The Hoax Master of Wisconsin
Ron Johnson has become a national leader in hoaxes and conspiracy theories.
![Ron Johnson. Photo by Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America / Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/deed.en](https://urbanmilwaukee.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Ron_Johnson_5435034005-1024x683.jpg)
Ron Johnson. Photo by Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America / Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0)
What the hell has happened to Ron Johnson?
He ran for the U.S. Senate in 2010 as a Republican “citizen legislator,” a real-life version of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, the political neophyte who would bring purity to politics. His “first task is to save our nation from bankruptcy,” he soberly explained. America’s freedom is threatened by “unsustainable levels of spending and debt.”
In short, a harmless wind bag obsessed with the debt. There are far worst sorts to be found in Congress.
But something happened after Johnson was reelected and Donald Trump took over the presidency. The man for whom debt was like a disease supported a massive tax giveaway to corporations and wealthy taxpayers that would drive the deficit to levels unseen since just after the massive spending on World War II. But he didn’t just jettison his stated reason for seeking office — to trim the debt. He also obliterated his “citizen legislator” image, making sure the tax bill added a benefit for “pass-through” or limited liability companies that would personally benefit him.
The ideologue who promised he had “the backbone” needed to help members of Congress develop a spine turned out to have no principles at all. And since then he has, year by year, turned into a peddler of countless hoaxes and 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 no benefits and perhaps harm those who took it, and repeatedly claimed with no evidence there were irregularities in 2020 election.
But marshaling facts and logic to respond to Johnson’s conspiracy mongering ends up giving it far more dignity than it deserves. Johnson offered no evidence, admitted he had none and merely said he was “suspicious” of “what the speaker knew and when she knew it.” In short, pure demagoguery.
This week Johnson had a new lie to peddle, denying the Capitol riot was violent. On Monday he went on WISN radio and said this: “This didn’t seem like an armed insurrection to me… When you hear the word ‘armed,’ don’t you think of firearms? Here’s the questions I would have liked to ask: How many firearms were confiscated? How many shots were fired?”
Johnson added, “If that was a planned armed insurrection, man, you had really a bunch of idiots.”
These comments are part of “the emerging hoax-ification of the Capitol riot,” as a column by the Washington Post’s Aaron Blake noted, and Johnson is a key leader.
As the Post reported, “Fourteen people face charges related to bringing weapons to the riots… including an Alabama man who allegedly had an arsenal in his truck and a Maryland man who police say stormed the Capitol with a gun, multiple magazines and a bulletproof vest. Federal prosecutors have also accused extremist groups of coordinating the deadly attack.”
“What’s particularly stunning about Johnson’s comments is that they came after he served as a juror in a trial in which the House impeachment managers played extensive video of the Capitol riot,” Blake noted. “He had just borne witness to some of the ugliest scenes for many hours.”
In short, Johnson knows what he is saying is untrue. But he’s become part of a small choir of Republican demagogues who will make any claim to support Donald Trump, in this case trying to make the insurrection he promoted look like a silly little fracas by kooks wearing funny hats. Johnson has drunk the Trump Kool-Aid and transformed himself from a citizen legislator to a shameless peddler of conspiracy theories. He is an embarrassment to Wisconsin.
If you think stories like this are important, become a member of Urban Milwaukee and help support real, independent journalism. Plus you get some cool added benefits.
More about the Chaos at the Capitol
- Hayward, WI Man Sentenced for Jan. 6 Attack - Frank Zufall - Jul 17th, 2024
- Police Officer Who Survived Jan. 6 Has a Warning for America - Erik Gunn - Apr 10th, 2024
- 3 Years After Jan. 6 Insurrection Where Do Wisconsin Cases Stand? - Sarah Lehr - Jan 7th, 2024
- Wisconsin Man Arrested for Assaulting Law Enforcement During Jan. 6 Capitol Breach - U.S. Department of Justice - Sep 7th, 2023
- State’s Top Elections Official Interviewed By Jan. 6 Investigators - Anya van Wagtendonk - Jul 19th, 2023
- Op Ed: Kaul Should Charge Ron Johnson, 10 Fake Electors - Matt Rothschild - Jan 8th, 2023
- WisDems Chair Ben Wikler Statement on the Anniversary of 1/6 - Democratic Party of Wisconsin - Jan 6th, 2023
- Congresswoman Gwen Moore Statement on Two-Year Anniversary of January 6th - U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore - Jan 6th, 2023
- Wisconsin GOP Chair Expressed Concern About Fake Electors Plan, Then Joined In - Shawn Johnson - Dec 23rd, 2022
- Report Calls For Criminally Charging State’s Fake Electors - Henry Redman - Dec 19th, 2022
Read more about Chaos at the Capitol here
Back in the News
-
Eric Hovde Has Another Bad Week
Apr 22nd, 2024 by Bruce Murphy
-
Josh Kaul Investigating Fake Electors?
Apr 17th, 2024 by Bruce Murphy
-
State’s 7 Richest People Worth $72 Billion
Apr 8th, 2024 by Bruce Murphy
Yep, walking in Joe McCarthy’s shoes. I used to ask my folks how McCarthy got away with his craziness. Now, I know.This crackpot ‘s got to go in 2022!
“If that was a planned armed insurrection, man, you had really a bunch of idiots.” Sen. Johnson you just called the majority of people who participated in this assault and the majority of people who support you ‘idiots’. You clearly are either a reincarnation of Sen. Joe McCarthy or his acolyte.