Donald Trump Jr. on Thursday afternoon “liked” a tweet promoting a conspiracy theory that the suspected bombs mailed to top Trump critics were faked as a way to garner sympathy for the Democratic Party. “BREAKING: WHITE POWDER IN BOMBS NOT BIOLOGICAL OR DANGEROUS. LIKELY BABY POWDER,” read the tweet for which Trump Jr. smashed the “Like” button. “FAKE BOMBS MADE TO SCARE AND PICK UP BLUE SYMPATHY VOTE.” The tweet, which was punctuated by the hashtags #FakeBombHoax and #VoteRed, echoes a common refrain among fringe right-wing media personalities who believe the makeshift bombs—mailed to Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, Eric Holder, John Brennan (via CNN), Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), and Robert De Niro—were a “false flag” hoax aimed at currying public favor for the Democrats.
This is not the first time the first son has signal-boosted fringe conspiracy theories about the president’s opponents. Earlier this year, for example, he liked multiple tweets suggesting Parkland school-shooting survivor David Hogg was “coached” by his father, an ex-FBI agent.
