The Senator from Troofistan

Is Ron Johnson accusing his own political party of carrying out the 9/11 attacks?

The Republican Party of 2025 is in the tank for Russia and vehemently opposed to free trade, so it’s honestly not that surprising to see the Republican senior Senator from Wisconsin go all-in on 9/11 conspiracy theories:

Wisconsin Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson suggested he wants new congressional hearings into the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the U.S. and alleged the federal government is covering up information.

An April 21 clip of Johnson making the claims to Benny Johnson, a conservative commentator, gained traction on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

"My guess is there's an awful lot being covered up, in terms of what the American government knows about 9/11," the senator said. "With this administration, I think President Trump should have some interest, being a New Yorker himself."

[…]

Johnson said he's talked to former U.S. Rep. Curt Weldon, who recently appeared on former Fox News host Tucker Carlson's show alleging a cover-up. Weldon has pushed Trump to reinvestigate 9/11.

"I will work with him to expose what he's willing to expose," Johnson said. "My eyes have been opened up."

In the interview, Johnson questioned how a third building, World Trade Center 7, could have collapsed in "any other way than a controlled demolition."

Conspiracy theorists claim planted explosives caused it to fall. Others question how it collapsed when no airplane struck it.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology, whose investigation into the collapse Johnson called corrupt, determined that debris from destruction of the Twin Towers started fires on floors of Building 7. The sprinkler system failed, and heat from the flames meant a structural column failed, ultimately causing the whole building to fall.

Sen. Johnson already knows how the game is played:

1. Claim there’s no evidence for the “official story” of a major event.

2. When actual evidence is produced, claim it’s actually “corrupt” or “fabricated.”

3. Argue that absence of evidence for your theory is proof that your theory is correct, since they eliminated all traces of their grand conspiracy plot.

4. Keep moving the goalposts until your increasingly frustrated opponent just gives up trying to reason with you.

5. Declare victory.

6. Break out the good meth for the celebration.

A Republican politician in the age of Trump saying stupid shit on a far-right podcast is pretty much a dog-bites-man story, but what’s noteworthy about Johnson’s 9/11 trooferism is that it implicitly holds his own political party responsible for the greatest terror attack in American history.