Despite today’s arrest of Trump supporter Cesar Sayoc in the case of the pipe bombs mailed to specific liberal targets, including two former presidents and a former presidential candidate, Republicans at Trump’s Charlotte, North Carolina, campaign rally continue to believe that the mailings are merely a Democrat conspiracy.
According to a report from The Guardian , Friday afternoon at the Bojangles’ Coliseum, people who came to watch President Donald Trump’s rally believed that the arrest of 56-year-old Cesar Sayoc was merely another layer of a conspiracy theory concocted within minutes of the first pipe bomb that George Soros received. Sayoc’s social media and his van were filled with pro-Trump and anti-Democrat rhetoric.
Terry Pennington, a 52-year-old man from near Charlotte, who waited for 22 hours in the rain to hear the president speak, talked about the situation.
“I bet $500 they are lying. I bet it was a liberal who did it,” Pennington said. “Have you stopped to think why those bombs were only sent to high-level Democrats? They are trying to make it look like Donald Trump is encouraging terrorism. The truth is, the liberals are the terrorists.”
Of course, Pennington’s beliefs, which his wife echoed, are merely echoes of many conservative commentator’s rhetoric on the matter. The Inquisitr reported that conservative commentator Kurt Schlichter said the following about the bombs.
“Here’s my bet, no one will be arrested for these alleged mail bombs. After dozens of college campus hoaxes by leftists, I don’t buy this super convenient turn of events.”
From early on, conspiracy theories flew with many right-wing talking heads insinuating that the bombs were sent to make Republicans look bad ahead of the rapidly approaching November 6 mid-term elections. Even Trump himself used the word “bombs” in quotes as if the bombs are somehow not accurate.
In light of FBI Director Wray explicitly saying “these are not hoax devices,” it’s worth noting just how many conservative and far-right activists attempted to suggest that these explosive devices were part of a false flag operation. https://t.co/MynHnaKnIP
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) October 26, 2018
The president tweeted about it on Friday.
“Republicans are doing so well in early voting, and at the polls, and now this ‘Bomb’ stuff happens and the momentum greatly slows – news not talking politics.”
Not only did attendees of Trump’s fourth campaign rally of the week believe that the bombs that police think Sayoc sent were part of a conspiracy that aimed to make Republicans look bad, but they also felt that images of the stickers covering Sayoc’s van were photoshopped.
Kathy Chenette, 62, a realtor from Mooresville, North Carolina, said the van “was obviously Photoshopped. I think it’s a distraction against the invasion of illegal immigrants at the border. It’s all set up by Soros.”
People on the right often believe that billionaire financier, activist, and philanthropist plots conspiracies against Republicans.
So far, Schlichter’s bet about no arrest appears to be wrong. Pennington’s $500 bet may be called soon, too, since Sayoc’s history strongly indicates he’s a Trump supporter. At least 13 prominent Democratic supporters received the devices in the mail. So far, nobody was injured. The FBI said that the pipe bombs were not hoax devices and that they could have exploded and caused severe damage.
