Prominent figures in the conservative and MAGA movements have led the charge in spreading baseless conspiracy theories about the absence of Sen. Mitch McConnell and now the death of Sen. Lindsey Graham.
It’s part of a pattern in which conspiracy theories about the deaths and ailments of prominent Republicans are increasingly coming from inside the party’s own house — with little in the way of efforts to combat it from GOP and MAGA leaders.
At Charlie Kirk’s memorial service last year, for example, Tucker Carlson seemed to play footsy with the burgeoning but baseless conspiracy theories that Israel was behind Kirk’s killing. He compared the conservative activist’s death to “guys sitting around eating hummus” in Jerusalem plotting to kill Jesus Christ.
But save for a few conservative critics, prominent Republicans largely ignored it.
And when Carlson was even more direct last month — saying Kirk “was most likely murdered for his evolving views on Israel,” a claim that remains unfounded — Republicans still largely ignored it, despite it coming from a conservative thought leader who is close to Vice President JD Vance.
