It was reported this morning that suspicious packages believed to have contained explosive devices had been sent to Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, while a similar device was found on Monday at the home of billionaire philanthropist and Democratic mega-donor George Soros. It was thought that another package had been sent to the White House, but those claims were later debunked.
Not surprisingly, right-wing media figures at supposedly reputable conservative outlets reacted by immediately alleging that Democrats may have sent their own leaders and a prominent donor explosives in order to politically damage Republicans.
On Reddit’s most popular pro-Trump discussion board, top posts alleged that Democrats had orchestrated the attacks on themselves.
Two of the top four rising posts on r/The_Donald right now are the false flag narrative.
About an hour ago, a post said this was “straight out of the Democrat playbook.”
“They are doing it to themselves,” it said. pic.twitter.com/cSGgwBXdsM
— Ben Collins (@oneunderscore__) October 24, 2018
Mike Flynn Jr., the son of Trump’s former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, called the news “a total false flag operation.”
John Cardillo, a Newsmax TV host, said the timing of the suspicious packages was “too coincidental.”
Kurt Schlichter, a Townhall columnist, said he was “not buying it.”
Derek Hunter, a contributing editor of The Daily Caller and a Townhall columnist, suggested that the packages may be “a distraction” from the migrant caravan traveling from Honduras to America. Using a hashtag, he referred to the Reichstag Fire, during which the Nazi Party in Germany committed an arson attack to frame communists as plotting to overthrow the government. He’s since deleted the tweet.
Wayne Dupree, a right-wing talk radio host, said “our side doesn’t do stuff like this.”
Laura Loomer, an anti-Muslim conspiracy theorist, said she was “not buying it. At all.”
Ian Miles Cheong, a right-wing Twitter user and former columnist, wrote that he was “just saying” that “those bomb threats benefit the Democrats more then Republicans.” He later clarified he was “not going to call anything a false flag,” although his prior statement has that exact effect.
Tarl Warwick, a right-wing YouTube user going by the moniker “Styxhexenhammer666,” responded to the reports of the suspected explosives by pinning the acts on anti-fascists.
Chadwick Moore, a right-wing columnist, said “it’s impossible to believe these stories if you know how dirty [Democrats] are.”
Paul Joseph Watson, of Infowars, said the packages were “the October Surprise.”
Bill Mitchell, a YourVoice America host, said the reports of the packages had “astro-turfing written all over it so the media can paint the [GOP] as ‘the dangerous mob.’”
Jesse Lee Peterson, a right-wing commentator, said he “wouldn’t be surprised if leftists are sending these packages.”
