Stefanik-Backed Candidate Denied Pushing False Flag Theory About Mass Shootings, But Email Says Otherwise
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House candidate Carl Paladino denied posting a conspiracy-laden rant on his Facebook page on Tuesday, calling the claims “terrible.”
However, Mediaite obtained an email sent by Paladino that contains the same copy.
The New York Republican claimed ignorance regarding a post dated June 1 on his Facebook account that suggested the mass shootings in Uvalde, Texas, Buffalo, New York, and elsewhere may have been false flag events.
“That wasn’t me,” he told the Buffalo News on Tuesday night. “I told my secretary to remove it. It was just terrible and I would never write something like that.”
He added, “I don’t even know how to post on Facebook.”
Last week, Paladino notched the endorsement of Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) in his race to be the GOP nominee for the 23rd House district. As chair of the GOP conference, she is the third-ranking House Republican.
The post was first flagged by Media Matters on Tuesday, and purports to be written by “Jeff Briggs.”
Despite his initial denial, Paladino sent the same exact screed on June 1 to addressees on his email list.
The email’s subject line is, “The Politics of Self-Defense.” Like the Facebook post, the author cited is “Jeff Briggs.”
The email states that “almost every mass shooting” is “never fully explained.”
In almost every mass shooting including the most recent horrific Buffalo Tops Market & the Texas school shootings, there are strange occurrences that are never fully explained. How did an 18 yr old obtain $5000 in weapons and a $70k truck? Why were the officers told to stand down when their training just two months ago instructed them to rush in. The man who rushed in was a Border Patrol agent who defied the onsight [sic] officers’ instructions. The absence of crisis leaders reminds me of the broken cameras and napping guards when Epstein committed suicide.
Why did the media suddenly stop covering the Vegas Shooting and the government go silent after 55 were murdered by a lone shooter using bump stocks?
The correspondence further suggests that the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, and John Lennon were orchestrated by people other than those who were arrested for them.
Paladino came clean on the message after being informed of the email he sent.
“I didn’t write it but did carelessly republish it without clearly reading it,” Paladino texted Spectrum News on Wednesday morning.
Paladino has a history of making incendiary statements. In 2016 he expressed a desire to see then-President Barack Obama die of mad cow disease, and said then-First Lady Michelle Obama should “return to being a male and [be] let loose in the outback of Zimbabwe where she lives comfortably in a cave with Maxie, the gorilla.”
The Buffalo News called Paladino about the remarks at the time, and he later said he told them to “go fuck themselves.”
He apologized afterward, stating, “I’m not a racist.”
While running for governor in 2010, Paladino made homophobic remarks during an event hosted by Orthodox Jewish leaders.
“I just think my children and your children would be much better off and much more successful getting married and raising a family,” he said, “and I don’t want them brainwashed into thinking that homosexuality is an equally valid and successful option—it isn’t.”
After losing the 2010 election, Paladino brandished a baseball bat during his concession speech.
Mediaite reached out to Stefanik’s office but did not receive a response before publication.
