GOP Candidate Sparks Fury With 9/11 Claims Ahead of Convention Speech

The 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks has produced competing campaigns targeting each party's associations with figures who have questioned or minimized the attacks.

• The NRCC released a video citing Democratic candidates and allied figures who made statements about the attacks.
• Hasan Piker, who campaigned with Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, once said America 'deserved 9/11.'
• Sen. Ron Johnson spoke at an annual 9/11 truther convention last year and called it 'cool to watch' Building 7 collapse.
• Tucker Carlson's five-part documentary series 'The 9/11 Files' collected 16.5 million views on his platform.

Why it matters: Statements about the attacks carry weight because candidates in multiple competitive races are now associated with them.

• Michael Barkun, a Syracuse University professor emeritus who studies conspiracy theories, said he cannot 'think of any other figure as visible as Tucker Carlson who has associated himself with 9/11 conspiracy theories.'
• Kathryn Olmsted, a distinguished professor at UC Davis, said prominent amplification of such theories makes them 'increasingly normalized.'

How 26 sources split on this story

Where they split: The core dispute is whether 9/11-related denialism and minimization is now primarily a Democratic problem, a Republican one, or a problem that has spread across both parties.

What’s next: Candidates named in the NRCC ad — including El-Sayed, Kawas, and Avila Chevalier — face November general elections.

• Carlson, who has discussed running for president, listed 9/11 declassification as one plank of a 10-point platform.
• Will voters in competitive districts treat a candidate's 9/11 associations as disqualifying?
• What effect, if any, will Carlson's platform have on mainstream Republican positions on the attacks?