeted Friday. “While the motive is still unknown we know where this kind of violence is sanctioned and modeled.”

—with additional reporting by Zachary Petrizzo

---

mma 1020

JESSE WATTERS (HOST): Parents already have to deal with high crime and inflation and now they have to worry about demonic teachers turning their classroom into a drag show? You would think Biden, who is almost 80, would know better. But he doesn't. Maybe that's why they call him creepy Joe. The president, who is already in over his head, wasted his day chatting with atranssexual activist Dillon in the Oval Office about why children should be getting sex changes without their parents' permission.

---

https://www.mediamatters.org/ted-cruz/ted-cruz-appeared-one-fox-news-top-january-6-conspiracy-theorists-sell-his-conspiracy

mma 10 22

ted Cruz appeared with one of Fox News’ top January 6 conspiracy theorists to sell his conspiracy-laden book

WRITTEN BY SOPHIE LAWTON (https://www.mediamatters.org/author/sophie-lawton)

PUBLISHED 10/24/22

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX) APPEARED ON MARK LEVIN’S FOX NEWS SHOW TO PROMOTE HIS NEW (https://twitter.com/tedcruz/status/1584186982120710144) BOOK, JUSTICE CORRUPTED: HOW THE LEFT WEAPONIZED OUR LEGAL SYSTEM,AND PARTICIPATED IN AN INTERVIEW FILLED WITH CONSPIRACY THEORIES AND ELECTION DENIALISM.

Appearing on October 23, Cruz told (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3995747) Levin he wrote the book because Democrats have “turned the Department of Justice, they’ve turned the FBI, they’ve turned the intelligence community into political enforcers.” He said the Department of Justice under President Joe Biden has been taken over by the “deep state” and said it poses “a fundamental threat to our liberty.”

Levin is one of Fox News’ biggest election denialists and a major apologist for the January 6 insurrection:

Levin defended (https://www.mediamatters.org/january-6-insurrection/mark-levin-passionately-defends-trumps-fake-electors-scheme-you-might-think) Donald Trump’s fake elector scheme and the former president’s claims of a stolen election. He claimed that “the system is built for objections” and that “when people say that Trump was trying to reverse an election — it's not over until Congress says it's over.”

Levin also claimed (https://www.mediamatters.org/mark-levin/fox-news-host-mark-levin-says-donald-trumps-potential-tampering-january-6-witness)Trump’s potential (https://www.npr.org/2022/07/12/1111135283/jan-6-trump-witness) tampering with January 6 witnesses would not be against the law and downplayed (https://www.mediamatters.org/mark-levin/fox-news-host-mark-levin-who-even-cares-if-donald-trump-demanded-secret-service-take-him) claims Trump directed the Secret Service to bring him to the Capitol on January 6.

When coup memo author (https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/trump-lawyer-john-eastman-touted-his-plan-overturn-2020-election-interviews-right-wing) John Eastman was under investigation by the January 6 committee, Levin repeatedly defended (https://www.mediamatters.org/january-6-insurrection/mark-levin-used-his-tv-and-radio-platforms-defend-january-6-coup-plotter) the disgraced law professor, saying he “didn’t do anything that was corrupt.” Levin demanded (https://www.mediamatters.org/mark-levin/fox-news-host-mark-levin-demands-liz-cheney-and-january-6-committee-release-his-emails) the release of emails between him and Eastman secured by the committee, claiming, “I'd love to know how they got them, apart from what's in them. Nobody came to me, I didn't get a subpoena.”

Levin also downplayed (https://www.mediamatters.org/mark-levin/mark-levin-passionately-defends-sean-hannity-over-reveal-his-hypocritical-january-6) texts from Fox host Sean Hannity used by the January 6 committee to show Hannity’s hypocrisy (https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/jan-6-committee-asks-fox-news-host-sean-hannity-cooperate-n1286960) over the insurrection.

Levin downplayed (https://www.mediamatters.org/mark-levin/fox-news-mark-levin-downplays-january-6-sedition-charges-its-still-not-insurrection) sedition charges against members of the paramilitary group the Oath Keepers, claiming that “it’s still not an insurrection.”

Levin attacked the January 6 committee, telling (https://www.mediamatters.org/mark-levin/fox-news-host-mark-levin-i-hope-you-dont-watch-january-6-committee-hearing) his audience, “I hope you don’t watch,” and calling the hearings “ridiculous.” He has also called (https://www.mediamatters.org/mark-levin/fox-host-mark-levin-claims-january-6-committee-tried-drag-me-one-point) the committee “an internal enemy” and (https://www.mediamatters.org/mark-levin/mark-levin-describes-january-6-committee-unprecedented-totalitarianism) said it represents “unprecedented totalitarianism.”

He called (https://www.mediamatters.org/mark-levin/fox-news-host-mark-levin-calls-republicans-launch-investigation-january-6-committee) for Republicans to investigate the January 6 committee and even threatened (https://www.mediamatters.org/mark-levin/fox-news-host-threatens-staffers-january-6-committee-im-gonna-find-out-who-every-one)staffers.

Levin pushed (https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/fox-host-mark-levin-pushes-lie-mike-pence-could-have-refused-certify-election-results) the lie that Vice President Mike Pence could have stopped the certification of the 2020 election and the conspiracy theory (https://www.mediamatters.org/mark-levin/fox-news-mark-levin-was-attack-capitol-building-instigated-federal-bureau-investigation) that the FBI instigated the insurrection.

Prior to the January 6 insurrection, Levin pushed (https://www.mediamatters.org/mark-levin/mark-levin-says-any-republican-member-congress-who-refuses-overthrow-election-results) members of Congress to reject the election results, claiming refusing to do so is equivalent to “shredding the Constitution.”

Given Levin’s history, It is no surprise that Cruz decided to promote his revisionist history book on his show.

When asked about the Department of Justice’s handling of January 6 insurrectionists, Cruz said his book includes “the first inside account of what happened on January 6.” Cruz showed that the book includes both election denial and references to right-wing conspiracy theories (https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/05/us/jan-6-ray-epps-evidence.html), noting, “I take them through the evidence of election fraud and voter fraud in November 2020, which the Democrats and the corporate media insist doesn’t exist,” and, “I ask in the book questions like, who is Ray Epps?” (Right-wing media baselessly accused (https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/13/us/politics/jan-6-conspiracy-theory-ray-epps.html) Ray Epps of being an FBI plant who incited the insurrection.

[vid oct 23 life, lib & levin

cruz also revealed that his book discusses “George Soros prosecutors,” saying there is “a really dangerous phenomenon where Soros has put millions in terms of electing radicals who let violent criminals go.” Cruz used the Waukesha, Wisconsin, massacre suspect as an example, claiming a “George Soros prosecutor” let him out of jail before he drove a car into a parade, repeating a conspiracy theory (https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/republicans-blame-democrats-for-waukesha-1262588/) about the event and a common (https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/fox-hosts-preemptively-push-back-against-charges-antisemitism-they-continue-their-paranoid)right-wing trope about the philanthropist

[oct 23? vid]

In a bizarre parting comment to promote the book, Cruz noted the last time he was on Levin's show to promote a book it “shot to number on the Amazon bestseller list” and was released “when Ruth Bader Ginsburg had died,” noting “I'm hopeful we'll see the same thing.” sales vs death presumably

---

https://www.mediamatters.org/ted-cruz/ted-cruz-appeared-one-fox-news-top-january-6-conspiracy-theorists-sell-his-conspiracy

mma 10 22

ted Cruz appeared with one of Fox News’ top January 6 conspiracy theorists to sell his conspiracy-laden book

WRITTEN BY SOPHIE LAWTON (https://www.mediamatters.org/author/sophie-lawton)

PUBLISHED 10/24/22

Levin is one of Fox News’ biggest election denialists and a major apologist for the January 6 insurrection:

Given Levin’s history, It is no surprise that Cruz decided to promote his revisionist history book on his show.

[vid oct 23 life, lib & levin

[oct 23? vid]

---

mma 10 22

no lnx vid

GOP secretary of state nominees will appear at event with Lara Logan, who pushes antisemitic conspiracy theories

WRITTEN BY ERIC HANANOKI

PUBLISHED 10/14/22

Republican secretary of state nominees from Arizona, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Mexico, and Nevada are scheduled to attend an “election integrity forum” moderated by former CBS News correspondent and Fox Nation host Lara Logan this weekend. Those candidates are associating with a far-right conspiracy theorist who has repeatedly pushed antisemitic conspiracy theories about Jewish people supposedly trying to manipulate American events, from the Civil War to the assassination of presidents.

New Mexico secretary of state candidate Audrey Trujillo recently announced that her campaign would host a “New Mexico Election Integrity Forum” on October 15 featuring Logan. The event will feature election-denying secretary of state candidates who have a history of promoting toxic rhetoric and conspiracy theories, including in the media: Rayla Campbell (Massachusetts); Mark Finchem (Arizona); Kristina Karamo (Michigan); Jim Marchant (Nevada); and Trujillo.

Campbell is a QAnon supporter. Finchem posted QAnon propaganda on the white nationalist haven Gab. Karamo hosted an anti-LGBTQ podcast and claimed Beyoncé, Cardi B, and other musicians are tools of Satan. Marchant has forwarded bizarre conspiracy theories about a global “cabal” stealing elections. And Trujillo has claimed that Democrats and the deep state “create” school shootings so that they can “make people fearful” and “take away our guns.”

Other than Campbell, all of those candidates are part of Marchant’s America First Secretary of State Coalition, which falsely claims that Donald Trump won the 2020 election and works with QAnon influencers. They and Logan are also connected to QAnon influencer Juan O. Savin, who has pushed conspiracy theories about 9/11 and the 2017 Las Vegas mass shooting.

The New Mexico event is the latest election-denying event for Logan, who has traveled across the country moderating such events in places including Arizona, Florida, Kansas, Ohio, and Texas.

Logan has increasingly associated with the QAnon community. She has also pushed numerous far-right conspiracy theories this year. Among them:

She claimed that Darwinism is a plot from “the Rothschilds.” Antisemites have long accused the Rothschilds of masterminding world events and tragedies.

She shared a piece claiming that Jewish people are behind “a one world government" and “central banking and big corporate money" and are the “divider and conqueror” and “the aggressor, yet always the victim." The piece also claimed the Rothschilds engineered the U.S. Civil War and the assassinations of Presidents Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy, and that Russian dictator Vladimir Putin purged "the Rothschild money changers.”

She claimed that January 6 was a “manufactured event. We know it was orchestrated just like Charlottesville was orchestrated.”

She said that the United Nations is “infiltrating 100 million people into the United States as the basis for forming a regional government instead of a national government.”

Logan has continued pushing fringe claims in recent weeks.

During a September 19 video to her Locals.com channel, Logan said people came to the United States in 1776 because they were purportedly “escaping the reach of the Rothschilds and, you know, the central bankers of today.” She then proceeded to claim that the Illuminati -- a secret society that is frequently the focus of global conspiracy theories -- “were able to infiltrate” the country through seminaries and then suggested that “the same model” has been used to control government, schools, corporations, and the media.

Video

CitationFrom a September 19, 2022, video by Lara Logan

OFF-CAMERA ASSISTANT: From Isaiah586: “Hello, Laura. How do you come to understand this is a spiritual battlewhen so many pastors don't even get it? The church at large is asleep. God bless you.”

LARA LOGAN: Well, that's a very interesting question, because the church — I don’t believe the church at large is asleep. I think the church is complicit. And I'll tell you why. It's rooted in history. If you go back to the founding of this country back in 1776. Right? And you look at how this country was founded. You had people who were escaping the reach of the Rothschilds and, you know, the central bankers of today, those old families. You had them break free of their clutches and head for the colonies, right? Head into uncharted waters.And the Illumens at the time, which are the hierarchy of the Illuminati, they allowed that to happen. They had people watching this experiment to make sure that if it indeed did succeed, that they would have the ability to influence it and control it. But they didn't really have great expectations.

…

The colonies, the people rise up and they say, we're not going to put up with this. We're not going to have it. And that's when the Illumens look at this and they say, well, wait a minute, now. This pesky problem is growing bigger and stronger. You know, go ahead and take care of it. And that's what they expected to happen. What they didn't expect to happen was that the colonies together would rise up and defeat their colonial masters, the British, and that they would march forward to freedom and establish the United States in 1776. And so everything that we're seeing today stems from that moment in history. Because what the Illumen then realized they had to do was to infiltrate the churches because this was the backbone of the rebellion. And what happened historically is that they struggled to infiltrate with the church leaders and the pastors and so on. So where did they turn their attention? They turned it to the seminaries, and that's where they were able to infiltrate, to infiltrate the houses of learning as opposed to the houses of worship.

…

And so what you talk about as the church being asleep is really a very well-funded, orchestrated takeover of the church and infiltration of the church into decay from within, which is pretty much the same model that you can see across the board. It happened in education in this country. It's happened in government. It's happened in our government institutions, from the executive branch to the Department of Justice, to the colleges, to the schools, to the teachers unions and so on and so on. And now, of course, the corporations, the PR firms, the publishing firms, the media, you can see these same patterns replicated over and over. Because why?Because one side has to come in darkness and in deception,hide their true intent, mask who they really are, infiltrate what others have built, and take it over from within. Because they don't create. They copy. They counterfeit. They destroy from within. But they don't create.

Logan made similar remarks during a September 15 appearance on the QAnon program The Mel K Show. She said that the Pilgrims were running away from the Rothschilds and that the Illuminati were fighting with the British against the colonists. She later added: “It's absolutely no different today. We're fighting exactly the same ideology and, in some cases, you know, with people like the Rothschilds, the same people even.”

---

someone said false flag is inevitable? 4th? final stage of conspir life cycle

https://www.mediamatters.org/january-6-insurrection/spotifys-joe-rogan-has-repeatedly-spread-baseless-conspiracy-theory-january

---

w/ trump pol is just kneejerk reverse BO; w/ bannon it is assign evil motive for all actions

https://www.mediamatters.org/steve-bannon/steve-bannon-says-biden-administrations-initiative-cure-cancer-covert-operation

NOTE AS W CONSPIR THE LACK OF EVIDENCE IS PROOF

CHICOM PTY MODEL WEF admin state pol central bank plus state owned ind converge for totalitarian power; all godless, so want to live forever;

tpusa in person

STEVE BANNON: This is the biggest inflection point in human history. In the lived experience of half of this room, or maybe more, we're going to get to a point where you're going to have human 2.0. Right? They're telling you that. They're funding that. This is not science fiction, this is fact.

They talk about they’re going to save kids, and they’re going to do this -- that’s all crap. They want to be immortal. Right?And they also say there's too many people, the carrying capacity of this planet– there's too many people, right? So we gotta figure out how we're going to do here. You know, they're all over Tucker and the Great Replacement theory and about the thing. Hey, the Great Replacement theory is homo sapiens. That's what they're trying to replace.

They’re going to have their deal and devil catch the hindmost. And people say well hold it I haven't heard about that. Of course you haven't heard about it. They don't want to talk about it. They're just going to do it. And they're going to call it theCancer Moonshot. This is what we have to stop.

---

https://www.mediamatters.org/one-america-news-network/oan-lara-logan-claims-migrants-are-part-globalist-plan-unified-government (https://www.mediamatters.org/one-america-news-network/oan-lara-logan-claims-migrants-are-part-globalist-plan-unified-government)

mma 9 22

LARA LOGAN: We have in place an administration filled with open border ideologues who are implementing a globalist policy, that no one was given the option in this country to vote on, that bypasses the legislature and is completely in violation of the constitution. And what they're edging towards, and I know this from a source who was in meetings at the UN, and behind you know, closed doors, these are classified meetings and listened to these discussions of infiltrating 100 million people into the United States as the basis for forming a regional government instead of a national government.

So, a government of Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. This is the strategy that's in place. And so things like the cartels were created as part of a push-pull strategy, where they would push people out of those countries because life would become unbearable, and pull them into the United States. It's about the destruction of this country. And, uh, and it's put in place step by step so that you don't really know what is happening. And so what is happening is, what some people have done now, a group of private citizens has funded a threat assessment of the national security threat on the southern border. Because the government is failing to do its job. And the, the basic premise is that you cannot begin to solve a problem that hasn't even been defined.

DAN BALL (Host):Wow, I mean you just threw a lot at us and I hope everybody absorbed that and understands what we're talking about. Because a lot of times we touch the surface on interviews of course we talk about the fentanyl deaths, we talk about the human trafficking and the rape, but we're not talking about the Great Reset, we're not talking about how they're changing the fabric of this nation and what they're attempting to do, by allowing these open boarders and what Laura just told us about blending Mexico, Canada, America, that is no longer American dominant. And then you heard my lead-up, Laura, about how are foes, China, Russia, see all this and they want the fall of the West.That's what everyone wants. No one wants America to be the strong country it's been, especially our foes.

LOGAN: And you know what though, Dan? It's interesting because this isn't just about the fall of America and the West. This is about the end of life as we have known it.

---

recycled

mirror? real am do not belong in church? pinko prof recycled BS

an 922 david badash

Ron Johnson (https://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/?s=Ron+Johnson) (R-WI) is angered Democratic voters are allowed to go to church, college, and be employed by those institutions and even the federal government, saying they have “infiltrated”these essential areas of American life and many others.

An elections and COVID conspiracy theory promotor, Senator Johnson, appearing on far-right-wing talk show host Mark Levin’s Sunday night Fox News show, declared, “what this entire election is about is fighting for freedom.”

It’s a common refrain for the Wisconsin Republican who infamously spent the Fourth of July in 2018 in Moscow, “posing for propaganda photos with Russian officials” as The Washington Post’s Dana Milbank (https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/eight-republicans-spent-july-4-in-russia-where-are-the-fireworks/2018/07/06/beae30be-812e-11e8-b658-4f4d2a1aeef1_story.html) noted at the time, while posting a tweet (https://twitter.com/SenRonJohnson/status/1014487741416042497) for his American constituents proclaiming, “What does July 4th mean to me? Freedom.”

READ MORE: ‘Putin’s Favorite Senator’ Ron Johnson Scorched for Claiming Dems Weakened Ukraine by Impeaching Trump: ‘FBI Warned You’ (https://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/2022/02/putins-favorite-senator-ron-johnson-scorched-for-claiming-dems-weakened-ukraine-by-impeaching-trump-fbi-warned-you/)

Milbank observed Johnson’s Moscow visit came on “the same day it was reported in Britain (https://arstechnica.com/science/2018/07/british-couple-poisoned-in-new-novichok-case-russia-again-denies-involvement/) that two more people had been poisoned by a Russian nerve agent British officials say came from Vladimir Putin’s regime. On the day after the Senate Intelligence Committeeaffirmed the U.S. intelligence community’s conclusion (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia-cyber/senate-panel-backs-intelligence-agencies-on-russia-trump-conclusions-idUSKBN1JT2YB) that Russia interfered in the election to help Donald Trump.”

Johnson, facing a tight re-election race for a third term despite having promised to retire after his second (https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/01/09/ron-johnson-reelection/), is running against Democratic Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes.

On Sunday Johnson suggested to Levin that liberals, Democrats, and anyone on “the left” as he put it, do not have an inherent right to participate in American life on an equal footing as Republicans.

And he accused Democrats of “infiltrating” American life four times.

READ MORE: ‘Wants to Steal Your Money’: Ron Johnson Thinks Rick Scott’s Social Security Plan Is ‘Not Cruel Enough’ Say Critics (https://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/2022/08/wants-to-steal-your-money-ron-johnson-thinks-ricks-scotts-social-security-plan-is-not-cruel-enough-say-critics/)

“The press is so unbelievably powerful and the left has infiltrated every institution of this country,” Johnson told Levin.

“They started with the college and university system. So they control college of education and journalism and law. And they’ve infiltrated every agency. They’ve infiltrated religions. They’ve infiltrated everything and now we’re seeing the results of that.”

“That’s why our nation is literally on a precipice. We’re at a hinge point in history,” Johnson declared.

“We have to win this election and we have to win many more because we’ve got to push them out of these institutions and return some normalcy, return the values that made this country great,” Johnson, echoing the trumpist mantra, concluded.

READ MORE: ‘Delusional Huckster,’ ‘Charlatan,’ ‘Political Grifter’ and a ‘Virus’: 100-Year Old Newspaper Destroys Ron Johnson (https://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/2022/01/delusional-huckster-charlatan-political-grifter-and-a-virus-100-year-old-newspaper-destroys-ron-johnson/)

While there is little public polling, the last four polls (https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2022/senate/wi/wisconsin_senate_johnson_vs_barnes-7758.html#polls) show Barnes up over Johnson by an average of 4.3 points.

Saying it “could be one of the uglier races of 2022,” Politico (https://www.politico.com/2022-election/race-forecasts-ratings-and-predictions/wisconsin/senate/) lists it as a “tossup.” As of Monday FiveThirtyEight (https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2022-election-forecast/senate/wisconsin/) puts the Johnson vote ahead of Barnes by 0.2 percentage points.

Watch below or at this link (https://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/2022/09/infiltrated-senator-angered-democrats-allowed-to-go-to-college-and-church-work-in-government-agencies-video/).

---

mma 9 22

While children’s hospitals were facing a deluge of violent threats in August from an online campaign (https://www.mediamatters.org/tucker-carlson/right-wing-media-targeting-boston-childrens-hospital-providing-care-trans-youth) of intimidation and misinformation fueled by anti-LGBTQ trolls, Fox News repeatedly provided a platform for the individuals responsible for the harassment to amplify their attacks. Over the course of two weeks, Fox News — the most-watched cable network in the country — spent more time and ran more segments targeting three different children’s hospitals over false claims about gender-affirming care than CNN or MSNBC combined spent discussing the attacks.

Led by conservative social media figures including Chaya Raichik (https://www.mediamatters.org/twitter/twitter-libs-tiktok-driving-threats-against-childrens-hospital) and Matt Walsh (https://twitter.com/mmfa/status/1559964104483381248), an online campaign began by targeting Boston Children’s Hospital and Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C., with false claims that they were providing hysterectomies for trans youth. The unsubstantiated claims were debunked (https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2022/aug/12/tweets/no-boston-childrens-hospital-doesnt-provide-hyster) by independent fact-checking websites and refuted by the hospitals (https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/09/02/lgbtq-threats-hospitals-libs-of-tiktok/), which did not stop right-wing media figures from taking up the attacks to malign all gender-affirming care for trans youth as “mutilation.”

In reality, these hospitals do not provide genital surgery to trans youth. Rather, they follow the standards of care established (https://www.childrenshospital.org/programs/center-gender-surgery-program) by national medical organizations, offering medically necessary (https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-the-science-on-gender-affirming-care-for-transgender-kids-really-shows/) care that is supported (https://www.glaad.org/blog/medical-association-statements-supporting-trans-youth-healthcare-and-against-discriminatory) by every major medical organization in America.

Fox News amplified the architects of the harassment campaign that resulted in threats of violence against at least three different children’s hospitals

Amid the influx of threats against children’s hospitals, Fox News adopted the attacks as part of its ongoing (https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/fox-news-attacked-transgender-americans-kick-lgbtq-pride-month) effort to demonize trans health care for political points and at the expense (https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/right-wing-medias-latest-anti-lgbtq-strategy-call-kids-be-taken-away-their-parents) of trans children.

Between August 18, when the network’s first segment attacking Boston Children’s Hospital aired, and August 31, when Fox aired its most recent segment, attacking Chicago’s Lurie Children’s Hospital, the network aired 7 segments and spent more than 20 minutes vilifying the hospitals. Notably, three of the Fox prime-time shows featuring the attacks are in the top 10 (https://www.adweek.com/tvnewser/here-are-the-top-rated-cable-news-shows-for-q2-2022/510090/) most-watched cable news programs in the country — Tucker Carlson Tonight, The Ingraham Angle, and Jesse Watters Primetime.

And while other Fox News prime-time shows similarly (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3993364) repeated (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3993366) anti-trans attacks on the children’s hospitals, Tucker Carlson’s program has been the most responsible for amplifying the misinformation campaign and the figures behind it.

On August 18, the day after Vice News (https://www.vice.com/en/article/epzv9a/libsoftiktok-trans-children-boston-hospital) reported that far-right extremists were threatening to execute doctors at Boston Children’s Hospital over lies told about their gender-affirming care program, Carlson invited Chris Elston onto his show. Elston, a Canadian anti-trans extremist (https://www.antihate.ca/chris_elston_bc_man_taking_anti_trans_hate_tour_across_canada) whose tweet (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3992418) kicked off the attacks on Boston Children’s Hospital, erroneously claimed gender-affirming care was “the biggest child abuse scandal in modern medicine history,” while Carlson called the care “sexual mutilation of children."

[vid]

a week later, Fox News ran 5 segments attacking D.C.’s Children’s National Hospital after it was targeted with a similar smear campaign prompted by Raichik, whose Twitter account “Libs of TikTok” has been instrumental (https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/fox-news-using-libs-tiktok-twitter-account-wire-service-anti-lgbtq-attacks) in fueling Fox News’ anti-LGBTQ messaging. After the hospital reported (https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/08/26/childrens-national-hospital-trans-hysterectomies/) its staff had received threats of violence, Carlson invited Raichik onto the August 30 edition of his show.

During the segment, Carlson falsely claimed Children’s National Hospital was “castrating young people, minors for no legitimate purpose whatsoever” and asserted that Raichik was “committing actual journalism."

[vid]

the night Carlson’s interview with Raichik aired, Boston Children’s Hospital was targeted with a bomb threat (https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/bomb-threat-to-boston-childrens-hospital-remains-under-investigation/2822917/).

The next night, propagandist Chris Rufo (https://www.mediamatters.org/accuracy-media/outlets-new-yorker-keep-giving-chris-rufo-platform-spread-dangerous-propaganda-about) earned a spot on Carlson’s show after falsely (https://www.wonkette.com/professional-sh-tposter-chris-rufo-attacks-children-s-hospital-with-bogus-trans-panic-claims) claiming that Lurie Children’s Hospital was promoting “‘trans-friendly’ sex toys for children” based on a resource document provided (https://www.city-journal.org/chicago-childrens-hospital-partners-with-local-school-districts-to-promote-radical-gender-theory) exclusively to teachers.

Carlson opened the segment by saying, “Most people trust children's hospitals implicitly. They just didn't know the details — but thanks to the internet, we now do.” He went on to claim that “some of these hospitals are performing horrifying experiments on children,” including “things you think would be crimes but that apparently aren't and that are going on in children's hospitals in the United States." [vid]

fox News’ attacks on children’s hospitals have outpaced mainstream cable network’s coverage of the threats

Coverage of the targeted harassment and threats against multiple major children’s hospitals from CNN and MSNBC lagged behind Fox News’ attacks against the same facilities. Not only did Fox spend more time (over 20 minutes) attacking and spreading misinformation on children’s hospitals over gender-affirming care than the other two networks spent covering the attacks (less than 19 minutes), but no show on either mainstream network has aired more than one segment on the attacks. Meanwhile, Tucker Carlson Tonight alone has aired 3 segments attacking the hospitals. In fact, Carlson’s show spent more time (just under 12 minutes) attacking children’s hospitals than CNN spent discussing the attacks across all programming (just over 5 minutes). MSNBC spent just over 13 minutes discussing the story.

While Carlson repeatedly hosted guests pushing anti-trans misinformation against gender-affirming care, only one show segment on either CNN or MSNBC interviewed a medical professional. The August 18 edition of MSNBC’s The 11th Hour With Stephanie Ruhlespoke with (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3993413) a doctor about the struggle of providing essential health care for trans youth while facing a barrage of threats.

Methodology

...

---

omfg

5th stage fake false flags?!

https://www.mediamatters.org/infowars/infowars-host-bomb-threat-boston-childrens-hospital-was-false-flag-hospital-itself

alex j show:

mma 9 22

OWEN SHROYER (HOST): They set up the false flags. They set up the false narratives so that they can claim to be the victim and assume more power as their hour of corruption is on full display. Why doesn't the DOJ want federal agents blowing the whistle? Because they know what they're doing is illegal.

Why does the Boston Children's Hospital erase all the documents about the trans kids' surgeries and erase all their videos about the trans kids' surgeries? Because they know what they're doing is child abuse. They don't want you to know what they're doing, but they want to be able to do it in public so that you just assume it's okay. But then when you pointed out and you say, Hey, that's not okay, they say, Wait a second, we're not even doing this. Because they know it's criminal.

They're abusing children. And they're using the government in authoritarian, totalitarian ways. And we just sit here and take it because our Congress is so pathetic. Our media is so pathetic. And quite frankly, the average American person is so pathetic. Sad truths. Sad truths.

So they set themselves up at the victim. "Bomb Threat At Boston Children's Hospital Was A False Alarm, Police Say."

Oh, you don't say.

They probably bomb threat themselves. Probably one of those liberal doctors that chops little kids' weenies off and chops little girls' breasts off. Probably one of those doctors, they called in a fake bomb threat to say, see, I'm the victim now, bring in more kids for me to slaughter. Bring in more kids for me to chop up. Bring in more kids for me to slice and dice. I'm a liberal, and I'm here to slaughter your baby. And then when you call it out, they erase the documents, they erased the videos, and they say, we never did this. In fact, you're lying about us, and now we're getting bomb threats.

They're unreal in their lying and their fraud and their corruption. And their disdain towards humanity.

FBI does the same thing. The Daily Beast today. FBI is facing unprecedented mega threats. Oh, what a bunch of federal agents go online and post anonymous accounts threatening the FBI. Oh, oh, like a bunch of federal agents pretend to kidnap Governor Whitmer. Try to pretend to kidnap Governor Northam. Go out on January 6th inciting violence, telling people to go into the Capitol. Unbelievable levels of corruption. This is the most dangerous time in this country's history. Perhaps even the world.

If the American government becomes this authoritarian and this corrupt, folks, it's over. Forget about it. Forget about it. America is the last bastion of hope and freedom and independence and prosperity that this planet has to offer. And if it goes away, it's done. It's over. And that's why the globalists are so intent on destroying America right now.That's why you see all the operations so hardcore in America right now.

So they false flag themselves. Oh, we're getting threatened. They threatened themselves. It's false flag. Whether it's the Boston Children's Hospital or whether it's the FBI, it's them doing it to themselves so that they can cry victim in their time of exposure. And then they threaten employees who dare go public with the corruption.

---

omfg

https://www.mediamatters.org/one-america-news-network/oan-calls-darya-dugina-casualty-joe-bidens-red-regime-and-its-war-impose

8 22

PEARSON SHARP (CORRESPONDENT): Washington's proxy war against Russia claims another victim. Darya Dugina, an innocent journalist, who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. On Saturday night, Darya was killed in a massive explosion from a car bomb planted under her father's truck. Evidence suggests that bomb was meant for her father instead – the famous Russian political commentator Aleksandr Dugin, who also happens to be a close friend with president Vladimir Putin. Darya, like her father, has been adamantly opposed to the illegal, criminal, and unprovoked western aggression in eastern Europe, especially towards Russia. Over the last year, she has cemented her reputation as an independent journalist fiercely critical of Joe Biden’s red regime, as well as his efforts to start World War III.

Her reporting took her across the war zones in Ukraine, where she even contributed to a documentary by One America News on the fighting at the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol. Of course, you can't cover Joe Biden’s shadow war against Moscow without including hispuppets in the corrupt Ukrainian government. Puppets like president Volodymyr Zelensky, who’s been bought and paid for byGeorge Soros. But tragically, truth-telling in journalism is rarely profitable, especially for an independent journalist, and Darya’s courageous reporting made her the target of some very powerful enemies.

…

Naturally, Ukraine is denying any involvement. In a very convincing speech, one of Zelensky's stooges protested that Ukraine couldn't be responsible for the assassination because Ukraine is not a criminal state. No, Ukraine is just run by criminals who are financed by the greatest criminals on Earth, like George Soros, and which works hand in hand with the criminals in the Biden crime syndicate. No, no, no reason to suspect Ukraine.

…

SHARP: Following the brutal assassination, western governments drummed up their allies in the media to pump out attacks on Darya, with the BBC even pushing sickening reports trying to portray her death as justified. The New York Times ran a hit piece on Darya, trying to discredit her work and painting her as a pro-Russian radical, calling her an ultranationalist guilty of spreading misinformation about the war in Ukraine.

But for anyone remotely familiar with Darya or her work, that's obviously fake news designed to cover up western war crimes in Ukraine, which Darya was fighting hard to expose.

…

SHARP: These are scenes from the documentary she contributed to for One America News. Darya described the war in Ukraine as the result of liberal fascism,which by definition is exactly what it is. This is a conflict brought on by the liberals, the Democrats in Washington, as a result of the rampant fascism and their war toimpose totalitarianismupon the entire world. Darya was absolutely right. And now, she's dead.

…

SHARP: Ultimately, Darya will be remembered as a brave and courageous journalist, who took a stand for freedom, and for the innocent civilians suffering from the illegal wars of Washington. She exposed the crime and corruption behind these conflicts, and paid for it with her life. One more casualty of the criminal war being waged by Joe Biden and his bloody regime.

But as long as we keep her memory alive, and continue reporting the truth about what's happening in Ukraine, then that freedom and her struggle will never die. For One America News, I'm Pearson Sharp.

---

https://www.mediamatters.org/blazetv/right-wing-host-line-between-blazetv-fox-news-and-infowars-getting-blurred-most-healthy-way

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aha note gubmint so demonized by gop and libtards/kochs that any accusation instantly believed by trumpistas?

an 8 22

no lnx twt

Donald Trump peddles conspiracy theory about FBI 'planting' evidence

Igor Derysh and Salon August 10, 2022

President Donald Trump and his lawyers pushed a conspiracy theory that FBI agents may have "planted" incriminating evidence while executing a search warrant at his Mar-a-Lago residence.

FBI agents on Monday executed a warrant at Trump's Palm Beach home, meaning that a judge found enough probable cause to approve the search. Agents investigating presidential documents that Trump took with him to Mar-a-Lago, including classified materials, removed 12 boxes of items from Mar-a-Lago after Trump turned over 15 boxes of materials to the National Archives earlier this year, according to the Washington Post.Trump attorney Christina Bobb told the outlet that the search warrant indicated that the FBI is investigating possible violations of the Presidential Records Act and laws related to the handling of classified material. Trump has thus far refused to release his copy of the search warrant even though it could provide transparency on what agents were searching for.

Bobb said that she was not allowed to observe the search, as is common during such FBI operations. But Trump and his lawyers have seized on that fact to push a conspiracy theory that the FBI may have "planted" something without providing any evidence to support their claims.

"The FBI and others from the Federal Government would not let anyone, including my lawyers, be anywhere near the areas that were rummaged and otherwise looked at during the raid on Mar-a-Lago," Trump said on his Twitter knockoff Truth Social. "Everyone was asked to leave the premises, they wanted to be left alone, without any witnesses to see what they were doing[CCTV?] , taking or, hopefully not, 'planting.' Why did they STRONGLY insist on having nobody watching them, everybody out? Obama and Clinton were never 'raided,' despite big disputes!"

Bobb, a former TV host at the right-wing outlet OAN who joined Trump's legal team, made a similar claim on Monday, citing only the fact that she was not allowed to observe the search.

"There is no security that something wasn't planted," Bobb said in an interview, adding, "I'm not saying that's what they did."

"At this point, I don't necessarily think that they would even go to the extent of trying to plant information, I think they just make stuff up and come up with whatever they wantand that's the way that they will have to proceed in order to actually try to indict the president because they don't have anything," she said.

Fellow Trump attorney Alina Habba told Fox News that she was also "concerned that they may have planted something. You know, at this point, who knows? I don't trust the government and that's a very frightening thing as an American."

Trump's right-wing allies have parroted this evidence-free claim to their followers.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., cited his distrust of the government to suggest that the FBI "may put something" in the boxes they removed from Mar-a-Lago to "entrap" Trump.

"I think there is an extremely high probability that the FBI planted 'evidence' against President Trump," tweeted Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga. "Otherwise WHY would they NOT allow his attorneys or anyone watch them while they conducted their unprecedented raid? They know the consequences of an empty handed power move."

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., and Trump ally Charlie Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA, both discussed their belief that the FBI may have "planted evidence" on Kirk's show Monday.

Trump's defenders on Fox News have also echoed the claim.

"They could have easily negotiated the return of documents like that without guns and warrants. What the FBI is probably doing is planting evidence," Fox News host Jesse Watters said without any evidence. "We also have a hunch they doctored evidence to get the warrant."

Fox & Friends host Ainsley Earhardt suggested that FBI agents may have dumped "backpacks" full of incriminating evidence at Mar-a-Lago.

"His lawyer said they brought in backpacks, what was in those backpacks?" Earhardt said. "Did they bring those in to fill them up or did they have something in there?"

Agents raided Mar-a-Lago because they believed Trump did not turn over all classified information he had taken to his home, according to The Wall Street Journal. Trump's lawyers had been in discussions with federal officials about the records for months. Trump attorneys in June showed investigators a basement room where boxes of materials were being stored. The Justice Department directed Trump's team to secure the room, prompting them to add a padlock to the door. It's unclear what triggered Monday's raid.

Legal experts pushed back on the claims. Former federal prosecutor Elie Honig called the idea that FBI agents "may" have planted evidence "ridiculous."

"How would anybody even know at this point?" he questioned. "If you're going to fabricate some accusation, at least wait until you might plausibly have a basis for it."

Former federal prosecutor Richard Signorelli condemned Trump's attorneys for pushing the claim.

"These are baseless lies but unfortunately will be believed by deranged, ignorant MAGA cult members," he tweeted.

Defense attorney Ken White noted that forbidding anyone from observing their searches is standard practice.

"Law enforcement does not let anyone, including lawyers, observe what they're doing during searches," he wrote. "They typically remove everyone from the searched area. This has always been the case. This is the latest 'it's an outrage when the typical happens to me.'"

Former federal prosecutor Michael Stern suggested that TrumpWorld is trotting out the claim because the FBI may have found damaging evidence at his home.

"I have written hundreds of search warrants. Lawyers and people whose homes are being search[ed] are routinely not present during the search," he wrote. "That Trump is now talking about 'planted' evidence means he knows there is something damning they found."

---

2x? prozac in water supply

https://www.alternet.org/2022/06/tucker-carlson/

---

breitbart categorizations? started as Left term for large entrenched power? the establishment? co-opted mirror

big tech soc media bias BS, pharma // vax?

ties in with conspiracy/ agenda: there is ONE secret bad entity trying to take our freedom/destroy USA

SPARKED BY, I SHIT YOU NOT:

BIG GENDER?!

jon s salon an 7 22

A right-wing group in Missouri has launched (https://libertyallianceusa.com/woke-heat-map/) a "woke heat map" documenting instances of "wokeness" in an attempt to fight back against "critical race theory" and alleged "grooming" in schools across the state.

The group, dubbed "Liberty Alliance," says it is "committed to fighting back against the Woke agenda that is permeating all across Missouri."

"The first step in fighting back is uncovering their crazy ideas – from Critical Race Theory to grooming toddlers with sexually explicit books," the organization states on its website. "That is why we have officially launched the Woke Heat Map – an interactive tool designed to expose the insane actions of the radical Left. This map will alert Missourians of craziness happening in their own communities."

"‘Liberty Alliance’ has launched a ‘Woke Interactive Map’ to warn MAGA about instances of woke behavior in a particular community. The site will alert people if either: 1. CRT, 2. Woke Extremism, or 3. ‘Action by a Crazy Leftist’ has taken place," Ron Filipkowski tweeted (https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1531034501379502090).

"This is the “Genderbread Person” & the latest example of the insanity that’s in Missouri schools," Eric Schmitt tweeted (https://twitter.com/Eric_Schmitt/status/1514240964755345421). "We launched The Students First Initiative to empower parents & bring transparency back to Missouri schools. This was submitted by a Fox C-6 parent We’ll keep exposing the extremism."

Another Twitter user added (mailto:A%20reminder%20that%20on%20college%20campuses,%20anyone%20that%20doesn%E2%80%99t%20fall%20in%20line%20with%20the%20left%20are%20censored%20%20Where%20are%20you%20at%20@SLU_Official?%20These%20actions%20continued%20into%20the%20night%20and%20no%20one%20has%20been%20punished%20for%20vandalizing%20a%20peaceful%20#prolife%20@SLUSFL%20display%20%20#FreeSpeech%20@StudentsforLife), "A reminder that on college campuses, anyone that doesn’t fall in line with the left are censored Where are you at @SLU_Official (https://twitter.com/SLU_Official?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1458074931502239755%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.alternet.org%2Fr%2Fentryeditor%2F2657639567publish)? These actions continued into the night and no one has been punished for vandalizing a peaceful #prolife (https://twitter.com/hashtag/prolife?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1458074931502239755%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.alternet.org%2Fr%2Fentryeditor%2F2657639567publish&src=hashtag_click) @SLUSFL (https://twitter.com/SLUSFL?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1458074931502239755%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.alternet.org%2Fr%2Fentryeditor%2F2657639567publish) display #FreeSpeech (https://twitter.com/hashtag/FreeSpeech?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1458074931502239755%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.alternet.org%2Fr%2Fentryeditor%2F2657639567publish&src=hashtag_click) [Students for Life (https://twitter.com/StudentsforLife?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1458074931502239755%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.alternet.org%2Fr%2Fentryeditor%2F2657639567publish)]"

Liberty Alliance's map isn't the first of its kind. Over the years, numerous right-wing groups have created rankings, watchlists, and cluster maps to keep track of the left's alleged influence in healthcare and education as well as Corporate America.

Last October, Salon reported (https://www.salon.com/2021/10/30/co-opting-the-message-how-anti-trans-activists-hijacked-a-tool-meant-to-help-trans-people/) on a custom Google map created by trans activist Erin Reed that provides those seeking hormone replacement therapy with the names and locations of nearly 800 informed consent clinics throughout the country.By February of that year, Reed told Salon, her map was repurposed by anti-trans activist Alix Aharon as a resource for organizing protests against doctorswho provide gender-affirming care. That new map, called "The Gender Mapper (https://www.gendermapper.org/name-and-shame-doctors)," was quickly taken down over apparent copyright infringement. However, a new one has since appeared in its place, cataloging roughly 200 clinics in total.

On its website, The Gender Mapper accuses (https://www.gendermapper.org/) "Big Gender" of testing "experimental medication" on "confused and vulnerable children."

"GenderMapper volunteers work in secret, around the world to collate evidence and document what is occurring," the site adds. "Gendermapper volunteers are unsung [sic] heros- and data is our truth."

Right-wing groups have also sought to crack down on left-wing "indoctrination" on college campuses.

Notable among them isTurning Point USA, a conservative youth advocacy group, which runs a "Professor Watchlist (https://professorwatchlist.org/)" designed to keep right-wing students abreast of "college professors who discriminate against conservative students and advance leftist propaganda in the classroom."...

---

raw story

READ MORE: 'More insane than usual' QAnon 'documentary' claims vaccines will transfer Satan's DNA into your blood

---

https://www.alternet.org/2022/07/marjorie-taylor-greene-highland-park/

false flag

---

omg

https://www.alternet.org/2022/07/alex-jones-declares-independence-aliens/

7 22 an

Infowars host, notorious right-wing provocateur, and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones has issued a proclamation urging Americans – or whoever is as concerned as he is – to join him in rejecting the tyrannical kakistocracy of humanity's sinister extraterrestrial overlords.

“I declare this July 4th, 2022 to be a Declaration of Independence against the alien force on this planet today waging war against humans and our biology and our very future that is attempting to exterminate the majority of us and force the minority that's left to merge with AI computers and become cyborg slaves of Satan," Jones said on his show.

Watch below via Ron Filipkowski:

READ MORE:Alex Jones claims that 'Donald Trump is set to announce his run for 2024' on Monday July 4th (https://www.alternet.org/2022/06/alex-jones-donald-trump-2024/)

This was not the first time that Jones has warned the public about the opaque operations that are supposedly undertaken within the federal government's purported evil netherworld.

In 2017, Media Matters for America uncovered a clip of Jones (https://www.mediamatters.org/alex-jones/alex-jones-guest-children-have-been-kidnapped-and-sent-slave-colony-mars) giving a nod to an allegation that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration was spearheading a kidnapping ring to deport young Earthlings to Mars to work as forced laborers.

He based this on the occasional failures of exploratory scientific equipment and claimed that he had primary source asseverations by NASA personnel.

Ex-Central Intelligence Agency officer and fellow conspiracy theorist Robert David Steele expressed to Jones that "this may strike your listeners as way out but we actually believe that there is a colony on Mars that is populated by children who were kidnapped and sent into space on a 20-year ride. So that once they get to Mars they have no alternative but to be slaves on the Mars colony."

Jones gobbled up the bait.

"Look, I know that 90 percent of the NASA missions are secret and I’ve been told by high-level NASA engineers that you have no idea, there is so much stuff going on. But then it goes off into all that, that’s the kind of thing media jumps on. But I know this: we see a bunch of mechanical wreckage on Mars and people say, 'oh look, it looks like mechanics.' They go, 'oh, you’re a conspiracy theorist.' Clearly, they don’t want us looking into what is happening. Every time probes go over they turn them off," he said. "I don’t know about Mars bases, but I know they’ve created massive, thousands of different types of chimeras that are alien lifeforms on this Earth now."

Watch below:

---

aha a fem hellscape: but trying to scare women? fundamentalist [in the midst of Roe ~]

6 22

bkgd grfx childless, penniless, joyless (pink)

fox News' Tucker Carlson is attempting to spin a new conspiracy theory with a tall accusation involving the United States government.

During his latest segment of "The Tucker Carlson Show" on Tuesday, the conservative primetime host claimed the U.S. government will be lacing the country's water supply with "SSRIs – selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors – in an effort to placate an increasingly dissatisfied population," Mediaite reports (https://www.mediaite.com/tv/tucker-carlson-predicts-the-government-will-lace-the-water-supply-with-antidepressants-to-pacify-americans/).

Broadcasting from Rio de Janeiro, Carlson expressed concern about the United States' low fertility rates. On multiple occasions, Carlson has leveled attacks at Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) over her concerns about having children. In fact, last year, the Fox News host reportedly said claimed: "some liberals are 'offended by fertility and nature and the idea that people reproduce.'”

During Tuesday's segment, Carlson revisited the same argument but went a step further this time.

[READ MORE:Adam Kinzinger roasts Lindsey Graham after he criticizes Cassidy Hutchinson's testimony (https://www.alternet.org/2022/06/man-up-lindsey-adam-kinzinger/)

“The more atomized and unhappy American society becomes, theeasier it is for them to control,” said Carlson. “Fewer marriages and babies and family-owned homes means more rootless and dissatisfied people. It means an entire nation of desperately unhappy grad students. Sandy Cortezcould become the queen of a country like that.”

Carlson went on to highlight the inflated cost of having a family as he insisted that the issue is no longer just a temporary problem, but rather a new staple in American society.

“Families are for the tech tycoons in Napa, they’ve got a ton of kids,” he continued. “And for the Haitians huddled underneath the bridges at the border in south Texas, they’ve got a ton of kids too. But for you, a middle-class American, sorry. Your deepest desires are far beyond reach.”

The host concluded with a conspiratorial prediction about what the U.S. government may do next to "numb the public into accepting their childless fate," per Mediaite.

“You have to wonder, how long before Democrats sponsor legislation to distribute free cats to young people in the cities, placebos to replace the families they can no longer have,” he said. “That’s coming, along with SSRIs in the water supply, so you don’t have to think too much about it. We’re finally getting to see what their utopia feels like. Hope you feel better.”

Watch the video below or at this link. (https://www.alternet.org/2022/06/tucker-carlson/)

---

https://www.alternet.org/2022/06/soverign-citizen/

yikes militia have guns, xians want Armageddon

remix?

no lnx

Sovereign-citizen members bolster their audiences by adding QAnon beliefs to their mix

Image via Screengrab.

David Neiwert and Daily Kos June 26, 2022

The “sovereign citizen” movement—comprising scam artists and their gullible followers who claim that, by filling reams of documents full of pseudo-legal babble, ordinary citizens can declare themselves free of government rule at any level, thus becoming the law unto themselves—seems to have figured out how, after a couple of decades of mostly lurking on the fringes of the extreme right, to expand its reach and revive (if not entirely rebrand) itself: Go full QAnon.

Last weekend, onetime Pennsylvania Republican candidate Bobby Lawrence boasted that he and his “American State Nationals” operation filled a room in Keene, Texas, with 650 people who paid $120 each to take their special “training”—which teaches that birth certificates are satanic documents that enslave people by subsuming them under a corporation, but they can free themselves by filing their prescribed “redemption” documents. They also ardently promote Qanon conspiracy theories, including the claim that John F. Kennedy Jr. was secretly Trump’s real vice president.

The Anti-Defamation League has been warning about this coalescence since January, with Lawrence and his cohort David Straight, who have been holding these seminars around the country and, thanks to the fresh appeal of absorbing QAnon beliefs into the similarly conspiracy-fueled worldview of sovereign citizens, have increasingly been packing them in.

As their backgrounder explained:

Lawrence teaches sovereignty with a QAnon bent, urging his followers to become “American State Nationals” before Trump is reinstated as president. “American State National” is one of many terms that sovereign citizens use to distinguish themselves from citizens under the jurisdiction of the illegitimate, de facto government. “Trump is working on the ‘Fall of the Cabal’ which will allow our Constitutional Republic to Rise again, however the newly partially restored Constitutional Republic will need We The People of restored status via ‘The Great Awakening’ to fill and function in the newly partially restored Constitutional Republic,” Lawrence posted toTelegram in October 2021. “This will only be accomplished via We The People reclaiming our Birthrightby becoming American State Nationals... As the number of American State Nationals and one of the People increases, so will the Function of the [sic] our Constitutional Republic. It will start at theabsolute local level(you and your neighbors) and then grow and grow and grow.”

Sovereign-citizen and QAnon beliefs meld together almost seamlessly, as the ADL explains, because their fundamental worldviews involving a massive global cabal nefariously conspiring to enslave mankind are so similar. The sovereign movement’s belief that the current U.S. government is illegitimate serves to support their view of the Biden presidency as fraudulent, as well as the means for “freeing” themselves from such “tyranny.”

Lawrence primarily promotes a version of sovereign-citizen beliefs called “Redemption Theory,” which deals with the core concept that everyone who is an American citizen is designated a “strawman” corporate entity at birth, making them subsidiary properties of America Inc. “Redemption” is the process by which they split the strawman from the flesh-and-blood human, and its purpose is two-fold. As the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) explains:

Once separated from the corporate shell, the newly freed man is now outside of the jurisdiction of all admiralty laws. [Arrrrh me hearties] More importantly, by filing a series of complex, legal-sounding documents, the sovereign can tap into that secret Treasury account for his own purposes. Over the last 30 years, there have been hundreds of sovereign promoters packaging different combinations of forms and paperwork, attempting to perfect the process.While no one has ever succeeded, of course, they know with the religious certainty of a true cult believer that they’re close. All it will take is the right combination of words, say the promoters of the redemption scam.

Lawrence regularly regales his audiences with his version of the “redemption” scam, but with a powerful QAnon flavor. At an April 21 “Patriots Arise” event in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania—where he shared the stage with Republican gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano—Lawrence launched to into a rant that manifested that commingling two conspiracist universes produces twice the crackpottery.

He explained how modern births and the birth-certificate process are actually satanic rituals:

Fred read a quote from [Woodrow Wilson adviser] Edward Mandell House where they talk about this construct, where they’regonna make slaves of us all, through a system of pledging, where we pledge our children as surety through something called a birth certificate, and a satanic ritual that takes place. …

So I’m gonna walk you through a satanic ritual that takes place, and it started with the birth certificate, which was actually chartered under the Department of Transportation. And everything is Admiralty. We all live under the water, and what is law, and where does law come from? Where does the word “law” come from? Land, air, and water. And where the founders of this nation thought about what law was, was the Bible, the Geneva Bible, the King James Version 1611 edition, where we got the word law from.And land, air, and water was in Genesis Chapter 1, verse 24 through 28, “and God created the heaven and the earth.” And God giveth man dominion over the earth, and God giveth man dominion over the land, and all the creatures that walk and creepeth. And God giveth man dominion over the air, and all the birds that fly, and God giveth man dominion over the water, and all the fish that swimmeth. And this is law.

Lawrence then repeated stock sovereign-citizen beliefs (all every bit as risibly false as his etymology for the word “law”) that there are three tiers of law: Canon law, common law, and Admiralty law, each reflecting rule over air, land, and water respectively. Then he went on:

So how do they get you to pledge your child, and how did our parents and our grandparents pledge us as property[slavery?] , as surety, in our personification, all capital names? It was through an evil, satanic ritual called the birth of a child.

You see, a mother goes into a foundling center, and she goes to see the doc—tor; a tor is a bill of lading when a ship arrives at the dock—and the mother puts her feet up on the stirrups and the mother’s waterbreaks, and the child comes out of the water through the birth canal, like you berth a ship, into the air, into the hands of the dock—tor. And then, historically speaking, a satanic ritual would take place—a child was smacked on the butt, turned upside down, cried out in fear and pain. And then before the child could put their feet on the land and take the breath of God as a free creation of God, a legal bond document came out. It’s on bond paper because it’s a banking instrument, it’s a surety bond.

And the child’s soul was taken on the back of that document. It was called the soul print. And then the umbilical cord and the afterbirth was thereby dead and abandoned by the mother, because that was part of your birth, part of your being born. The construct, the evil says that now that is dead, a part of you died and now you are a dead vessel, you are an all-capital legal fiction. They called you a person. If you look at your driver’s license, if you look at every document that government or any business sends you, it’s in your all-capital name. Your personification. Now the Bible tells us not to take on the persona, not to take on the person.

Lawrence also harkened to the stock radicalization belief in “red-pilling”: “We are living in Babylon right now,” he said. “It’s a corporate construct. It’s a Matrix. Keanu Reeves has said publicly that The Matrix is a documentary of how we are living our lives. Your money’s not real, you don’t own anything.”

And near the end, he wrapped it all up with a classic QAnon-style claim that Donald Trump is secretly One Of Them:

Yes, President Trump has done many things for us. And I won’t go into a lot of them, because quite frankly a lot of folks aren’t ready for it. And it’s hard to verify. But Donald Trump has told you all, if you go back to his speeches, he’s told you that when he comes back, he’s gonna be little letters, lower case. Look to his speech in 2021 at CPAC in Texas. He said when we go back to the White House this time it’s going to be in little letters. He told you at another rally that people are sovereign. He told you at another rally that you’re all millionaires. He told you in another rally that you’re the elite. And they’re the scoundrels. He told you at another rally that the Bar Association is corrupt. He tells you on and on—he might talk for two hours, but only four sentences are for those who are awake. And there’s a huge difference between being woke and awake, is it not?

Lawrence has formed close associations with leading QAnon influencers such as Ann Vandersteel, Allen and Francine Fosdick, the Pennsylvania-based hosts of the QAnon show Up Front in the Prophetic, and David Straight.

Vandersteel posted proudly announced onGab that she was “officially an American State National,” meaning she no longer was beholden to the U.S. government. She touted the supposed benefits of becoming an “American state national,” such as freedom from paying federal taxes to getting to “vote as a delegate, which has the power of four votes,” in an appearance on “The Conservative Daily Podcast,” hosted by Joe Oltmann and Max McGuire.

She said she had been introduced to these ideas by Lawrence, who ran for the U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania in 2018.Vandersteel indicated that Lawrence was radicalized afterward through his contacts with David Straight, a sovereign citizen activist who also promoted QAnon theories. Vandersteel claimed that Straight was a “commissioner on President Trump’s child sex-trafficking commission.”

ADL analyst Mark Pitcavage explained Lawrence’s rant on Twitter, noting that “redemption theory” originated with a sovereign-citizen guru named Roger Elvick back in 1999, and it became widespread within the movement.

“Basic redemption theory is something like this: In 1933, the US went off the gold standard and could therefore no longer pay its debts to the international bankers. To get around this, the government turned humans into collateral by converting birth certificates into stock,” he wrote. “They did this in part by creating fictional duplicates of every person (dubbed ‘strawmen’). You can tell when a document refers to the straw man instead of the flesh and blood person because the name will be in all caps, not upper and lower case.”

He also noted that much of the talk is devoted to explaining the sovereign-citizen belief that the conspiracy which infiltrated and subverted and replaced the original, legitimate government with a de facto tyrannical government had done so by replacing constitutional law with inferior “maritime” or “admiralty” law.

“Finally,” he noted, “the Satanic references thrown in there are derived from QAnon and presumably designed to make these theories more palatable to QAnoners.”

Given the size of Lawrence’s audiences now, and the regularity and breadth of “American State Nationalist” training sessions, the ADL’s January warning—“Given the flexibility of the sovereign citizen movement and its pseudo-legal tactics,it is quite possible that increasing numbers of QAnon adherents will find sovereign citizen ideas attractive in the future”—seems more than prescient. It may, in fact, prove to be understated.

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---

YYY 8?

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an 6 22

When the COVID-19 pandemic was at its worst in 2020 and 2021, a combination of far-right conspiracy theorists, Christian nationalists and so-called “wellness influencers” added to the death count by pushing bogus, unscientific “cures” and falsely claiming that the lifesaving vaccines being offered by Moderna, Pfizer and others were dangerous. But COVID-19, although still highly infectious, hasn’t been in the headlines as much in recent months — and some fake “wellness influencers” and conspiracy theorists, according to Daily Beast reporter Cécile Simmons, have turned their attention to monkeypox (https://www.thedailybeast.com/wellness-influencers-are-going-nuts-with-monkeypox-conspiracy-theories-like-they-did-with-covid-19?ref=home).

“Though little is understood about the mysterious outbreaks of the monkeypox virus in Europe and North America,” Simmons reports in an article published by the Beast on June 15, “scientists agree on one thing: It’s nothing like COVID. But that doesn’t seem to have stopped some influencers in the alternative health and wellness community from repurposing COVID misinformation and using this new public health crisis to further their own agendas.”

Simmons adds, “In the early months of the coronavirus pandemic, alt-health and wellness online influencers — from yoga teachers to fitness instructors — became some of the most active propagators of conspiracy theories about COVID-19. With cases now on the decline in much of the West — thanks in no small part to widespread vaccination campaigns — monkeypox has provided new material to rehash the narratives that brought these influencers attention in the early days of COVID, including claims that monkeypox is a plot engineered by global elites to profit from diseases and restrict individual freedoms.”

One of the conspiracy theorists who promoted dangerously false information about COVID-19 during the worst parts of the pandemic was anti-vaxxer Sayer Ji,founder of the alternative medicine website GreenMedInfo.com. (https://greenmedinfo.com/) In 2022, Simmons reports, Ji has turned his attention to monkeypox.

“Sayer Ji has dedicated his social media channels to making repeated unproven claims about nightmarish vaccine side effects, including death, and that COVID vaccination is a plot masterminded by big pharma and ‘the global government,’” Simmons explains. “And now, with monkeypox on the rise, Sayer Ji has taken to his Telegram channel and Twitter to spread ludicrous claims that monkeypox is the mainstream media’s way of covering up side-effects caused by COVID vaccines to his roughly 50,000 and 11.5k followers, respectively. His Telegram channel includes multiple posts claiming that cases of monkeypox have coincided with the purchase of vaccines by the U.S., among other bizarre theories.”

Another “wellness” influencer/conspiracy theorist pushing wacky claims about monkeypox is Hiighhopess,who, according to Simmons, “recently used her Instagram stories to describe monkeypox as a profiteering ploy manufactured by Bill Gates, and shared claims that the U.S. government is stockpiling vaccines and planning to impose vaccination against monkeypox.”

During the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Simmons notes, Hiighhopess, an anti-vaxxer (https://www.instagram.com/p/COQKVa8BVIu/), “used her Instagram channel to share anti-vaccine and anti-mask content, including posts depicting vaccination as a plot by elites to manipulate the public into submission.”

“This repurposing of the COVID playbook by alternative health and wellness gurus should come as no surprise,” Simmons observes. “COVID has provided a blueprint for conspiracy theories, allowing influencers to develop broad-ranging anti-elite and anti-institutional narratives that can be adapted to emerging public health crises.It has also allowed conspiracy-spreaders to use various techniques, including decontextualizing scientific data and cherry-picking facts to give themselves a veneer of credibility.”

---

on hanty

https://www.alternet.org/2022/06/ted-cruz/

accuse schumer of scotus assassin

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an 6 22

newsmax host Chris Salcedo recently laid out a bizarre theory suggesting that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was part of a plot to have U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh killed (https://www.mediaite.com/politics/newsmax-host-floats-theory-that-pelosi-wanted-kavanaugh-killed-so-biden-could-replace-him/) so President Joe Biden could nominate a replacement.

On Tuesday, June 14, Salcedo spoke with Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Ill.) where he noted that the top-ranking Democratic lawmaker had been responsible for holding up the passing of legislation to enhance security measures for justices and members of their families.

“A lot of folks are starting to ask some questions out there, congressman,” Salcedo began. “They’re openly wondering why Nancy Pelosi sat on a bill that was passed by the Senate to protect Supreme Court justices. Now she’s moving after an assassination attempt on Justice Kavanaugh. Are Americans right to question if Pelosi was actually hoping for, or encouraging violence that could lead to Joe Biden appointing a new Supreme Court justice?”

Salcedo's remarks come just days after an armed man was apprehended not far from Kavanaugh's Maryland home. At the time, the man reportedly admitted that he wanted to kill the justice.

[twt]

on Tuesday, House lawmakers also voted in favor of the bill. However, Davis appeared to pivot from the question.

“It’s certainly questions [sic] that Nancy Pelosi and others need to answer as to why she thought somehow Justice Kavanaugh – after having an assassin in his backyard – is somehow safe over the weekend. We could’ve gotten to this bill last week, but she chose to hold it up and she needs to answer as to why.”

Despite Salcedo's baseless theory, the bill for enhanced security passed with a staggering vote of 396-27. Biden is expected to sign the bill into law sometime next week. The opposing votes all came from Democratic lawmakers.

---

rubber glue rt constant attributes bad behavior as defense/ reaction to dem bad acts

https://www.alternet.org/2022/06/fox-news-joe-biden-kavanaugh/

ncrm

fox News propagandistJesse Watters (https://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/?s=Jesse+Watters) on Wednesday alleged President Joe Biden and other top Democrats may be behind (https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/foxs-jesse-watters-suggests-joe-biden-ordered-assassination-attempt-brett-kavanaugh) the man who was arrested earlier that day who reportedly admitted he wanted to kill Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

“This could be a little criminal conspiracy,” Watters alleges, asking, “did the orders come all the way from the top?” JUST ASKING

For more than seven minutes Watters cobbled together various benign incidents from over the past two years in a clearly fictious narrative that draws the President, the Speaker of the House, the Senate Majority Leader, the White House Press Secretary, and a top Democratic Senator into what he baselessly suggests could be a conspiracy to kill a U.S. Supreme Court Justice.

Watters – who was highly criticized for using “violent rhetoric (https://www.npr.org/2021/12/22/1066956407/anthony-fauci-jesse-watters-fox-news-kill-shot-ambush-interviews)” by calling for a “kill shot” in interviews with Dr. Anthony Fauci (https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/21/media/fauci-fox-jesse-watters/index.html) – told Fox News viewers the man who he suggests is some high-powered hit man hired by the President, “got cold feet when he saw U.S. Marshals with arms guarding Kavanaugh’s house and called the cops on himself, telling them everything.”

“He says he was furious overRoe v. Wade possibly being overturned — remember the leak? — and was looking for purpose in his life,” Watters continues, as Media Matters reported. “So he found that purpose by going out and trying to kill a Supreme Court justice. Do you think that idea just popped into his head? Or did the orders come all the way from the top?”

Watters then tries to make his case, which amounts to “by Democrats’ own standards” there must be an investigation into this event because the left has accused Donald Trump of inciting the insurrection, Watters claims, merely by giving a speech at the January 6 rally.

By the end of his seven-minute-plus rant, Watters concludes:

“This is just the beginning, this summer is going to be ugly. That’s why we have to get to the bottom of this. This could be a little criminal conspiracy that needs to be investigated – again by the left’s own standards. We might have toappoint a commission. We might have to hold hearings,” he says, as if he is a member of Congress or DOJ official.

“We have a criminal leak,” Watters falsely claims, referring to the leak of the Supreme Court draft, which legal experts make clear was not criminal.

“We have a group that’s protesting outside [Kavanaugh’s] house. You have an attorney general that’s not doing anything about this,” he claimed, after earlier complaining that the protestors outside Supreme Court Justices’ homes should be arrested.

“You have a senator who’s agitating,” Watters claims, earlier referring to a March 2020 statement Senator Chuck Schumer made.

“You have a White House, who’s giving this license. Maybe time to put some people in leg shackles like they did to Navarro. These people incited violence possibly, we need to hold them accountable if they did. Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, Liz Warren, anybody who has their hands on this should face consequences again, by the left’s own standards. Don’t call me crazy. They set the rules. We’re just following.”

Watch:

---

https://www.alternet.org/2022/06/ron-johnson-obsessing-hunter-biden/

an 6 22

Ron Johnson (R-WI) made it clear why it's so difficult to get Republicans and Democrats to come together around gun safety solutions that are overwhelmingly supported by American voters.

On Tuesday, Johnson was asked about increasing the age to buy a gun to 21 and expanding background checks. Instead of talking about bipartisan efforts or indicating what he would support, he turned to attack Hunter Biden.

The right has used President Joe Biden's son in the same way they used Hillary Clinton's emails. The last surviving Biden son is the source of several conspiracy theories involving Ukraine and China. Former President Donald Trump even went so far as to claim that Hunter Biden got $1.5 billion from China and used the government plane to do it. There's never been any proof to confirm it. At the same time, Hunter Biden isn't listed on the Forbes list of American billionaires. FactCheck.org ruled the claim (https://www.factcheck.org/2019/10/trumps-claims-about-hunter-biden-in-china/) unsubstantiated and Trump hasn't been able to provide the world with proof for his claims.

Still, Republicans have decided that if they take back the House and Senate, their main goal will be bringing down President Joe Biden by destroying his children, who haven't served in the White House as a senior advisers. Republicans have indicated that they intend to spend the two years leading into the 2024 election investigating Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in an attempt to get Donald Trump reelected.

It prompted those online to question why Ron Johnson cares more about the president's son over the safety of children, churches, movie theaters and other mass shooting sites.

Others couldn't help but joke that Hunter Biden's laptop never killed anyone.

See the comments below:

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https://www.alternet.org/2022/06/qanons-influence-trumpified-radicalized-gop/

no lnx twt

QAnon’s influence continues to grow and expand in 2022's Trumpified, radicalized GOP

A QAnon flag on display in Richmond, Virginia on January 20, 2020, Wikimedia Commons

Alex Henderson June 03, 2022

QAnon conspiracy theorists suffered a major disappointment when Donald Trump was voted out of the White House in 2020, but their presence in the Republican Party and the MAGA movement didn’t go away. QAnon’s ideas have been promoted by far-right members of the U.S. House of Representatives such as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado — and QAnon devotee Lauren Witzke, who lost to Democratic Sen. Chris Coons in Delaware’s 2020 U.S. Senate race, is a pundit in Christian nationalist media broadcasts.

Moreover, QAnon’s influence in the GOP has grown to the point that a QAnon activist — Wayne Willott, a.k.a. Juan O. Savin — is trying to get MAGA Republicans elected to secretary of state positions so that they will play key roles in the administration of elections.Journalist Will Sommer, in an article published by the Daily Beast on June 1, takes a disturbing look at Willott’s “growing influence” both inside and outside the QAnon cult.

According to Sommer, Willott is doing a lot more than promoting conspiracy theories online. He is the co-founder of a group called the America First Secretary of State Coalition, and his candidates have been running in GOP primaries in the 2022 midterms.

“While the 65-year-old Willott remains all but unknown outside of QAnon,” Sommer reports, “he’s a figure with growing influence in both the conspiracy-theory universe and the broader conservative movement…. The America First Secretary of State Coalition now stands poised to have its candidates win offices in key battleground states. One of the group’s candidates, Kristina Karamo, has already won the Republican nomination for the position in Michigan.”

Sommer adds, “Another candidate, 2020 election denier and Arizona State Rep. Mark Finchem, has won Trump’s endorsement and looks set to win his state’s primary as well. If victorious in the general election, both candidates could play a key role in how electoral votes from their states are allotted in 2024.”

Alex Kaplan, a researcher for Media Matters, warns that Willott’s extremism should not be taken lightly.

Kaplan told the Beast, “If one of these candidates in the future gets elected, there is a QAnon influencer that could help lead to a constitutional crisis.”

QAnon conspiracy theorists have no problem believing ludicrous things. Supporters of QAnon claim that the United States’ federal government has been hijacked by an international cabal of child sex traffickers, Satanists, pedophiles and cannibals and that Trump was elected president in 2016 to fight the cabal. And some QAnon extremists, according to Sommer, believe that Willott is really John F. Kennedy, Jr.

“Thanks to his ties throughout the conspiracy theorist community and rumors that he’s JFK Jr.,” Sommer reports, “Willott’s star shot up on the right in 2020 and 2021. Signed copies of his book promoting QAnon have sold for hundreds of dollars on eBay. With Q, the originator of QAnon, silent since December 2020, Willott quickly became one of the leading sources of QAnon information.”

Sommer adds, “Willott’s rise to the top of the QAnon heap was abetted by the other QAnon promoters’ refusal to take the coronavirus vaccine. In the course of just a few months, two anti-vaccine conspiracy theorists who had promoted Willott, Robert David Steele and Cirsten Weldon, both died of COVID-19.”

A recurring theme with QAnon is that Democrats, including teachers, are “groomers” who are trying to harm children by promoting homosexuality and bisexuality in schools and pushing a transgender agenda. In 2022, anti-trans bills sponsored by far-right Republicans have been plentiful in state legislatures.

Journalist Kristi Pahr, reporting for Fatherly.com in late April, noted that at least 150 anti-trans bills had been introduced in state legislatures in 2022 — many of which were passed and signed into law.

“Given the onslaught of hundreds of bills that are under consideration, it can be hard for parents of trans kids or parents who are transgender themselves to know what’s happening where they live — and how to press lawmakers to fight against anti-trans laws,” Pahr reported. “That’s why one group, the Trans Formations Project, developed a tool for tracking discriminatory legislation so the public can find out what’s happening in their states. The project also lists contact information for state legislators and provides descriptions of any proposed legislation in easy-to-understand language, without all the legal jargon and vagueness that tends to obfuscate what passed laws would actually do to our kids.”

Pahr cited Texas, Utah, West Virginia, South Dakota, Oklahoma, Montana, Arkansas and Mississippi as examples of red states where anti-trans bills have become law. And Florida, a swing state, is the home of what has been widely criticized as the “Don’t Say Gay” law. Pahr describes it as the “Don’t Say Gay or Trans” law, reminding Fatherly readers that the law is not only anti-gay, but also, anti-trans.

The anti-trans laws being introduced by far-right Republicans in state legislatures don’t mention QAnon specifically, but they underscore QAnon’s influence on the Republican Party. When Republicans talk about “groomers” in defense of anti-trans bills, it is right out of QAnon’s Democrats-want-to-harm-your-children playbook.

Pennsylvania State Sen. Doug Mastriano, the GOP nominee in Pennsylvania’s 2022 gubernatorial race, is among the far-right MAGA Republicans and conspiracy theorists who hasn’t been the least bit shy about promoting QAnon. In July 2021, Media Matters’ Eric Hananoki reported that Mastriano had promoted QAnon in more than 50 tweets.

Christian nationalist Witzke has been another outspoken QAnon promoter. When Witzke ran for the U.S. Senate seat in Delaware that was once held by now-President Joe Biden, she lost badly: In 2020, Democratic incumbent Coons defeated her by 22%.

But the fact that Delaware Republicans nominated someone as extreme as Witzke in the first place is a frightening example of the GOP’s radicalization. And Witzke hasn’t grown any less extreme or any less kooky since 2020.

These days, Witzke is making her presence felt in Christian nationalist broadcasts. Witzke praised Russian President Vladimir Putin as a symbol of Christian piety in February and applauded the invasion of Ukraine. And now, she is implying that Democrats in the federal government and their "RINO" (Republicans In Name Only) allies are behind a mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas on May 24 that left 19 children and two teachers dead. Witzke believes that Democrats targeted Robb Elementary School not only to promote gun control, but also, because they are worried about Latinos voting Republican.

Witzke said, “I think about the conspiracy behind all of it. I’m like, OK, what do they gain from it besides the gun control push? But also, Hispanics are starting to vote Republican and conservative. They specifically targeted a school in an area that is majority Hispanic. It’s essentially Mexico is what it is.”

Witzke went on to say, “They’re watching as Hispanics are starting to lean more conservative, and these people are crazy. Midterms are coming up. And there’s no limit to how far they’ll go to change the public narrative on things. So, I think it was multi-faceted. Of course, it was a federal operation in order to implement gun control…. All this stuff is organized and operated.”

The claim that Democrats in the federal government are orchestrating mass shootings of schoolchildren because they believe it will help them politically is exactly the type of ludicrous conspiracy theory QAnon supporters are coming up with. And this type of thinking has become mainstream in the Trumpified, radicalized GOP.

From Willott and Witzke to Mastriano, Boebert and Greene, QAnon is more than a movement of fringe conspiracy theorists who make wacky claims online. It is now a prominent influence in the Republican Party, even influencing anti-trans, anti-gay laws they are passing. And if Republicans enjoy a major red wave in the 2022 midterms, QAnon’s influence will only grow.

---

https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/right-wing-media-use-bidens-green-economy-comments-launch-full-scale-defense-fossil-fuels

at a joint press conference with the Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in Tokyo on May 23, President Joe Biden was asked by a reporter if Americans should expect a recession as gas prices currently remain high (https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2022/05/17/why-gas-prices-continue-rise-record/9798086002/). After initially responding that he did not think so — as the U.S. is growing economically and unemployment is at a pandemic low (https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/05/06/jobs-report-april/) — Biden then noted (https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2022/05/23/remarks-by-president-biden-and-prime-minister-fumio-kishida-of-japan-in-joint-press-conference/) that when it comes to gas prices, “we're going through an incredible transition that … when it's over, we'll be stronger and the world will be stronger and less reliant on fossil fuels.”

The mere suggestion that gas prices are helping drive the transition away from fossil fuels was enough to send right-wing media into a frenzy,illustrating both the utter contempt they hold for a future that is not dominated by polluting industries and their penchant for falsely claiming Biden is responsible for high gas prices.

Right-wing media predictably twisted Biden’s comments to advance their attacks on the Biden administration’s climate agenda

The right-wing media backlash to Biden’s comments was swift. Predictably, conservative outlets and commentators zeroed in on the “incredible transition” phrase and disregarded his other comments, where he noted his concern for high gas prices and laid out some of the things the administration is attempting to do to alleviate them, including a release from the strategic oil reserve (https://www.axios.com/2022/03/31/biden-strategic-petroleum-reserve-oil-release).

One common line of attack suggests that Biden is somehow celebrating high gas prices. Articles published by the Murdoch-owned outlets New York Post (https://nypost.com/2022/05/23/biden-praises-gas-prices-as-part-of-incredible-transition/) and Foxnews.com (https://www.foxnews.com/politics/president-biden-incredible-transition-high-gas-prices), as well as The Washington Times (https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2022/may/23/joe-biden-high-gas-prices-part-incredible-transiti/), Breitbart (https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2022/05/24/cruz-bidens-celebrating-high-gas-prices-as-an-incredible-transition/), and The Federalist (https://t.co/tq6TfV3OsX), ran with this framing that Biden is celebrating high gas prices. Fox Business correspondent Charles Gasparino (https://twitter.com/CGasparino/status/1528839858327900161) also suggested this on Twitter. Meanwhile, Fox News anchor Harris Faulkner also led viewers to this conclusion on the May 24 edition of The Faulkner Focus (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3988727), stating that "President Biden is getting called out for appearing to cheer on the high gas prices. While he says it's an incredible transition that would likely be going green faster.”

The framing that the Biden administration is somehow celebrating high gas prices is not new. For example, on the May 20 edition (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3988632) of Fox News’ America Reports, Fox anchor John Roberts said that there is “a growing sense out there among some people … the White House and people on the left are looking at these gas prices going, ‘This is great because it’s going to push people into the green energy sector. It’s going to get people buying electric cars.’”

Earlier, on the April 1 edition (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3987137) of Fox News’ Tucker Carlson Tonight, host Tucker Carlson had pushed aconspiracy theorythat the Russian invasion of Ukraine is an excuse for theBiden administration to raise energy prices “to get a Green New Deal.”

In line with the “celebration” framing, right-wing media also twisted Biden’s comments to suggest that high gas prices are “intentional.” For example, the Daily Caller tweeted (https://twitter.com/DailyCaller/status/1529115097133723648), “So the high prices are intentional, Joe?” while Glenn Beck’s website wrote (https://www.glennbeck.com/biden-gas-prices-incredible-transition), “Did Biden just let slip that record-high gas prices were PLANNED?” Paid polluting-industry shills and longtime Fox News guests Daniel Turner (https://twitter.com/DanielTurnerPTF/status/1528728244316430336) and Steve Milloy (https://twitter.com/JunkScience/status/1528737158877663234) also insinuated the same on Twitter.

Right-wing morning news shows on May 24 also followed this line of attack — on Fox & Friends First (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3988728), Fox News contributor Brian Brenberg stated in regard to gas prices that “higher prices are part of the plan. They have always been part of the plan for him. He wants you to pay for his green dream transition.” On Fox Business’ Mornings with Maria (https://twitter.com/MorningsMaria/status/1529103577255649280), host Maria Bartiromo stated that Biden “just admitted it … this is all intentional. It’s a plan.” Will Cain, co-host of Fox & Friends (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3988729), stated that Biden’s transition comments were an “absolutely outlandish statement that we are going to be talking about more this morning. Because it also plants the idea, confirms the idea in many people's minds, that this isn't an accident.”

Right-wing media’s “intentional” framing is absurd given that the president has very little control over gas prices (https://www.npr.org/2021/11/14/1055068583/gasoline-prices-gas-energy-inflation-biden), which are high right now for a number of reasons (https://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/19/fuel-is-a-problem-for-business-and-consumers-why-prices-are-so-high.html), including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and rapidly surging demand for oil. It also contradicts Biden’s own position (https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2022/02/10/biden_im_going_to_work_like_the_devil_to_bring_gas_prices_down.html) on the issue, as he recently promised to “work like the devil to bring gas prices down.” In fact, right-wing media have been making this claim even before Biden’s Tokyo comments. For example, on the May 20 edition (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3988638) of Fox & Friends, co-host Steve Doocy implied that Democrats “want to inflict some pain upon people” to get them to stop using fossil fuels. On the May 19 edition (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3988652) of Fox Business’ Kennedy, Fox Business host Lisa Kennedy Montgomery aired clips of Republican senators accusing Biden of deliberately raising gas prices to force a transition to clean energy.

As usual, right-wing media took Biden’s transition comments and used them to attack any and all efforts to transition to clean energy. Fox News anchor David Asman tweeted (https://twitter.com/DavidAsmanfox/status/1528947464811819009) that “Nothing is more dangerous” than Biden’s goal to transition away from fossil fuels. Longtime climate denier (https://www.mediamatters.org/rush-limbaugh/climate-change-misinformer-year-marc-morano) and Fox News regular (https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/fox-guest-marc-morano-attacks-teenage-climate-activist-greta-thunberg-she-sells-fear) Marc Morano tweeted (https://twitter.com/ClimateDepot/status/1528895770463961088), “The climate policies of the Biden administration are not only disastrous to the economy and are imposing maximum pain on the American people, but they areanti-human and anti-freedom." On Fox News’ Outnumbered (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3988730), Republican businessman John James stated, “This is the modern day equivalent to let them eat cake … the agenda that Biden is pushing forward that's crushing American jobs and crushing our wallets.”

Right-wing media are carrying water for the fossil fuel industry

In the wake of these comments, some right-wing media commentators defended the oil and gas industry and called for increased fossil fuel use in the future.

On Fox & Friends First (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3988731), Texas Republican congressional candidate Wesley Hunt stated about Biden’s comments: “He's got his words wrong. It's not about energy transition; it's about energy addition. … The bottom line is this — it's an all-hands-on-deck approach to fulfill the energy needs of this country. … This administration is trying to kill our industry but we are not going to allow that to happen.” On Fox & Friends (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3988732), Fox Business anchor Stuart Varney blamed Biden for high gas prices and admonished him for ending America’s so-called energy independence. On Fox Business’ Varney & Co (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3988734)., Fox Business anchor Larry Kudlow called the idea of transitioning away from fossil fuels “woke” and then made the baffling claim that “there's all kinds of new technology that makes fossils very low carbon — we have the lowest emissions in the world.” Immediately following this segment, investment portfolio manager and frequent Fox guest David Bahnsen stated (https://www.mediamatters.org/media/3988735) “You could have an incredible transition, you could admit you need natural gas, you could … admit that wind, solar is not going to get it done. He said it's not going to happen overnight — he’s right about that. It is also not going to happen in the next 30 years.”

Any and all climate and clean energy issues are attacked with fervor across right-wing media, which have historically been staunch defenders of the fossil fuel industry and willing collaborators in promoting climate change denial. This defense of the fossil fuel industry (https://www.mediamatters.org/climate-deniers/fox-news-dominated-coverage-congressional-hearing-big-oil-and-gas-prices) has only worsened throughout the Ukraine crisis. Even though oil companies are making record profits (https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/economy/2022/05/07/oil-company-record-profits-2022/9686761002/), and refusing to drill for more oil because high oil prices allow them to return more money to shareholders (https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-shale-drillers-are-pumping-out-dividends-instead-of-more-oil-and-gas-11653274423?mod=mhp), and oil and gas production is close to hitting all-time highs (https://www.newsweek.com/have-biden-administration-policies-reduced-us-oil-production-1686104) under Biden, right-wing media perceive any criticism of the industry or any comments on attempting to transition away from the industry (https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/not-transitioning-away-fossil-fuels-will-kill-economy-and-our-planet-who-wants-tell-right) (as Biden suggested in 2020) as an affront to all that is good and holy (https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/fox-news-heaps-praise-fossil-fuel-industry-russian-war-ukraine-rages).

Transitioning to a clean energy economy is the only way for consumers, in the long run, to feel less pain at the pump

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is largely financed (https://www.npr.org/2022/04/15/1093121720/ukrainian-climate-scientist-says-russias-invasion-is-a-fossil-fuel-war) by fossil fuels, as Russia is a major exporter of natural gas as well as a global supplier of oil and coal. Luckily, there are many (https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/04/25/russia-climate-change-energy-spain/) prominent voices (https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-00920-y) pointing this out and saying that Russia’s invasion should hasten the transition to clean energy. The European Union is speeding up its plans (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/may/18/eu-plans-massive-increase-in-green-energy-to-rid-itself-of-reliance-on-russia) to adopt renewable energy. The International Energy Agency is also calling for a transition away (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-16/iea-sees-russia-crisis-accelerating-transition-to-clean-energy) from a fossil fuel economy. And climate scientists are urgently spelling out the need to rapidly transition away (https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/04/1115452) from fossil fuels in order to stave off the worst effects of climate change.

Consumers will be more insulated from gas price volatility the less beholden they are to the global oil market. Rather than heeding right-wing media’s calls for increased drilling, and giving in to their fears that a clean energy economy will be devastating for the U.S. (quite the contrary (https://cleanpower.org/news/clean-energy-boom-to-create-quality-american-jobs/)), now is the time to begin the transition.

Fox News dominated coverage of congressional hearing on Big Oil and gas prices

04/08/22

Fox News heaps praise on the fossil fuel industry as the Russian war in Ukraine rages on

03/17/22

Fox is using the Ukrainian crisis to suggest the Biden administration’s climate policies emboldened Putin

02/24/22

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https://www.ajc.com/politics/what-2000-mules-leaves-out-from-ballot-harvesting-claims/

no lnx pix

What ‘2000 Mules’ leaves out of ballot harvesting claims

POLITICS

By Mark Niesse, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

May 10, 2022

Proof missing from Georgia videos and cellphone data

A new movie spreading suspicions of voter fraud, “2000 Mules,” shows surveillance video of Georgia voters dropping off multiple ballots.

Conservative filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza says that’s a crime, suggesting that a network of unnamed “mules” rigged the presidential election for Democrat Joe Biden and against Republican Donald Trump.

Based on these unproven allegations, the documentary-style movie jumps to the conclusion that the election was stolen.

The hour and a half-long film leaves voters uninformed about precautions that help prevent mass absentee ballot fraud, instead encouraging them to believe elections were subverted by a shadowy cabal of nonprofit organizations.

The movie hinges on the theory that 2,000 people in five states, including 242 in metro Atlanta, collected and delivered multiple absentee ballots, a practice called “ballot harvesting.” Georgia law prohibits voters from delivering anyone’s ballot besides their own, with exceptions for family members and caregivers of disabled voters.

The movie "2000 Mules" includes video surveillance of a Fulton County ballot drop box that shows a man delivering ballots at night during the 2020 presidential election.

Credit: 2000 Mules

While it’s possible that some of the alleged perpetrators shown in the movie actually committed a crime, video surveillance of drop boxes alone doesn’t prove anything. Voters might have been delivering ballots for their relatives, which is allowed.

Even if there were a ballot harvesting scheme, it wouldn’t invalidate legitimate ballots just because they were turned in by unauthorized individuals. Verified ballots of registered voters still count, regardless of how they were delivered.

Election investigators have reviewed several videos included in “2000 Mules” and found no illegal behavior, including a video that showed a Gwinnett County man inserting ballots into a drop box, according to the secretary of state’s office.

“We investigated, and the five ballots that he turned in were all for himself and his family members,” said Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffenspergerduring a debate last week.

In the movie, D’Souza promotes allegations made by True the Vote, a Texas-based organization that gathered drop box surveillance video and cellphone location data in parts of Georgia, Arizona, Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. All were swing states where Biden won.

True the Vote hasn’t cooperated with Georgia’s election investigations, refusing to disclose the names of people who allegedly harvested ballots. The State Election Board issued subpoenas on the organization last month to seek documents, recordings and names of individuals involved.

The organization also doesn’t explain how ballot harvesting could have occurred.

Every absentee ballot is assigned to the voter who requested it, and voters can only cast one ballot each.

Returned ballots must be included in an envelope that includes the voter’s registration information, signature, and a bar code. Ballots delivered without an envelope aren’t counted, meaning ballot-stuffing wouldn’t work.

True the Vote claims that cellphone location records show that “mules” visited multiple drop boxes in a day, but publicly available location data often aren’t accurate enough to prove that people actually stopped at drop boxes. They could have been driving by drop boxes on busy streets as they travel to and from work.

None of the surveillance videos in the movie shows anyone visiting more than one drop box in a day.

A map of downtown Atlanta displays cellphone travel patterns, but few of them intersect with drop boxes, which were required to be located on government property such as the Fulton County Government Center.

[Explore

From AJC investigation: Five fraud claims from the Georgia 2020 election and what investigators actually found]

A map from the movie "2000 Mules" shows cellphone signals in downtown Atlanta, but most of these paths don't intersect with drop boxes or indicate ballot harvesting.

Credit: 2000 Mules

True the Vote founder Catherine Engelbrecht said in the movie that her organization tracked cellphones that were near both drop boxes and unidentified nonprofit organizations, which she believes coordinated the ballot harvesting operation.

“What does this even mean if this is happening in broad daylight and nobody’s doing anything to stop it?” Engelbrecht said. “It won’t stop unless we stop it.”

The GBI reviewed True the Vote’s allegations last fall and found they lacked sufficient evidence to merit a law enforcement investigation.

“What has not been provided is any other kind of evidence that ties these cellphones to ballot harvesting,” wrote GBI Director Vic Reynolds in a Sept. 30 letter. “As it exists, the data, while curious, does not rise to the level of probable cause that a crime has been committed.”

While the movie blames drop boxes for enabling ballot harvesting, it ignores the fact that multiple ballots could more easily be returned through the Post Office or home mailboxes, where there isn’t video surveillance. There’s no indication of ballot harvesting in mailed ballots during the 2020 election.

D’Souza, the filmmaker and narrator, has produced several movies and books that promote conspiracy theories and right-wing propaganda, including “The Big Lie: Exposing the Nazi Roots of the American Left” and “Hillary’s America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party.”

D’Souza pleaded guilty to a felony campaign finance violation in 2014 for using straw donors to exceed contribution limits to a Republican candidate running for a U.S. Senate seat in New York. Trump pardoned D’Souza in 2018.

The movie, which costs $29.99 to stream online, ends with a QR code that directs voters to a website where they can donate money to True the Vote.

About the Author

ajc.com

Mark Niesse

Mark Niesse covers voting rights and elections for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He also reports on the Georgia House of Representatives and government. He has been a reporter at the AJC since 2013 following a decade at The Associated Press in Atlanta, Honolulu and Montgomery, Ala.

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got no prob w/ musk neurolink

Gates wants to control people with monkeypox & force them to drink 'poop water': MTG (https://www.alternet.org/2022/05/majorie-taylor-greene-bill-gates/)

https://www.alternet.org/2022/05/majorie-taylor-greene-bill-gates/

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aha: supply chain is complex mult factors vs dem arsonists; plus supply chain problem made worse by trump fail and their refusal to vax

Marjorie Taylor Greene and conspiracy theorists are now suggesting Dems are torching facilities to cause food shortages

no lnx twt

Meaghan Ellis May 14, 2022

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) is pushing a new conspiracy theory centered around the food and baby formula shortage currently plaguing the United States.

During a recent appearance on the far-right broadcast, InfoWars, the Republican lawmaker echoed the bizarre claims of conspiracy theorists as she suggested that Democratic lawmakers are responsible for torching food facilities to create shortages. According to Rolling Stone, the latest theories appear to be based on the fires that actually do occur.

Greene suggested that: "Democrats are starting the fires on purpose in order to deprive the nation of food, which would be advantageous for them because they’re playing some sort of globalist long game and don’t want anything to be manufactured in America … or something like that. It’s not totally clear."

Citing a report from the National Fire Protection Association, Rolling Stone noted: "Nearly two dozen food processing plants have gone up in flames this year. This isn’t out of the ordinary — there are thousands of fires at manufacturing facilities every year." But in true conspiracy fashion, Greene and other far-right extremists have misconstrued facts to fit into a disturbing narrative they appear to have created.

When Greene appeared on InfoWars, she ranted about the current issue with host Alex Jones.

"The Biden administration and the Democrats … are destroying the very important, most critical part of the fabric of America, and that is our farmers,” Greene ranted. “They’re doing it on purpose. They want to be the global economy. They want to be completely involved. And here we have these ‘random,’ supposedly accidental fires at food processing plants.”

Jones also signaled in agreement with Greene. Claiming to have spoken with "mathematicians," Jones said, it seems “'mathematically impossible' for processing plants to be catching fire like they have been so far this year."

He added, “Everything the globalists are doing is about destroying real sustainability and making things collapse to bring in their new world order."

Greene's latest conspiracy theory follows criticism for a multitude of previously debunked claims.

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https://www.alternet.org/2022/05/michael-flynn/

vax --> zombies

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https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/jeanine-pirro-says-public-schools-are-part-new-world-order-conspiracy-bring-children-part

4/28

JEANINE PIRRO (CO-HOST): And I find this so incredible, that Biden is saying that the teachers are really the victims here. Teachers are being unfairly targeted, that's a quote from Biden, in the culture wars. Are you kidding me? The teachers are the ones who said the parents were the terrorists and the Biden administration and the FBI ran with it.

So, here is what I consider to be the bottom line — that this is a new world order. We're now going to bring in the children into part of the government. They are ours, and we are going to decide what to teach them and you parents, we are not going to tell you about that — about it, but if you find out about it, it is still none of your business.

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https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/marjorie-taylor-greene-says-legal-challenge-to-take-her-off-the-ballot-is-a-globalist-ploy-for-a-one-world-government/

rww

rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene testifies in a Georgia courtroom today in a hearing to determine (https://www.npr.org/2022/04/22/1094273441/marjorie-taylor-greene-is-in-court-as-part-of-a-legal-challenge-to-her-candidacy) whether the far-right congresswoman can be barred from running for reelection for her role in the Jan. 6 insurrection. In preparation, she spent the day prior with Alex Jones—the radical conspiracy theorist who is underinvestigation (https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/20/us/politics/alex-jones-jan-6-interview.html) for his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection—insisting that the legal challenge to disqualify her candidacy is all part of the “globalist” ploy for a “One World Government.”

Georgia voters and a supporting legal group, Free Speech For People, filed the challenge against Greene, winning a victory last week when a federal judge ruled that the case could proceed. At the heart of the case is a provision in the 14th Amendment that forbids any member of Congress who has “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof” from serving in office. The provision was passed years after the Civil War to prevent former Confederates from returning to their seats in Congress.

In making their case (https://www.c-span.org/video/?519623-1/rep-marjorie-taylor-greene-testifies-administrative-hearing), lawyers for Free Speech For People point to evidence like a Jan. 5 tweet by Greene calling Jan. 6 a “1776 moment.”The judge on the case will make a recommendation to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who will then decide whether Greene remains on the ballot.

On Jones’ “InfoWars” Thursday, Greene insisted that the hearing was a “show trial” that has “nothing to do with Jan. 6,” and that she did nothing wrong. “They know there was no insurrection,” she told Jones. “That is their big lie.”

Jones agreed that the challenge was “so villainous,” declaring, “this is next level tyranny.”

“Clearly the globalists want to implode the country, Cloward and Piven (https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/michaeltomasky/2011/jan/24/us-politics-fox-news)to make us dependent and take control. And all the polls show a total collapse and realignment of Republicans,” Jones said. “How do you think the Democrats and the deep stateare going to try to stop this populist peaceful uprising?”

“They don’t want me in there,” Greene said. “So theseglobaliststhat are completely trying to destroy our country and move us into their global economy and theirOne World Government to where NATO is telling us what, who they should go to war with, and the UN is running the entire world. This is what Democrats want. They know to achieve these goals they have to get the strongest fighters out. That’s why they’re coming after me, and they’re coming after Andy Biggs, Paul Gosar, they went after Madison [Cawthorn].”

And who does Greene believe is behind it? Greene claimed that the attorney group lodging the challenge “is totally funded by George Soros dark-money groups.”

“They hope that we have a civil war,” Jones said, adding that it was the “devil system.”

Earlier in the show, Jones also compared Greene’s hearing to his own legal troubles stemming from comments he made about the 2012 Sandy Hook mass shooting.

“Well, I’m dealing with the same thing where I was found in default in a case of not giving them documents, but they have all the documents, and then I’m supposed to have a jury trial about how guilty I am but were not even allowed to speak at that trial,” Jones protested.

In addition to being investigated by both the House select committee and the Department of Justice for his role in instigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, Jones is facing multiple defamation lawsuits (https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/shtpost-624860/episodes/the-latest-in-lawsuits-against-132540136) after he called the 2012 Sandy Hook mass shooting a “hoax” and accused the parents mourning the death of their children of being paid actors.Jonesfailed to turn over documents (https://ipandmedialaw.fkks.com/post/102hbja/alex-jones-failure-to-produce-documents-leads-to-defaults-in-sandy-hook-suits) to the judge in one of those cases and failed to show up to a hearing.

Toward the end of the show, Greene expressed her admiration of Jones. “I love those T-shirts, ‘Alex Jones was right,’” Greene said. “I need to get one of those.”

Tags: Alex Jones (https://www.rightwingwatch.org/people/alex-jones/) Marjorie Taylor Greene (https://www.rightwingwatch.org/people/marjorie-taylor-greene/) Capitol Insurrection (https://www.rightwingwatch.org/topics/capitol-insurrection/) conspiracy theories (https://www.rightwingwatch.org/topics/conspiracy-theories/) Georgia (https://www.rightwingwatch.org/topics/georgia/) Jan. 6 (https://www.rightwingwatch.org/topics/jan-6/) InfoWars (https://www.rightwingwatch.org/organizations/infowars/)

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https://www.alternet.org/2022/04/alex-jones-sandy-hook-kremlin/

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Reporter lays out the ‘eerie’ parallels between Kremlin media and America’s ‘mass shooting deniers’

Alex Henderson April 26, 2022

During Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, some of the propaganda and disinformation coming from Kremlin-controlled media uses language that — when translated from Russian into English — sounds a lot like terms coming from far-right MAGA media in the United States, including “fake news” and “false flag.” Journalist Elizabeth Williamson, author of the book “Sandy Hook: An American Tragedy and The Battle for Truth,” takes a look at this type of terminology in an article published by the New York Times on April 25. And she notes the disturbing parallels between Kremlin propagandists in Russia and right-wing media figures in the U.S.

“The similarity is eerie,” Williamson explains. “Russia has long used incidents of American gun violence to support its propagandistic claims of cultural superiority. Now, during this war, the Kremlin is adopting the language of American mass shooting deniers to deny towering evidence of its army’s atrocities in Ukraine, including calling injured and killed Ukrainians crisis actors.”

One of the “mass shooting deniers” and far-right conspiracy theorists that Williamson discusses in her article is Infowars’ Alex Jones, who claimed that the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting of December 14, 2012 was a false flag operation. Williamson points out that the term “crisis actors” has been used by the Infowars crowd in connection with Sandy Hook as well as by Russian media in connection with massacres of Ukrainian civilians by Russian troops.

“The term ‘crisis actors,’ used by Sandy Hook fabulists to mean people pretending to be victims or survivors of the massacre, was used after the Sandy Hook shooting by James Tracy, a Florida Atlantic University professor and Infowars guest whose side hustle as a conspiracy blogger cost him his job,” Williamson notes. “Some believers of Infowars’ lies about Sandy Hook have tormented the relatives of the victims ever since.”

Similarly, Williamson observes, Kremlin propagandists have been claiming that reports of atrocities in Ukraine are “fake news.”

“After being condemned around the world for bombing a maternity hospital in Mariupol, Ukraine,” Williamson explains, “Russia advanced a bogus conspiracy theory last month that was chillingly familiar to me. Using unrelated images from social media, dodgy ‘reports’ and constant repetition, the Russian Defense Ministry falsely claimed the airstrike was a ‘staged provocation’ by Ukraine. The hospital, Russian officials falsely said, was nonoperational and a base for Ukrainian fighters. Moscow’s ambassador to the United Nations dismissed Associated Press photographs of the aftermath as ‘fake news,’ and the Foreign Ministry alleged that bloodied, pregnant women evacuated from the rubble were crisis actors.”

In the U.S., Williamson observes, far-right conspiracy theorists have also downplayed the violence that occurred when Donald Trump supporters attacked the U.S. Capitol Building on January 6, 2021.

“In my recent book, ‘Sandy Hook: An American Tragedy and the Battle for Truth,’ I wrote that the Sandy Hook conspiracy theories — once believed to be true by one-quarter of Americans — foretold the world of delusion that we live in today,” Williamson writes. “Through my reporting, I traced the through line from Sandy Hook to Pizzagate; to QAnon, and its claims that Democrats were trafficking children; to anti-Semitic tropes invoked by neo-Nazi marchers in Charlottesville; to coronavirus myths; and to the 2020 election lie that fomented the January 6 Capitol riot. And now, to the war in Ukraine.”

Williamson wraps up her article by noting that as a reporter, her “first close experience with wartime disinformation” came “during the Balkan wars of the 1990s.”

:{:{}:

“In Belgrade,” Williamson recalls, “a Serbian foreign ministry official gave me an armload of books, all of them falsely claiming that victims of the region’s genocidal wars had fabricated evidence of atrocities or committed the crimes themselves. But today, as I watch Russia spread disinformation about the war in Ukraine with terms that developed in America, and then American conspiracy theorists regurgitating that disinformation, I’ve realized that those books are not the discredited relics I imagined they would be.”

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https://www.rawstory.com/1st-amendment-praetorian-2654817031/

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in his letter to the National Archives on behalf of the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol on Wednesday, Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), signaled that the committee is interested in learning more about a man namedRobert Patrick Lewis.

The letter requests "all documents and communications concerning the 2020 election and relating to Lewis and others as part of a probe into "recruitment, planning, coordination, and other preparations for the rallies leading up to and including January 6th and the violence on January 6th."

A Special Forces veteran and author with combat experience in Afghanistan and Iraq, Lewis founded a group called 1st Amendment Praetorian in September 2020 that provided security for three Washington DC rallies that helped build momentum over the two-month period building to Jan. 6. Lewis has described 1st Amendment Praetorian in an Oct. 11 Facebook post as a "group of military, law enforcement and intelligence community veterans" who "provide pro bono intelligence and security services to patriotic and religious events."

Beyond 1st Amendment Praetorian's role as "demonstration marshals" for the DC rallies that built momentum for Jan. 6, Lewis was also tapped to provide security for retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn during the "Jericho March" from the National Mall to the Supreme Court. A former intelligence director for US forces in Afghanistan who briefly served as national security director under President Trump and was later pardoned after lying about his contact with the Russian ambassador, Flynn emerged in December as a major figure in the campaign to thwart the transfer of power. He endorsed a public call on Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act and order the military to conduct a new election.

Flynn's name is also on the list of Trump allies whose communications are sought by the January 6th committee.

"Being on the Personal Security Detail today for many of our personal hero and motivation in this fight — @GenFlynn — takes the cake," Lewis tweeted on Dec. 12. "This man & his family have given so much for this Republic andit's an honor to even share the air he breathes as he keeps us driving the 2nd American Revolution forward."

Lewis voiced similarly militaristic rhetoric elsewhere that day in an interview with Epoch Times affiliate New Tang Dynasty. Commenting on conservatives who felt that their ability to voice support for Trump, express religious feelings and watch an election process that was supposedly rigged, Lewis said, "A lot of people are angry. And so, we've been tracking this on the intelligence side for quite a while as a low-level conflict."

The event permit for the Nov. 14 Million MAGA March at Freedom Plaza, which was secured byCindy Chafian on behalf of Women for America First, notes that 25 1st Amendment Praetorian members wearing black T-shirts would act as "demonstration marshals."

The group won the praise of Tracy Diaz, an early QAnon promoter who spoke at the event.

"There aren't any words to explain how absolutely life saving the guys of @1st_praetorian are," Diaz tweeted. "They protected us during the March. These are absolute heroes." Diaz's Twitter account has since been suspended.

1st Amendment Praetorian's performance on Nov. 14 appears to have caught the attention of Flynn, who retweeted Diaz, writing, "Thank you @tracybeanz for all you do & @RobertPLewis for your team of professionals." Flynn went on to make a fundraising appeal on 1st Amendment Praetorian's behalf, taggingconservative media personalities Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Rush Limbaugh and Mark Levin.

Lewis returned the compliment to Diaz in a late-night YouTube video filmed from his hotel room, in which he also mentioned providing security for Stop the Steal organizer Ali Alexander.

"I get to hang out with Tracy Beanz often, which is pretty cool," Lewis said. "We gotAli Alexander — we were tight at the hip with him all day today — and a lot of different conservative influencers."

1st Amendment Praetorian also provided security at the Jan. 5 "Rally to Revival"— likewise listed as 25 "demonstration marshals" wearing black T-shirts in the permit application.The event was organized by Cindy Chafian, apart from Women for America First, which is headed by Amy Kremer. Chafian obtained the permit for the Jan. 5 event, but partnered with Alexander and Brian Gibson, a Kentucky pastor. The eight-hour event was divided into three blocs emceed by the three partners.

Chafian, Alexander, Gibson and Diaz are all on the list of Trump allies, alongside Lewis and Flynn, whose communications members of the January 6th committee want to examine in their effort to understand preparations for the rallies that set the stage for the violence at the Capitol. Others include Trump confidant Roger Stone; InfoWars host Alex Jones; Proud Boys national chairman Enrique Tarrio; and Tom Van Flein, chief of staff for Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.). Two individuals on the list — InfoWars host Owen Schroyer and #WalkAway organizer Brandon Straka — face federal charges related to the Jan. 6 breach of the Capitol.

Although Lewis had cultivated a prolific social media presence across multiple platforms, Jan. 5 was his first time stepping into the spotlight as a speaker during the series of rallies that mobilized Trump supporters behind the false claim that the election was stolen.

Chafian mentioned 1st Amendment Praetorian as an "organization [that] is near and dear to my heart" in her introduction of Lewis, also giving shoutouts to the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, at the Jan. 5 rally on the eve of the storming of the Capitol.

Lewis told the crowd that he was "willing to get up here and walk into danger if we need it, if we need to be there,to make sure that we don't cede this country, and I have my kids grow up in a communist hellhole.And I need each of you to fight as hard as you can to ensure that that does not happen."

Following his public appearance alongside Chafian, Lewis' public profile receded considerably on Jan. 6. But at 2:18 p.m. that day, the 1st Amendment Praetorian leader tweeted: "Today is the day the true battles begin."

Whether Lewis was aware of it or not, only five minutes earlier, Proud Boy Dominic Pezzola had used a stolen police riot shield to bash out a window, breaching the Capitol to allow the first wave of rioters to stream into the building. The incident was live-streamed on Twitter and widely shared.

Lewis told the Daily Beast that he was at the Willard Hotel, which is several blocks away from the Capitol, at the time he made the tweet.

By 5:32 p.m., Lewis had joined a brace of far-right influencers, including Rep. Gosar, in promoting a conspiratorial view that the mayhem at the Capitol was not the work of unnamed bad actors rather than Trump supporters.

"Getting a lot of reports that the Capitol bum rush was staged & not MAGA," Lewis tweeted. "Fits the color revolution play book to a T. Going to look at the @1st_praetorian intel shed, but seems pretty likely — we've already IDd some people we've been tracking."

Lewis could not be reached for this story.

While distancing himself from the assault on the Capitol, Lewis' rhetoric before and after Jan. 6 has remained consistent, reflecting a view that "patriots" need to be prepared to fight against sinister foreign actors that have supposedly infiltrated the US government and civil society.

"Americans are standing up," Lewis announced in an Oct. 11, 2020 Facebook post. "We're taking our country back. We've activated the counter-insurgency."

In a Fox News interview a couple weeks later, Lewis specified a logical adversary in his promised domestic "counter-insurgency."

"Our intelligence shows that no matter who wins the election, they are planning a massive 'Antifa Tet Offensive,' bent on destroying the global order; they are not beholden to any one party," Lewis said. "Their sole purpose is to create havoc, fear and intimidation."

In his Dec. 12 interview with New Tang Dynasty, Lewis vaguely alluded to foreign interference in the 2020 election while warning about potential violence.

"China, Iran, Pakistan — we saw some other outside adversaries that had a part in this — that's my biggest fear is that if they try to do that , if we do come to a point where there's violence in this country, our adversaries will start to come in, and it will be a battleground — the United States," he said. "That's what really worries me the most, because that's when chaos — I was in the Army, I was a Green Beret, so I've been in warzones. I don't want to see that here. I've got a family. I've got kids. I hope we can stop it before it comes to that point. But if we don't, there's a lot of people, they're not gonna go back to sleep, they're not gonna sit down, and they're not gonna allow it to happen."

Lewis' articulated fear in his interview with New Tang Dynasty echoes the central theme of his fiction writing in his 2019 book The Pact II: Battle Hymn of the Republic, described on Amazon.com as following "Rob and the men of ODA 022 from their battles against the invaders (China, Russia, Iran & Hezbollah) in Colorado to joining the resistance to take back the nation."

Meanwhile, Lewis has remained in contact with Flynn.

1st Amendment Praetorian provided security at the QAnon-organized "For God & Country Patriot Roundup" in Dallas on Memorial Day weekend, in which Flynn appeared to endorse a Myanmar-style coup in the United States.

Lewis commemorated the event by tweeting a photo of himself flanked by Flynn and former congressman Allen West holding an "Appeal to Heaven" flag.

1st Amendment Praetorian is actively recruiting military veterans and former law enforcement on its website. The site also includes an "Intel" page that cites "corruption as one of the greatest threats to our Republic," while directing visitors to visit the group's Telegram channel and inviting them to "stay tuned if you want to see the dirty underbelly of the current war for our Republic." But the group's Telegram channel mainly reshares content from QAnon accounts ("TheStormHasArrived17" and "They Praying Medic"), one that promotes Invermectin ("The Library"), and Flynn. A recent Telegram post by "The Library," meanwhile, praisesDiazfor "doing groundbreaking reporting on Covid, Invermectin, vaccines & more."

On his personal Twitter account, many of Lewis' posts address the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. Reacting to the Kabul Airport bombing on Thursday, Lewis reflected on the advance evacuation from Bagram Airfield, hinting darkly at betrayal by the US military command.If the decision was the result of malfeasance, Lewis tweeted, "get the engineers working on the gallows immediately."

In another tweet in late June, Lewis invoked the idea that an elite force must be willing to deploy "wrath" and "destruction" to "take back" the republic.

"Do you really want to take back and keep this Republic?" Lewis tweeted. "Truly? Because the answer is relatively simple…. But it will require Sunday school, turn the other cheek American Christians & Patriots to turn into Old Testament, full wrath of God, destruction of their house and salt the earth beneath them Christians.

"And it won't take that many of us," he added. "Just the ones who understand & have the temerity to do what needs to be done."

Jordan Green covers right-wing extremism for Raw Story. A Kentucky native, he now lives in North Carolina, where he spent 16 years writing for alt-weeklies and freelancing for the Washington Post and other publications.

Report typos and corrections to: corrections@rawstory.com.

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https://www.vice.com/en/article/4avnxn/qanon-militia-of-ex-cops-and-soldiers-is-training-patriots-for-revolution

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after 15 hours on his feet protecting the attendees at a QAnon conference in Dallas, Robert Patrick Lewis was tired.

But then the former Army sergeant, who did two tours in Afghanistan and Iraq, heard disgraced former national security advisor Michael Flynn speak. Flynn, who himself took the QAnon pledge and has become part celebrity and part spiritual leader to the QAnon faithful, called for a military coup in the U.S., and suddenly he felt invigorated.

So he fired up a YouTube livestream and spoke straight to camera: “We need to talk about a revolution.”

Lewis is a full-fledged QAnon believer and founder of the 1st Amendment Praetorians, named after the elite Roman soldiers who protected the emperor. The group consists offormer military, law enforcement, and intelligence personnelwhose stated mission is to provide pro bono security for “patriotic and religious events across the country.”

The group was founded last September and has since acted as security for more than a dozen events, as well as providing security for Flynn himself. The QAnon conference—called “For God & Country: Patriot Roundup”—was a perfect fit.

The Praetorians are a new paramilitary organization that Lewis says has grown to “hundreds” of members in just nine months, in almost complete secrecy. It is part of a growing network of right-wing extremists groups who are pushing baseless conspiracies about election fraud, and has direct links to violent militias, notably the Oath Keepers. Now Lewis, a QAnon believer, is helping establish a nationwide network of survivalist training camps to prepare patriots for the coming revolution.

In Dallas on Memorial Day weekend, Lewis’ crew of a few dozen Praetorians didn’t have any threats to deal with other than a couple of journalists—including one from VICE News—who were ejected from the event. But the conference helped boost the Praetorians’ profile, and it helped Lewis make some new friends.

During the event, he posted a picture of himself with Flynn and then-Texas GOP chair Allen West, holding aPine Tree flag, a Revolutionary War-era emblem that has been appropriated by the far right.

While Flynn called for a military coup, what Lewis says he wants is not bloodshed but a grassroots revolution.

“I feel that we are going through a revolutionary country right now. It doesn't always have to be a kinetic revolution, it doesn't always mean bloodshed in the streets. Revolution can mean a completely different emerging viewpoint for a way of doing or a way of acting, I think that's what we're at,” Lewis told VICE News from his home near Los Angeles this week.

But Lewis’ so-called peaceful revolution is at odds with his rhetoric on social media posts, in online articles, and in interviews on right-wing news stations. His vision of a new American revolution is also infused with conspiratorial thinking and linked to known violent extremists.

In addition to his QAnon activism, Lewis is a COVID-denier who believes that the 2020 election was stolen from former President Donald Trump. He also believes that critical race theory is bogus, and that the mainstream media is in league with the deep state. He believes that Antifa is the greatest threat to U.S. democracy and firmly believes they were behind the Capitol riot on January 6. Lewis says he was in D.C. on the day of the Capitol riot, but there’s no evidence he was part of the group that attacked the Capitol.

Most worrying of all is that Lewis and the Praetorians are coordinating resources and information with more violent groups, far-right militias, and extremists. Lewis says he’s been in contact with Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the Oath Keepers, a far-right, anti-government militia who provide personal security to Roger Stone and whose members have been charged with conspiring to storm the Capitol.

His contact with Rhodes has stopped since Jan. 6, which is when Lewis claims “the FBI started to frame the Oath Keepers and they went to ground.” While Rhodes has yet to be charged in relation to the Capitol insurrection, he has been named in documents filed by prosecutors, who have charged several other Oath Keepers with conspiring to attack the Capitol.

Lewis says he is in contact with several groups similar to the Oath Keepers, not to coordinate actions but to "share information amongst each other: ‘What are you seeing? Are you seeing what we're seeing ramping up? What are you guys doing?’ It's not coordinating together; it's more like sharing information.”

[News

The Militia That Allegedly Plotted to Kidnap Gov. Whitmer Had a Massive Stockpile of Weapons

TESS OWEN

04.01.21]

The Praetorians also work with a veritable who’s-who of conspiracy theorists, including renowned anti-vaxxer Sheri Tenpenny, who made headlines last week when she claimed COVID-19 vaccines made people magnetic.

And now Lewis is using that network to launch survivalist training for “patriots” across the country, to prepare them for when the revolution finally arrives.

"The people that came to this continent, and were able to form what became the United States of America had to be extremely resilient,” Lewis said. “They came here with what they had, and then everything else to survive had to be created. I feel like we've lost that in our country. My big worry is that if things ever do get really bad, it will be compounded by the fact that people don't know how to take care of themselves.”

Lewis said that as well as working with sheriffs across the country on this project,he is coordinating with Scott Kesterson, a prominent QAnon promoter and podcaster who stole $12,000 from a cancer charity campaign for his dying friend.

Tenpenny and Lee Merritt, an osteopath who is a member of the conspiracy-driven groupAmerica’s Frontline Doctors, are also part of this network, which Lewis said would teach people skills like basic medical training and farming.

Lewis’ conspiracy-infused “revolution” is being echoed by conservative groups across the country, including QAnon and the Republican Party, who are using the lie that last November’s election was fraudulent to rally people to action.

As QAnon conspiracies become subsumed as mainstream talking points by the GOP, right-wing figures have begun to amplify calls for followers to leave their computer screens and get involved by infiltrating school boards, joining local Republican parties, and even running for Congress.

[The FBI’s New QAnon Report Is Scary as Hell

DAVID GILBERT

06.14.21]

“It seems like we are going through a great awakening in this country.” Lewis said, echoing one of QAnon best-known phrases.

After Lewis finished his military service in 2009, he tried his hand at writing, publishing a trilogy of titles called“The Pact,” a fictional account of a joint Chinese-Russian-Hezbollah attack on the U.S.

Over the next decade, he also held a number of corporate roles, including working for UCLA Healthcare, and several marketing roles, including with several veteran-owned companies, according to Lewis’ LinkedIn profile.

During this time he was not in the public eye, but in 2019 he said he felt compelled to do something after seeing Vietnam veterans attacked for holding Trump signs.

Lewis couldn’t provide specifics for the incident, but in June 2020, an 82-year-old veteran was pushed to the ground at a Trump supporters’ rally in Fall River, Massachusetts. He was kicked in the ribs and legs by a man who had ripped the sign from his hands, according to the Herald News, a local newspaper.

Lewis initially planned to attend Trump rallies and provide additional support to the private security inside the events by focusing on protecting the people outside the rallies who camped out for days ahead of Trump’s arrival.

Lewis claimed people were being attacked going to and from their vehicles at these events or while they were waiting in line outside, but there are very few reports of incidents like this, and Lewis didn’t provide specifics.

[News

QAnon Follower Who Tried to Steal Arizona for Trump Is Running For Senate

DAVID GILBERT

06.15.21]

But as the pandemic hit, and the rallies were cancelled, Lewis pivoted and launched the Praetorians.

In September, he published his first video talking about the Praetorians, describing them as “a group of military, law enforcement and intelligence veterans who refuse to stand on the sidelines and watch as your countrymen and women are intimidated from expressing their First Amendment rights.”

In the nine months since that video was published, the group has recruited “hundreds” of volunteers to provide security at events, though Lewis would not say what the exact figure is. He also refuses to name any of the individuals who’ve signed up, citing privacy reasons.

While he’s recruited a number of civilians, Lewis says he wants to focus almost exclusively on people from military, law enforcement, and intelligence backgrounds.

“Each of these people have kind of an inculcated foundation of professionalism, and we can depend on them to do the right thing if the pressure ratchets up,” Lewis said. The vetting process is rigorous, according to Lewis, and conducted by a group of private investigators—or “digital ninjas,” as Lewis calls them—who he says thoroughly review people’s backgrounds, including their military records, looking for histories of violence and brushes with law enforcement.

“We don't want people in our group that could possibly cause trouble or be prone to violence or anything like that,” Lewis said.

Lewis says the group is entirely crowdfunded and covers the cost of flights, food, and accommodation for all the volunteers, as well as the purchasing of equipment such as radios, surveillance cameras, and the uniform: black shirts with the white Praetorian logo on them.

The group’s first event, in October 2020, was organized by the Walkaway Campaign, an activist group led by Brandon Straka, a MAGA activist who was once a curtain-raiser at Trump rallies and was arrested for allegedly breaching the Capitol on Jan. 6.

Including that initial event in Washington, Lewis says they provided support for 15 more events before the end of the year, while the Dallas conference was the group’s first of this year.

And at pretty much every event, Lewis had one enemy in mind: antifa, whom he sees as the biggest threat to the U.S.—together with the Black Lives Matter movement.

Lewis has a wild origin story for the anti-facist group. He believes it operated first in Germany before many its way to the U.S. in the last decade, where it has been funded by money from the U.S. government as well as directly from countries like Cuba and China.

Lewis believes there’s a “cadre” of powerful people directing the movement, such as prominent 1970s feminist activist Susan Rosenberg, while the front lines of antifa are often populated with “useful idiots,” such as students or the children of wealthy families.

Like many conspiracy theorists—and many within the Republican Party—Lewis is fully convinced that the attack on the Capitol was conducted not by pro-Trump groups but by antifa.

“We saw at the Capitol on January 6 where they were trying to push people to do violence,” before citing a video he claims shows antifa activists “being led by Capitol Police magically to a door where the magnetic locks were unlocked at the right time.”

Lewis’ entire worldview appears suffused with conspiratorial thinking and he has long expressed support for the QAnon movement, dating back to at least 2018 when he wrote an article called “What is QAnon, Q, and the Great Awakening are Real?” for the Heroes Media Group.

And despite none of Q’s predictions coming true, Lewis’ outlook has not changed. “I think there's more to it, so people are willing to consider,” he said, calling QAnon “profound” and ”enormous.”

[Over 30 Million Americans Believe in QAnon’s Most Outrageous Conspiracy

DAVID GILBERT

05.27.21]

Piling conspiracy on top of conspiracy, Lewis also believes that FBI agents are infiltrating the QAnon movement to spread extreme conspiracies that were not based on Q drops, as part of a plan to discredit the movement—and this, of course, is all being aided by the mainstreammedia.

Lewis believes QAnon could be a U.S. government-funded operation, but he leaves open the possibility that it’s a disinformation campaign being run by a foreign state—though that, too, has a silver lining.

“If it was a disinformation campaign, it was an abject failure, because you have up to 20% of the population [who have] learned to research on their own and they learned not to believe anything they hear from the media at face value, which is proven very valuable given the large-scale lies we’ve seen from the media.”

TAGGED:

MILITIA DR. SHERRI TENPENNY PARAMILITARY MICHAEL FLYNN SCOTT KESTERSON DISINFO DISPATCH LEE MERRITT PRAETORIANS ROBERT PATRI

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wow:

Alex Jones complains about “Sandy Hook charade” and claims the lawsuit against him is part of a “one-world government” plot

https://www.mediamatters.org/alex-jones/alex-jones-complains-about-sandy-hook-charade-and-claims-lawsuit-against-him-part-one

jONES (HOST): Front and center for them is to demonize and attack anyone that talks about this. I am here in Connecticut with the whole Democratic Party-funded, -run, anti-free speech, anti-gun Sandy Hook charade that's going on with their attempts to demonize me and set the precedent to ban everybody's speech.

And the first thing they brought up was, “You believe in a new world order, you believe in one-world government. You believe in an armed overthrow of the new world order." So again, they're trying to demonize me as a terrorist who opposes the one-world government that doesn't exist at the same time because The New York Times says so, even though just last week, Klaus Schwab had their big event in Dubai titled World Government Conference. And at it, Schwab and Harari, and all the rest of the same cast of characters -- James Bond villains -- said the post-human world is here and that the world economy is collapsing. But don't worry, they're going to build a new green system on its ashes, Build Back Better and Buttigieg came out and said the same thing here in the U.S.

But that's OK because again, they're allowed to push world government, corporate world government. We're just not allowed to oppose it. When we talk about it, we're crazy and violent, and it doesn't exist. That's gaslighting, that's brainwashing. So here's this former federal prosecutor who's prosecuting the First Amendment and all of our freedoms; in the first 20 minutes he spent hammering me for believing in an imaginary new world order and global government, and that I want to be violent and overthrow people -- which goes the whole January 6 narrative and how they're trying to brand any political opposition as violent. What they're doing, but all the Democrat violence is mostly peaceful. And Kamala Harris bailing out rioters and looters and people trying to burn down the federal courthouse in Oregon there in Portland, that's all OK as well.

Now, I'm going to segue out of that. I'm just pointing out how we have global government up here, and we have their prosecutors now withlawfare trying to shut down our free speech at the grassroots level. And that's so that we cannot oppose the worldwidebio-medical tyrannythat is the basis of the world ID, the world social credit score, the world carbon tax that they admit is now being rolled out on a planetary scale under the auspices of the vaccine passport.

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sadlY no pix

'Birds Aren’t Real': How a mock conspiracy theory caught on with the far right

A Birds Aren't Real billboard in Memphis in 2019, Wikimedia Commons

Alex Henderson April 18, 2022

When Arkansas native turned Memphis resident Peter McIndoe invented the Birds Aren’t Real conspiracy theory in January 2017 — the month of former President Donald Trump’s inauguration — he was making fun of far-right conspiracy theorists. It was an exercise in political satire; McIndoe, now 23, was mocking the type of MAGA Republicans who listen to listen to Alex Jones’ “Infowars” and embrace Pizzagate and other ludicrous conspiracy theories. But Birds Aren’t Real caught on, and according to The Guardian’s Zoe Williams, some conspiracy theorists on the far right actually take it seriously.

Birds Aren’t Real claims that the “Deep State” killed off all of the real birds in the United States and replaced them with drones that are made to look like birds — and the drones are being used to spy on Americans. McIndoe never really believed that, but he found that some far-right conspiracy theorists took him seriously and believed that all the birds flying around were drones.

McIndoe, Williams notes, unveiled his Birds Aren’t Real claims at a rally in Memphis in January 2017.

“Someone was filming him and put it on Facebook,” Williams explains. “It went viral, and Memphis is still the center of the Birds Aren’t Real movement. Or is it a movement? You could call it a situationist spectacle, a piece of rolling performance art or a collective satire. MSNBC called it a ‘mass coping mechanism’ for Generation Z, and as it has hundreds of thousands of followers on social media, ‘mass,’ at least, is on the money.”

The audience for far-right conspiracy theories only grew during Trump’s four years in the White House, from QAnon to the false claim that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump. And according to Williams, Birds Aren’t Real is “the most perfect, playful distillation of where we are in relation to the media landscape we’ve built but can’t control, and which only half of us can find our way around.”

“It’s a made-up conspiracy theory that is just realistic enough, as conspiracies go, to convince QAnon supporters that birds aren’t real, but has just enough satirical flags that Generation Z recognizes immediately what is going on,” Williams observes. “It’s a conspiracy-within-a-conspiracy, a little aneurysm of reality and mockery in the bloodstream of the mad Pizzagate-style theories that animate the ‘alt-right.’”

McIndoe recalls that he was shocked by how quickly Birds Aren’t Real caught on.

The Arkansas native/Memphis resident told The Guardian, “I remember seeing videos of people chanting: ‘Birds aren’t real,’ at high-school football games, and seeing graffiti of birds aren’t real. At first, I thought: ‘This is crazy,’ but then I wondered: ‘What is making this resonate with people?’…. Teenagers understand it, they don’t need footnote.”

McIndoe himself isn’t a MAGA Republican or a far-right Christian nationalist; he was a Bernie Sanders supporter in 2016. But he grew up around evangelical Christian fundamentalists in a rural area of Arkansas, and Birds Aren’t Real was his way of mocking the far right — even though some conspiracy theorists took it seriously.

“Real conspiracy theorists will approach me like I’m their brother, like I’m part of their team,” McIndoe told The Guardian. “They will start spouting hateful rhetoric and racist ideas, because they feel as if I’m safe.”

McIndoe doesn’t believe that the demand for far-right conspiracy theorists will be going away anytime soon. In fact, he believes the worst is yet to come.

“I don’t think the madness is going to necessarily end,” McIndoe told The Guardian. “I think the lunacy is going to become more intense.”

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https://www.expressnews.com/business/eagle-ford-energy/article/Inside-Exxon-Mobil-s-fight-to-stop-climate-12994450.php

BUSINESS

Inside Exxon Mobil’s fight to stop climate change litigation in its tracks

James Osborne

Staff Writer

June 15, 2018

[FILE - In this May 31, 2006 file photo, an ice sculpture fashioned by protesters, to demonstrate their view of how the company's policies are affecting the environment, slowly melts outside the Exxon Mobil shareholders meeting in Dallas. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled Friday, April 13, 2018, that Exxon Mobil must hand over documents for Attorney General Maura Healey's probe into whether the company misled investors and consumers about what it knew about the link between fossil fuels and climate change. (AP Photo/LM Otero, File)]

WASHINGTON — Imagine this storyline: One of the largest oil companies in the world becomes the victim of a left-wing conspiracy, funded by wealthy liberals who convince Democratic attorneys general across the nation to sue the company to stop it from offering different views about climate change.

What sounds like the stuff of a bad Hollywood thriller is, in fact, the narrative Exxon Mobil’s attorneys are telling as they seek to defend the company from mryiad lawsuits and investigations into what oil companies knew about climate change and when they knew it. With a surprising procedural victory in a Texas court recently, Exxon is attempting to gain greater latitude in what it and other oil companies can say — or not say — about climate change and the impact on their businesses, seeking to build on legal rulings that have expanded corporations’ rights of free speech in recent years, legal scholars say.

The U.S. government has long limited First Amendment protections for corporations, prohibiting them from making false statements to further business interests — a staple of U.S. consumer protection laws going back to the days of snake-oil salesmen peddling so-called magic elixirs. But Exxon’s case could test how far the courts are willing to go to uphold governments’ ability to regulate commercial speech.

Exxon is arguing that the state and local governments suing the company have gone too far, trying to impose an Orwellian code of conduct to drown out those who call attention to uncertainties about how climate change will play out over the long term and affect the global economy.

“Exxon is framing (climate change) as a legitimate political debate in which they are a participant, rather than a for-profit company trying to make a buck,” said Tamara Piety, a law professor at University of Tulsa. “There has been a growing movement (among corporations) to raise the First Amendment. If something can be proven to be unconstitutional it’s completely off the table”

Over the past two decades, companies have successfully used the free speech strategy to challenge government regulations on everything from the placement of workplace signs explaining employee rights to the distribution of patients’ medical data. A key win for corporate America came in 2010 Citizens United case, when the Supreme Court ruled that limits on corporate spending in political campaigns violated companies’ free speech rights.

Now Exxon is seeking to expand corporate rights one step further, arguing that the government legal action, based on the company’s past statements, is little more than leverage to get oil companies to agree to a wide-arching climate change deal that would restrict what they can say about the issue — in violation of “of Exxon Mobil’s constitutional rights.” That includes investigations launched by the New York and Massachusetts attorneys general into whether Exxon lied to shareholders and consumers about the risks of climate change to the environment and its business, and lawsuits filed by cities and counties in California and Colorado, which are seeking damages from Exxon and other oil companies for the costs of rising sea levels and increased wildfires.

Exxon in January asked a state court in Fort Worth to order more than a dozen city and county officials from California to sit for depositions by Exxon’s attorneys to determine whether they are conspiring with plaintiffs’ attorneys and environmentalist activists to force Exxon into accepting a deal. A New York federal judge in March dismissed a similar request by Exxon to depose the New York and Massachusetts attorneys general, ruling it was based on “extremely thin allegations and speculative inference,” but the Texas judge, R.H. Wallace Jr., decided to give the company more room to prove its claim, ruling in April that Exxon could begin making requests to depose specific officials.

Exxon declined to comment. But James Coleman, a law professor at Southern Methodist University in Dallas and a contributor to the conservative Federalist Society, said Exxon, which has come out in support of the Paris climate accords and a national carbon tax, is simply protecting its First Amendment rightsto communicate about climate change and the effects on its finances as it sees fit.

“It’s an unusual claim (by Exxon) but it doesn’t mean it’s wrong,” he said. “The government can make you give accurate information, but the government can’t force you to say things you disagree with. For instance, the government couldn’t make Exxon say climate change is the defining challenge of our time, even if they consider it a fact.”

San Francisco and other California communities are challenging Wallace’s ruling in the Texas 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, potentially setting the case on a path to the Texas Supreme Court. And considering the political makeup of the state’s high court, Exxon stands a good chance of winning its argument, said Tom McGarity, a law professor at the University of Texas, who sits on an advisory board to the California plaintiffs.

“It presents a very sympathetic venue,” he said. “It’s a pro-business Supreme Court.”

Conspiracy

The case in Texas comes three years into a legal campaign against Exxon and other oil companies. In Exxon’s telling, it all stems from meeting of environmental activists in the beach town ofLa Jolla, California, in 2012.

Activists and attorneys discussed a strategy for addressing climate change based on the tobacco lawsuits of the 1990s, which successfully argued tobacco companies were liable for smokers’ deaths because executives knew the risks but still claimed publicly they did not, according to an account of the meeting published by the Union of Concerned Scientists, an environmental group that helped organize the event

If Exxon and other oil companies could be shown to have known the risks to health and safety of climate change but did nothing to warn the public and investors, then perhaps activists could create a groundswell of public outrage to change the political and economic landscape for oil companies, much as they had for tobacco companies.

“We wrote up a report so other lawyers and policymakers could pick up on those lessons (from tobacco) and use them, like you would any science you would hope is actionable,” said Peter Frumhoff, head of policy and science at the Union of Concerned Scientists. “The first tenet of good science is being transparent.”

But the activists also gave Exxon a potential weapon to counterattack.

The company’s lawyers have focused on one line in the Union of Concerned Scientists account, in which activists describe how they could could use litigation for “maintaining pressure on the industry that could eventually lead to its support for legislative and regulatory responses to global warming.” That game plan, Exxon lawyers said, was then adopted by government prosecutors, including former New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who recently resigned amid allegations of sexual abuse.

Wallace, the Texas judge, agreed with the company lawyers, writing that environmentalists who attended the La Jollameeting “aimed to chill and suppress Exxon Mobil’s speech.”

California and Colorado officials dismiss Exxon’s legal maneuvers as little more than intimidation tactics aimed at frightening and bogging them down in paperwork. A spokesman for the New York Attorney General’s Office called Exxon’s strategy an attempt to “distract and deflect from the facts at hand.”

Public opinion

Within conservative circles, Exxon’s conspiracy message seems to be gaining traction.

Earlier this year, David Bookbinder, an attorney with the libertarian Niskanen Center, filed suit against Exxon and the Canadian oil company Suncor, claiming they were responsible for the costs sustained by Colorado local governments in fighting wildfires and other effects of climate change.

A few weeks later, he began seeing his name pop up on conservative websites, including theDaily Caller and one owned by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Articles suggested Bookbinder and his colleagues were part of a conspiracy funded by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, a New York charity with more than $800 million in assets that is overseen by the descendants of the late oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller, whose Standard Oil was the precursor to Exxon Mobil.

The claim was based on a $200,000 grant the Niskanen Center received shortly before the Colorado lawsuit was filed. Bookbinder said the grant had nothing to do with the lawsuit and scoffed at the idea his plaintiffs were part of a conspiracy to damage Exxon.

“My clients don’t want Exxon out of business,” he said. “Then they don’t get paid.”

The Rockefeller Brothers Fund said in a statement that it does consider a willingness to take oil companies to court in awarding grants to climate activists. “Litigation is one tool that can help to level the playing field by leaning into legal standards that are meant to serve the common good,” the statement said.

In its legal filings, Exxon maintains that the Rockefellers and the hedge fund billionaire Tom Steyer, who is funding a campaign to impeach President Donald Trump, are behind the wave of litigation. Exxon lawyers cited a $30,000 campaign donation Steyer made to a former mayor of San Francisco shortly before that city filed suit, as well as a Columbia Journalism School investigation into how Exxon’s past statements questioning climate science conflicted with what its scientists were saying internally.

The Rockefeller Family Fund, another charity controlled by Rockefeller descendants, funded the Columbia investigation.

There’s nothing illegal about using money to try to influence a company’s behavior. But that’s besides the point for Exxon. Just as climate activists succeeded in convincing more Americans that climate change is a large and growing threat, Exxon wants to promote the idea of a liberal conspiracy to undermine a fossil fuel industry that employs hundreds of thousands of people and literally fuels the U.S. and global economies.

Exxon is now considering an appeal of a ruling by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court that found the state’s attorney general’s office had not violated the company’s constitutional rights when it demanded the company turn over documents. Such an appeal would go to the U.S. Supreme Court, where Exxon’s success in convincing the public of its liberal conspiracy narrative could make the difference between winning and losing.

“I don’t think the Supreme Court is completely oblivious to public opinion,” said Piety, the Tulsa law professor, “and the more Exxon can marshal public opinion, the better chance they have of convincing the courts.”

ENDIT