Conspiracy Theories About Pelosi Attack Spread Unchecked on 'Alt-tech' Sites, Conservative Media
Conspiracy theories about the home invasion and hammer attack on Paul Pelosi, husband of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, continue to spread across conservative media, social media and 鈥渁lt-tech鈥� sites, even as a federal criminal complaint appears to debunk false narratives extremists and right-wing influencers have spread.
The response shows Republicans and the far right pushing back in a unified way on critics who linked intemperate political rhetoric and political violence, in an effort to limit electoral consequences in the midterms.
A 聽from the Department of Justice filed Monday shows prosecutors alleging that suspect David DePape entered the Pelosis鈥� residence with a hammer and struck Paul Pelosi with it in front of arresting officers.
Prosecutors also allege that Speaker Pelosi was the intruder鈥檚 primary target, citing his own apparent confession that he had entered her home in order to 鈥渂reak 'her kneecaps,鈥欌�� due to his belief that Pelosi was 鈥溾�榣eader of the pack鈥� of lies told by the Democratic Party.鈥� They also alleged that DePape had planned to target other politicians.
The charges came after a wide range of right-wing influencers attempted to muddy the waters with conspiracy theories 鈥� some homophobic 鈥� and mischaracterizations of DePape, 42, of Berkeley, California.
But the clear picture of the events in the documents did not slow the generation of false conspiracy narratives later in the week.
The Gateway Pundit: fake news influencer
Leading the charge was Jim Hoft鈥檚 junk news site, The Gateway Pundit, which has published 聽on the Pelosi attack. These posts have asserted a range of false narratives about the attack, many of which spread to social media and other websites.
They included suggestions that DePape and Paul Pelosi were lovers due to the assailant being arrested in his underwear, and that the Pelosis鈥� marriage was a to cover for Paul Pelosi鈥檚 homosexuality. Gateway Pundit also pushed false narratives suggesting that security camera footage had been withheld by the Pelosis, and that a number of associated with the alleged attacker were 鈥渇alse flag鈥� deceptions seeking to link Republicans with the incident.
Gateway Pundit also repeatedly characterized DePape. a Canadian citizen, as an 鈥渋llegal immigrant.鈥�
The website also Elon Musk鈥檚 short-lived advocacy of a false conspiracy theory about the attack. Twitter鈥檚 new proprietor had linked to a story from a fake news website that asserted without evidence that the two men knew each other.
Gateway Pundit is consistently ranked in the top 10% of websites by popularity, according to Hatewatch鈥檚 analysis of Cisco鈥檚 Umbrella survey of the top million websites online.
According to data from Internet monitoring service Pyrra, Gateway Pundit also prolifically posted links to its Pelosi stories on 鈥渁lt-tech鈥� sites Gettr and Trump-owned Truth Social.
Pyrra also showed that narratives Gateway Pundit and other right-wing websites promoted were shared and repeated widely across those and other low-moderation 鈥渁lt-tech鈥� websites. Hundreds of posts using the hashtag #pelosi on sites including Gab, Gettr, Truth Social and WeMe spread false information about the attacker鈥檚 motive, the Pelosis鈥� security and other aspects of the attack.
On Facebook clone Minds, one user asked: 鈥淐riminal? Lover? Drug Dealer? Who is David DePape to Paul Pelosi??? The narrative keeps changing too much.鈥�
On Thursday, Gateway Pundit published a story by that sought to discredit the FBI investigation and claimed there was a 鈥渉uge anomaly鈥� in the timeline offered in the criminal complaint.
That story became a on Gab, the far-right friendly site run by self-described Christian nationalist Andrew Torba, where it was spread and enjoyed by the site鈥檚 user base of extremists. Gab also 聽to memes and false narratives about Paul Pelosi鈥檚 relationship with DePape.
Another 聽from the antigovernment John Birch Society outlet The New American was on Gab at the same time. In it, Benjamin Faulkner made an argument that had already been repeated across a range of more mainstream conservative outlets: that the attack, like the Democrats鈥� response to the Jan. 6, 2021, riots, was primarily an electoral tactic, and was part of a 鈥渃limate of fear and hysteria created by a power-mad class that feels their grip on power weakening.鈥�
Midterm projections
Senior Democrats including President , former President 聽and former Secretary of State 聽all linked the alleged violent attack to Trumpist political rhetoric in a succession of speeches and public statements during the week.
Biden linked the attack to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, saying that when DePape allegedly asked, 鈥淲here鈥檚 Nancy?鈥� he used 鈥渢he very same words used by the mob when they stormed the Capitol.鈥�
But throughout the week, right-wing influencers, including those with platforms in mainstream publications, tried to depict concerns about political violence as mere Democratic Party electioneering.
A in the Murdoch family-owned New York Post by Miranda Devine attacked what it called a 鈥渇alse depiction of the alleged attacker as a MAGA Republican in defiance of his drug-addicted hippy lifestyle,鈥� and put aside any scruples about mixed metaphors to claim that condemnations of political violence were 鈥渁 full-court press designed to flip the attack on the House speaker鈥檚 husband into an 鈥極ctober surprise鈥� as Dems look down the barrel of a brutal shellacking from the voters next week.鈥�
On Monday night, Tucker Carlson also 聽that the response to the attack was an attempt to limit damage in midterms, after using details about DePape鈥檚 living circumstances to mock the idea that he had right-wing politics.
YouTube performer Dave Rubin Hillary Clinton of exploiting the attack for 鈥渕idterm votes,鈥� and called her 鈥渟hameless.鈥�
By week鈥檚 end, almost no one on the right 鈥� whether open extremist or ostensibly respectable conservative commentator 鈥� was acknowledging that the attack was an act of political violence.
Photo illustration by 人兽性交
