I’m a simple man; I tend to believe what I see with my own eyes. It’s a crazy concept, I know, but it’s gotten me through the last 29 years just fine. Apparently, the lunatic fringe currently known as the Republican party doesn’t share that same tendency, as they have now latched on to a conspiracy theory that the Capitol riot was committed by none other than the FBI.
According to CNN, the conspiracy theory originated from the far-right website Revolver News and was obviously picked up by the Grand Wizard of Fox News, Tucker Carlson. “FBI operatives were organizing the attack on the Capitol on January 6,” Carlson said without evidence on Tuesday during his nightly show. “... It turns out that this ‘white supremacist insurrection’ was — again, by the government’s own admission in these documents — was organized at least in part by government agents.”
I love that Carlson lowkey implies that he’s a white supremacist, by putting ‘white supremacist insurrection’ in quotes. It reads like a dude going “Well, clearly we didn’t do it.”
The basis of the conspiracy is convoluted, which it kinda has to be considering that the truth of the situation—a group of cultish, predominately white assholes decided to try and overthrow democracy at the behest of the former president—is obvious to anyone who didn’t actively play a role in inciting the riot.
Of course, we all know the Republican party doesn’t believe in personal responsibility or that they should face consequences for their actions, so instead they’ve concocted a bizarre, half-baked theory based on literally nothing.
It wasn’t the months of pundits like Carlson and Republican politicians like Rep. Jim Jordan, Sen. Ted Cruz, and Sen. Josh Hawley repeatedly telling their base that the election was stolen from them. It wasn’t the former President telling the rioters that “if you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.” It was the FBI.
Yup, that makes sense.
From CNN:
Revolver News published its story on Monday. The article fit the site’s bent toward conservative clickbait — their homepage Wednesday featured alleged horror stories from people who took the Covid-19 vaccine, and also said First Lady Jill Biden spoke to her husband in a “b*tchily” fashion.
Here’s the crux of the conspiracy: Several indictments against Capitol rioters who are accused of planning the attack with extremist groups include references to unindicted co-conspirators. The article claimed these co-conspirators could actually be FBI informants or undercover agents who infiltrated the groups, played a leading role in planning the attack, and stormed the Capitol.
It’s true that some indictments against members of extremist groups like the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys mention anonymous co-conspirators who haven’t been charged yet. And the FBI routinely uses undercover agents, and government operatives may have been embedded in right-wing groups before January 6.
But there is no evidence that these co-conspirators are secretly working for the FBI. An FBI spokesperson declined to comment about the false-flag theory. Legal experts say the article’s conclusions are based on a deeply flawed misunderstanding of how legal writing works and the definition of an unindicted co-conspirator.
This is such a reach it puts Michael Jordan’s game-winning shot against the Monstars to shame. Now, I’m no fan of the FBI, and it’s not like the United States government is above staging a coup or two. This is a pretty open and shut case, though.
We all saw what happened, but whiteness can never be in the wrong. So don’t be surprised if next month they blame violent video games for the events of Jan. 6.