Ron Johnson’s Latest Conspiracy Theory

U.S. Senator Ron Johnson is a man who loves conspiracy theories.

He colluded with a disgraced Ukrainian official to spread disinformation on Joe Biden, promoted the use of hydroxychloroquine to combat COVID-19 though it was proven to have not benefits and perhaps harmful to those who took it, and repeatedly claimed with no evidence there were irregularities in 2020 election.

But as crazy as all those theories were, the senior senator from Wisconsin may have outdone himself with his latest claim. In an interview with Fox News host Maria Bartiromo, Johnson suggested it was House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and not President Donald Trump was to blame for the riot at the US Capitol.

Johnson didn’t cite any evidence for this, saying only that he was “suspicious.”

Considering Pelosi’s life was in danger, as some of the Capitol insurrectionists called for violence against her, that’s a suspicion that makes little sense.

But that wasn’t enough to stop the reckless Republican, who suggested the impeachment trial of Trump was part of a plot to divert attention from Pelosi.

“Is this another diversionary operation? Is this meant to deflect away from potentially what the speaker knew and when she knew it?” Johnson said to Bartiromo. “I don’t know, but I’m suspicious.”

The interview with Johnson came after Bartiromo interviewed former Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. Meadows and Johnson were “feeding a new conspiracy theory: Blame Nancy Pelosi,” as Washington Post columnist James Downie charged. Referring to the failures of Capitol security, Meadows offered this take: “There’s all kinds of blame going around, but yet not a whole lot of accountability. … And those decisions did not come from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. It came from the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue.”

“‘Wow,’ replied the always-credulous Bartiromo, ‘We will talk more about that coming up to find out what Senator Johnson has uncovered.’ All that Johnson could produce, though, was evidence-free speculation,” Downie noted.

In fact, Pelosi was not in charge of the Capitol police, as Forbes noted, “The House and Senate, which was controlled by Republicans on January 6, have oversight over the Capitol Police budget, but neither Pelosi, nor any other congressional lawmaker, influences the day to day operations of the police force.”

As radical and fearful of Trump as many Republicans are, few would be willing to slime Pelosi with no evidence. But Johnson, who has repeatedly proven himself one of Trump’s most loyal and truth-be-damned supporters, was happy to play this dirty.