GOP's Ron Johnson peddles fringe 9/11 conspiracy theories, reaches new low [View all]

[LetMyPeopleVote]

Ron Johnson was once described as the GOP’s “foremost amplifier of conspiracy theories and disinformation.” On 9/11, he's proving his critics right.

There was a time in the recent past when being a 9/11 truther would've been seen as disqualifying for a U.S. senator.

Ron Johnson appears to know that this time is apparently over, and he can expect to get away with peddling fringe 9/11 conspiracy theories. www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2025-04-21T19:49:40.920Z

There was a time in the recent past when being a 9/11 truther would've been seen as disqualifying for a U.S. senator.

Ron Johnson appears to know that this time is apparently over, and he can expect to get away with peddling fringe 9/11 conspiracy theories

Link to tweet

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/gops-ron-johnson-peddles-fringe-911-conspiracy-theories-reaches-new-lo-rcna202221

It’s apparently time to add the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, to the list. Mediaite noted:

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) suggested Monday that the US government may have played a role in the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks during an interview with MAGA influencer Benny Johnson on The Benny Show.

Though it seemed difficult to believe, after the far-right host asked the Wisconsin Republican what he wants to know about 9/11, Johnson said, "Well, start with Building 7,” adding that he believes there was “a controlled demolition” at the World Trade Center.

He went on to say, “Who ordered the removal and the destruction of all that evidence, totally contrary to any other firefighting investigation procedures? I mean, who ordered that? Who was in charge? I think there’s some basic information. Where’s all the documentation from this investigation? There are a host of questions that I want — and I will be asking, quite honestly, now that my eyes have been opened up.”

He did not appear to be kidding.

https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:4llrhdclvdlmmynkwsmg5tdc/post/3lndkpeyfus2z

Link to tweet

......At this point, it’s probably worth reminding readers that, in the recent past, Senate Republicans thought it’d be a good idea to put Johnson in charge of the Senate Homeland Security Committee for six years.

Larry Glickman, a historian at Cornell University, noted that it's "incredible" that a sitting senator "can say something like this with every expectation that such comments will not be grounds for bipartisan calls for his immediate resignation or removal from office."

Ahead of his 2022 re-election campaign, the editorial board of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel said Johnson was “unfit” for office and called him “the most irresponsible representative of Wisconsin citizens since the infamous Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy in the 1950s.”

Four years later, he’s vastly worse. There was a time in the recent past when being a 9/11 truther would've been seen as disqualifying for a U.S. senator. Johnson appears to know that this time is apparently over.