RIGHT WING EXTREMISTS
‘Russian Ron’ Johnson Blasted as ‘Domestic Terrorist Apologist’ for Blaming Insurrection on ‘Fake Trump Protesters’
U.S. Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) used his time during Tuesday’s first joint Senate hearing on the January 6 insurrection to publicly suggest “provocateurs” from Antifa, and “fake Trump supporters” were responsible for the attack on the U.S. Capitol that left five Americans dead, and led to the deaths of several other law enforcement officers. In reality, the thousands who protested and stormed the Capitol were almost exclusively Trump supporters.
Johnson read aloud a column from the far right wing website The Federalist, which is known for its disinformation and conspiracy theories.
That column claims that among those ho participated were “Fake Trump protesters. A few young men wearing Trump or MAGA hats backwards and who did not fit in with the rest of the crowd in terms of their actions and demeanor, whom I presumed to be Antifa or other leftist agitators.”
Johnson, who is running for re-election next year, is all too well-known as one of the eight Republicans who spent the Fourth of July in Moscow in 2018, and came back minimizing te extent of Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Here are Johnson’s remarks from Tuesday’s hearings.
Ron Johnson is using his questioning time during the Capitol security hearing to promote a conspiracy theory that the January 6 insurrectionists weren’t actually Trump supporters, but were “provocateurs” and “fake Trump protesters” pic.twitter.com/t72QkHDbaG
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 23, 2021
The response to Johnson’s disinformation was immediate and palpable. Many are extremely angry.
It appears that Ron Johnson really is going all-in with “Antifa Did It”
— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) February 23, 2021
Ron Johnson is reading out some post about “agents provocateurs, fake Trump supporters” in the January 6 insurrection, the whole It Was Really Antifa Or Whatever narrative.
— Spencer Ackerman (@attackerman) February 23, 2021
Senator #RonJohnson is a national embarrassment and a domestic terrorist apologist. He is the January 6th equivalent of a Holocaust denier.
— Kurt Bardella (@kurtbardella) February 23, 2021
Republican Ron Johnson just finished reading excerpts from a column that blamed the insurrection on antifa, saying that it was staged by “provocateurs.” That is a lie. A senator is spreading disinformation in a Senate hearing.
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) February 23, 2021
Nope, you did not just imagine Sen. Ron Johnson blaming January 6th on Capitol Police and antifa provocateurs.
That just happened.
2022 will be happening too.
— ReallyAmerican.com 🇺🇸 (@ReallyAmerican1) February 23, 2021
Ron Johnson is out of his mind and trying hard to push garbage.
— Michelangelo Signorile (@MSignorile) February 23, 2021
NEWS: Senator Ron Johnson is spending his time at the Capitol hearing reading aloud from an un-sourced blog post that blames antifa for January 6th.
Can’t wait til the next GOP senator flips the page and tells us the details of the love child Elvis had with those aliens.
— Steve Hofstetter (@SteveHofstetter) February 23, 2021
This is domestic terrorist misinformation and it’s unclear to me why Democratic senators at this hearing are not speaking up and calling for Ron Johnson’s immediate expulsion from the Senate https://t.co/egl04gaugE
— Matt Negrin, HOST OF HARDBALL AT 7PM ON MSNBC (@MattNegrin) February 23, 2021
Republican Ron Johnson just finished lying to the Senate, saying the insurrection was lead by Antifa.
That is a lie!
Be Clear.
Ron Johnson likes to lie and spread Dis-information!#RonJohnsonLies— Agolf Twitler Slayer (@bblock29) February 23, 2021
I have been monitoring Russian social media and media. These talking points that @SenRonJohnson spewed are identical to the disinformation they started pushing immediately. One Russian propagandist actually said “antifa” was going to be at the riots on his drive to DC.
— Olga Lautman (@OlgaNYC1211) February 23, 2021
Russian Ron Johnson is a propaganda tool.
— Slygrammy5 💝😎😳 😷🎉 (@SharonCoryell3) February 23, 2021
Russian Ron must have received his monthly stipend of rubles.
— Boomer Bob was BobA1959 I’m Pissed Off and Angry (@Bob2A1959NYC) February 23, 2021
Ron Johnson was likely in on it. https://t.co/uok1i5Y5D4
— Pam Keith, Esq. (@PamKeithFL) February 23, 2021
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