just asking question
rhetorical scam
variant of many ppl are saying
allows to purposely spread BS for power, clicks, ratings, posing as fearless truth-teller inquisituve, but actually cowardly dodge to avoid accountability (or legal liability, post Smartmatic defam suits
Next year will be the ten-year anniversary of the so-called "Pizzagate" conspiracy, and one Republican Senator is trying to reignite the lie that inspired at least one gunman.
"Pizzagate" was the conspiracy that claimed Hillary Clinton was involved in a child trafficking ring that was being run out of the basement of a Washington, D.C., pizza parlor. The pizza place in question doesn't have a basement, nor did it have any connections to trafficking or trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
The Huffington Post's Yashar Ali noticed that Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) reposted a video from "a conspiracy theorist who regularly spreads neo-Nazi propaganda."
The video he reposted came from Ian Carroll, who uploaded it in Jan. 2024. He challenged the claim that reports and fact-checks had officially debunked the "Pizzagate" conspiracy. Clicking on links, he called it "nepotism circles" of news links from "left of center" sites.
Carroll followed the path from Bill Gates giving funding to a fact-checker to Gates taking a photo with Epstein, a sex offender.
"The 'Pizzagate' conspiracy came out way before the Epstein revelations came out," Carroll claimed.
In fact, "Pizzagate" was a 2016 election conspiracy. Epstein was first arrested in Florida in 2006, following complaints that first began in Nov. 2004, the Washington Post reported, citing court documents.
Carroll then makes the leap that Epstein's trafficking of young girls make the conspiracy all the more likely.
"Am I, like, way out of line to say that Epstein is pretty solid evidence that there might be some child trafficking going on with elites?" Carroll asked. "Right? Like, is that too far out there?"
Lee reposted the video nearly two years after the initial video went live, touting those who are merely asking questions.
"What comes to mind first when you hear that mainstream-news media sources have 'debunked' a particular 'conspiracy theory'? I don’t know this guy, but he asks some legitimate questions. Watch the video and see for yourself," Lee wrote
The meme "I'm just asking questions" mocks conspiracy theorists who use the "pseudoskeptical" concept to distort claims under the guise of questions, author and researcher Tim Wise wrote in 2022.
Ali noted that Lee's promotion of Carroll's video perpetuates this false narrative.
"Carroll is a conspiracy theorist who regularly spreads neo-Nazi propaganda. The video Senator Lee is promoting is filled with thoroughly debunked nonsense about 'Pizzagate' and also repeats various lies about public figures. In the past, Carroll has spread neo-Nazi propaganda, including claims about the Rothschilds being involved in the Scofield Study Bible, among other dangerous conspiracies that target Jews," wrote Ali.
The gunman who went to the pizzeria in 2016 was ultimately released from prison after serving four years. Police have since killed the gunman in an unrelated incident.
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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 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.