Barack Obama ‘Staging’ Charlottesville Riots Is ‘Completely Plausible,’ Says Idaho Rep
An Idaho lawmaker is supporting the conspiracy theory that former President Barack Obama may have been behind “staging” the riots in Charlottesville, Virginia, as part of a plan to help bring down President Donald Trump. Idaho Rep. Bryan Zollinger is causing outrage for suggesting that it’s “completely plausible” that Obama may have had a hand masterminding the white supremacist rally that broke into violence.
On Friday, Zollinger posted a conspiracy theory on Facebook that implied Barack Obama, along with top Democrats like billionaire George Soros and Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, had a hand in setting up the rally, the Post Register reports.
“I’m not saying it is true, but I am suggesting that it is completely plausible,” Zollinger wrote on Facebook.
According to the conspiracy theory that was initially posted on a website called the American Thinker, the story claims that Obama arranged a “war room” in an effort to oppose the Trump administration. The Charlottesville conspiracy theory has been debunked, however. Furthermore, Zollinger admitted to the Idaho Statesman that it was “maybe a mistake” to post the story to Facebook, but he believes it’s “plausible” Barack Obama was linked to the riots.
The Charlottesville riots turned fierce; supremacist groups that consisted of neo-Nazis and Ku Klux Klan members fought with counter-protesters that ended with the death of Heather Heyer after she was mowed down by a man who drove a car into the crowd. Meanwhile, 19 others were injured. The driver who hit Heyer allegedly has ties to white supremacist groups.
Idaho state lawmaker shares conspiracy theory accusing Obama of staging Charlottesville https://t.co/U8Hytu5S2I pic.twitter.com/Rp20n0nWNG
— The Hill (@thehill) August 21, 2017
Zollinger also says he thinks it’s possible that “many of the protesters were Soros-funded.” While he apologizes for posting the conspiracy theory that Barack Obama had some kind of involvement in the Charlottesville riots and says he “didn’t mean to ruffle any feathers,” the lawmaker isn’t discounting the idea it could be true.
Barack Obama’s tweet following the Charlottesville protests was the most liked in Twitter history.
“No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion,” Obama wrote.
“No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion…” pic.twitter.com/InZ58zkoAm
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) August 13, 2017
In another post, he wrote, “People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love…”
Barack Obama hasn’t said anything further about the Charlottesville rally since his tweets, but many believe he must be disturbed by what played out and how President Trump blamed “both sides” for the violence, stating that the “alt left” elicited the brutality.
[Featured Image by Steffi Loos/Getty Images]
