Right wing conspiracy theories on the Notre Dame fire

Right wing liars will make up anything to spread hatred and bigotry. These theories are baseless. Let’s see if Trump spreads this one.

New from me: Racist conspiracy theories created by white nationalists about Notre Dame filtered into mainstream spaces in less than 24 hours.

Platforms don't have the systems in place to stop it, and it's stirring up hatred of minorities.https://t.co/SDgRak8a3M
— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) April 16, 2019

I wrote for the @washingtonpost about how the far right spread sinister, Islamophobic explanations for the Notre Dame fire, playing into a broader narrative of civiliztional conflict: https://t.co/Wz4lPZnKgr
— Talia Lavin (@chick_in_kiev) April 16, 2019

Right-wing media personalities are pushing conspiracy theories about the burning of Notre Dame, even after French investigators said the case is not being investigated as arson or terrorism. https://t.co/5skzQQmmKF
— Scott Bixby (@scottbix) April 16, 2019

I’m starting to suspect white nationalist Richard Spencer might be trying to incite violence here. pic.twitter.com/eyCKsP9SHR
— Molly Jong-Fast (@MollyJongFast) April 16, 2019

That’s some deep seated racism to explain a construction accident. https://t.co/zrgeYdUZyh
— Juliette Kayyem (@juliettekayyem) April 16, 2019

The best kind of conspiracy theory is one that is proven by the fact it hasn’t been proven. https://t.co/KqndbTrqcP
— George Conway (@gtconway3d) April 16, 2019

Remember Glenn Beck's whole apology tour for inflaming and inciting people with paranoid and conspiratorial rhetoric? https://t.co/Hmr48DyWVn
— Brian Tashman (@briantashman) April 16, 2019

Right-wing twitter is by far worse than atheist twitter right now. Atheists are being generally respectful that I can see, but even “moderate” conservatives are immediately trying to figure out how to make this racist and Islamaphobic.
— Jennifer C. Martin (@notreallyjcm) April 15, 2019

During two separate occasions on Monday afternoon, Fox anchors Shepard Smith and Neil Cavuto had to dump out of interviews after their guests wildly speculated and parroted conspiracy theories that the #NotreDameFire was an intentionally malicious act https://t.co/u2n3sT2f0J
— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) April 15, 2019

This guy blames Obama for the recession

Obama hadn’t even been nominated yet! He’s just another right winger who doesn’t know or doesn’t care about facts. That doesn’t bother Fox News. That’s how we got Trump.

**Immediately** after Bernie Sanders Fox town hall, Fox "straight news" anchor (and town hall questioner) hosts far-right Art Laffer, who says that Sanders being elected would trigger another great recession. pic.twitter.com/zJLkx27DOO
— John Whitehouse (@existentialfish) April 15, 2019

According to Art Laffer, President Obama caused the Great Recession.
For reference, the Great Recession began in December 2007.
Obama was not even the favorite to win the Democratic primary then. Hillary Clinton was way ahead in the polls. https://t.co/7Ytd450AkW pic.twitter.com/083WvtaTy3
— Catherine Rampell (@crampell) April 16, 2019

Trump goes even further than Barr

Donald Trump's dangerous allegation of 'illegal' and 'unprecedented' spyinghttps://t.co/j2zGJHjpFJ pic.twitter.com/BiiNN5DvlS
— Chris Cillizza (@CillizzaCNN) April 11, 2019

Trump claims he’s victim of ‘illegal’ spying – but provides no evidence @abbydphillip reports @TheLeadCNN https://t.co/dyt5rzeNB5 pic.twitter.com/3Zl4y7WFyn
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) April 11, 2019

Barr spreads Trump’s “spying” conspiracy theory.

Trump has said, with no basis, that his campaign was spied on. Now, Barr backs him up. This undermines law enforcement. I have no trust in Barr now. He’s just another Republican liar sucking up to Trump.

As Philip Bump notes, Trump wins by making an “informant”(routine for law enforcement) into a more sinister sounding “spy”.

Second, I (and presumably others) take more issue with the "on the campaign" part of the assertion. Wrote about that last year.https://t.co/eA8zzq4NkJ
— Philip Bump (@pbump) April 11, 2019

William Barr is redefining what it means to “spy” https://t.co/pMOydkMJ8Z pic.twitter.com/DUf9GGcaNr
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) April 11, 2019

Democrat @TedLieu to CNN: The FBI didn't spy on the Trump campaign, "This was authorized surveillance." 🤔 pic.twitter.com/hgDv4Tf587
— Matt Wolking (@MattWolking) April 11, 2019

Bill Barr could have said "surveillance approved by a FISA court."

Instead, he said "spying."https://t.co/2H5Hkmz5bX
— Chris Cillizza (@CillizzaCNN) April 11, 2019

– Attorney General publicly says the FBI “spied” on the Trump campaign

– Unnamed sources around the AG try to walk the comments back

– The President comes out the next day and praises the original remarks, insisting “I think what he said was absolutely true.”

Clear as mud.
— Josh Campbell (@joshscampbell) April 11, 2019

It’s hard to call someone in Trump’s orbit even more dishonorable than Trump himself, but Bill Barr might meet that test: unlike the totally unmoored and immoral Trump, this Attorney General clearly knows better. He has to know how badly he is betraying the rule of law.
— Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) April 11, 2019

DING DING DING. Also, Shaheen gave Barr a chance to take back "spying" and he paused and said it again.

Plus, he's an extremely accomplished lawyer and former AG who understands how to parse. https://t.co/77LT3vV5pj
— Aaron Blake (@AaronBlake) April 11, 2019

I see the “spying” conspiracy is coming back in vogue, now from the AG himself. Reupping my tutorial on why and how sources are used in counterintelligence investigations https://t.co/9aHRdjw0cn
— Asha Rangappa (@AshaRangappa_) April 10, 2019

“I frankly don’t even recognize the guy anymore. I am outraged that he would do that, to law enforcement and to the criminal justice system of the USA.” @CynthiaAlksne on AG Barr saying, with no evidence, that he thinks spying occurred on the Trump campaign. #Hardball pic.twitter.com/tVXsFuCggb
— Hardball (@hardball) April 10, 2019

More on #Barr from @stevebenen:
He "must realize the political weight of a loaded term such as 'spying,' but Barr, already suspected of being overly concerned with the president's political interests, said it anyway." https://t.co/LrAlbirhKi
— EJ Dionne (@EJDionne) April 10, 2019

This gets at something that has become apparent the past two weeks: Barr is a smart lawyer who has been out of public service a long time and has no idea what he's doing in the modern political/media landscape. https://t.co/OQemcvdAk2
— Matthew Miller (@matthewamiller) April 11, 2019

Have you noticed that at no time in the past two days did William Barr communicate any concern about Russia attackin' our election or Trump's campaign not once reportin' a single one of over 100 meetings with Russia?

His only worry was about a Trump conspiracy theory.
— Tea Pain (@TeaPainUSA) April 10, 2019

This is the sort of thing that the "spying" comment buys us. There will be a lot more where that came from. https://t.co/yAPHlGMr7Y
— Harry Litman (@harrylitman) April 10, 2019

AG Barr’s “spying” remark is a “classic demonstration of the Fox-newsification of the Republican party,” says CNN’s @JeffreyToobin. “His use of this term shows how much the paranoid lunacy of the right wing is now moved right in” to the Justice Department. https://t.co/m1qULaNutV pic.twitter.com/kjRx7ldgar
— CNN (@CNN) April 11, 2019

Barr was quick to criticize the agency he now leads, despite having no evidence to support the accusation. Career public servants deserve leadership that supports them. https://t.co/ItT4VEp6ol
— Joyce Alene (@JoyceWhiteVance) April 11, 2019

If Barr had a concern about the investigation and wanted the truth, he'd cite facts and rely on the IG. If he wanted to provide his boss political cover or intimidate investigators so they won't investigate his boss again, he'd cite a conspiracy theory and launch his own inquiry.
— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) April 11, 2019

Republicans go back to attacking Clinton and Obama

The old standbys. They’ll never stop these attacks yet they think Democrats shouldn’t investigate Trump.

On what planet are these folks operating from, because it certainly is NOT planet earth. https://t.co/CHj2k0EMk4
— Karine Jean-Pierre (@K_JeanPierre) March 25, 2019

Lindsey Graham laying out an important marker here. If his comments are any indication, Republicans are not going to take Mueller's findings and move on.

They are ready to dive back in to scrutinize the Justice Department and FBI's handing of the Trump and Clinton cases.
— Nicholas Fandos (@npfandos) March 25, 2019

In wake of the Mueller report, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham vows to investigate alleged FISA abuse and the Clinton campaign https://t.co/PERpZVPwGs pic.twitter.com/BTGeyNJHzs
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) March 25, 2019

Graham pivots to Clinton emails, Loretta Lynch

“Was it just a tarmac meeting or was it more? I believe there was more there”
— Burgess Everett (@burgessev) March 25, 2019

"As to the Clinton email disposition. Why did Comey…take over the investigation?" Graham said.

"What was the conflict that made Loretta Lynch so unable to preside over the Clinton email investigation?" he continued, adding that he wants to get to the bottom of it pic.twitter.com/uYVq1YrZ2S
— POLITICO (@politico) March 25, 2019

This is a mafia-style act of intimidation. Trump’s allies in Congress seek to ensure that, if career officials are assigned to investigate wrongdoing by the administration again, they’ll be afraid to do their jobs. It’s a corrupt attack on the rule of law by lawless partisans. https://t.co/R8Z8GtOjSi
— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) March 26, 2019

The Seth Rich conspiracy theory is finally retracted

Jerome Corsi has issued a formal retraction on InfoWars for his role in spreading the Seth Rich conspiracy theory. The retraction/apology is currently being featured on the front page of InfoWars. pic.twitter.com/v3E50pidb5
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) March 4, 2019

Jerome Corsi and InfoWars retract and apologize for spreading Seth Rich DNC murder conspiracy theory: “Dr. Corsi acknowledges that his allegations were not based upon any independent factual knowledge" https://t.co/KALh6Xh0Hd
— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) March 4, 2019

Fox's "news" side:
1) Killed their Stormy Daniels story.
2) Published their Seth Rich story.

After the Rich story fell apart, Fox retracted it, said they were investigating what went wrong, never explained what happened, and held no one accountable.
— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) March 5, 2019

As this very good timeline from @willsommer points out, both Jerome Corsi and Roger Stone knew Seth Rich had nothing to do with the DNC hack while they were still publicly claiming he was the one who gave it to Wikileaks.https://t.co/Mzf7B9pt8y
— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) March 4, 2019

The latest crazy Qanon stuff

Today, again, was supposed to be D-Day for Qanon. It's getting awfully late in the day for the parade of Hillary Clinton and half of Hollywood in shackles they believe is coming.

Oh well! Onto the next one!

(Which Q said, no joke, is in either two or four days.) https://t.co/k36vzKRkFz
— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) March 19, 2019

Michael Flynn’s Family Is at War With Each Other Over QAnon https://t.co/ynjJmaRZp0
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) March 18, 2019

Trump Tweets QAnon, Pizzagate Conspiracy Theorists’ Content https://t.co/YOm1Zi9bb5
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) March 18, 2019

New from me: A Qanon book that alleges the US government created both AIDS and Monsters Inc. (as a tutorial on how to do eat children) is up to No. 56 of all books purchased.

It’s in recommendation carousels. And Amazon will not comment on any of this.https://t.co/2HjQrlWiW8
— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) March 5, 2019

QAnon people are going wild with a fake news story claiming George Soros was arrested on Sunday. But the savvier QAnon promoters are withholding judgment for now—probably a good idea, since the article also claims that Soros possesses a magical teleporter. https://t.co/5nf68Q0taq
— Will Sommer (@willsommer) February 5, 2019

A top QAnon promoter is predicting QAnon fans will start handing out "vigilante justice" if the promised mass arrests of Democrats don't happen soon. https://t.co/IIx3ZkKfES
— Will Sommer (@willsommer) February 4, 2019

Asked about his tweet, Gorka told The Daily Beast to “go outside and lick a metal street lamp.” Thursday’s temperature in Washington, D.C. is 18 degrees Fahrenheit. https://t.co/5dLekI2Krx
— Josh Dawsey (@jdawsey1) January 31, 2019

Trouble in QAnon world. Praying Medic, a major QAnon promoter who has been retweeted by Hannity, is now urging disappointed believers not to focus so much on the mass arrests they were promised. pic.twitter.com/f2aup526ky
— Will Sommer (@willsommer) January 3, 2019

Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort appears to employ a pastry chef who frequently posts online about her belief in the pro-Trump QAnon conspiracy theory https://t.co/tjyobgid7W
— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) February 22, 2019