Blake Masters, who is endorsed by former President Trump in the Arizona Senate GOP primary, reportedly pushed a debunked conspiracy theory that suggests that the FBI was behind the Jan. 6 attack, according to new audio obtained by CNN of Masters’ meeting with conservative activists in March.
During the meeting, which took place at a Phoenix IHOP this spring, Masters raised the “false-flag” conspiracy theory that’s been percolating in some fringe circles of the right-wing media for several months. Masters was reportedly asked whether he would support investigations of U.S. intelligence operations, aimed at somehow revealing the federal government’s “nefarious activities” on Jan. 6.
Masters replied, “absolutely,” before diving head first into the fever swamp, CNN reported, citing a recording of the March 30 meeting.
“Don’t we suspect that like one-third of the people outside of the Capitol complex on January 6 were actual FBI agents hanging out?” Masters wondered aloud at the GrassRoots Tea Party Activists of Arizona event, according to CNN. “What did people know and when did they know it? We got to get to the bottom of this.”
Masters also floated other baseless conspiracy theories at the Tea Party event, including alleging that “Big Tech” helped Joe Biden win the 2020 presidential election by altering social algorithms, according to CNN. Additionally, Masters claimed that the U.S. has a “two-tiered justice system” that favors liberal rioters over pro-Trump trespassers. He also said he supports firing “everybody you can” in what he called the politically “weaponized” Justice Department.”
The deadly Capitol insurrection occurred when a mob of Trump supporters violently breached the Capitol on the day of the joint session of Congress certifying Biden’s electoral victory, endangering lawmakers’ lives. The insurrection was preceded by Trump’s appearance at a “Stop the Steal” rally at the Ellipse, in which the then-President called on his supporters to “fight like hell” to overturn the election results.
Masters joins a group of right-wing politicians and media figures who have pushed the false-flag operation conspiracy theory in an effort to not only revise history, but to also downplay the violence that broke out on Jan. 6 amid Trump’s refusal to concede.
Trump, who continues to espouse election fraud falsehoods, pushed the same debunked narrative when Masters joined him at a rally in Arizona earlier this year.
“Exactly how many of those present at the Capitol complex on January 6 were FBI confidential informants, agents or otherwise working directly or indirectly with an agency of the United States government?” Trump said at the Arizona rally in January.
Masters, who is also backed by conservative megadonor Peter Thiel, boosted the Big Lie before he earned Trump’s endorsement last week. In his statement announcing his support for Masters’ bid, Trump pointed to Masters’ adherence to the Big Lie, while swiping at Masters’ rival — Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich, who certified Biden’s 2020 victory in the battleground state.
“Blake knows that the ‘Crime of the Century’ took place, he will expose it and also, never let it happen again,” Trump said in the statement while pushing election fraud falsehoods. “It is my great honor to give Blake Masters my Complete and Total Endorsement!”
Masters has also boosted other incendiary and false conspiracy theories, such as pushing a version of the “Great Replacement” theory in the wake of a white man targeting and fatally shooting Black shoppers at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York last month. The conspiracy theory, which is often covered on Fox News and boosted by conservative lawmakers, baselessly claims that the liberal elites are systematically “replacing” white Americans with non-white people through immigration, interracial marriage and violence.
