Late Wednesday night, it was revealed that top-tier 2020 candidate Elizabeth Warren began a long-term affair several months ago with a decorated former Marine who’s now a bodybuilder.
Not really.
The claim, with the honesty of the mistress already in question, is boosted by accused felon, internet troll, and conspiracy theorist Jacob Wohl and lawyer Seth Rich conspiracy-theorist Jack Burkman. Given his previous claims against South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg and special counsel Robert Mueller, his California Sen. Kamala Harris birtherism, as well as his lifetime ban from the National Futures Association for defrauding investors, there is no reason to take any of Wohl’s baseless smears seriously.
Sadly, it’s another example of the Right’s conspiracy theory problem.
It’s not just Wohl who is a problem for the Right. It goes even further than right-wing radio host Alex Jones (who claims the Sept.11 terror attacks were an inside job), filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza’s revisionist history, and Pat Buchanan denying that Treblinka was a Nazi death camp. It’s a serious issue with more prominent political figures, which has a negative real world impact.
Birtherism is a big reason why President Trump rose to political prominence. A registered Democrat for most of the 2000s, he earned Republican praise in 2011 when he started echoing claims that President Barack Obama was born in Kenya, not Hawaii. It’s a conspiracy that has also been peddled by failed Senate candidates Roy Moore of Alabama and Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Arizona, among others. Meanwhile others, such as one-term Rep. Joe Walsh, wrongly claimed Obama was Muslim. Walsh’s claims came despite the controversy surrounding Obama being an attendant of Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s sermons.
There are QAnon conspiracy theorists running for U.S. House seats as members of the Republican Party in Minnesota and Florida. Fox News, One America News Network, and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani pushed the debunked Seth Rich conspiracy theory. Other folks such as Trump and former Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann have spread anti-vaccine propaganda.
The Left has its share of conspiracy theorists too, such as anti-vaxxer and 2020 presidential candidate Marianne Williamson, and Sept. 11 “truthers” such as former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel and former Georgia Rep. Cynthia McKinney. However, that does not negate the issue on the Right, nor does it justify attempts to smear political opponents with ridiculous lies.
Conservatives should run and win on principles, not lies. There are winning conservative issues to focus on such as banning late-term abortions, expanding school choice, implementing E-Verify nationally, not eliminating private health insurance, reducing the federal deficit, and so on. Pushing for these policies that will improve the lives of everyday people and help conservatives win. Peddling ridiculous conspiracy theories will do the opposite.
If Wohl and Burkman really want to help conservatives, they need to fade into obscurity. They’ve lost so much credibility that even if they did get legitimate damaging information on a Democrat, no one would believe them. Everyone, especially conservatives, will be better off without them and their ilk.
Tom Joyce (@TomJoyceSports) is a freelance writer who has been published with USA Today, the Boston Globe, Newsday, ESPN, the Detroit Free Press, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, The Federalist, and a number of other media outlets.
