• Many in the right-wing media have promoted a conspiracy theory that Democrats were behind several packages containing explosive devices sent by mail to top Democrats this week.
  • Prominent conservative voices, including Rush Limbaugh, the popular talk-radio host, and Candace Owens, a frequent Fox News guest, suggested that “leftists” were to blame for the attempted attacks.
  • “Republicans just don’t do this kind of thing,” Limbaugh said.

Many in the right-wing media, including prominent voices like Rush Limbaugh, the popular talk-radio host, and Candace Owens, a frequent Fox News guest, have begun to promote a conspiracy theory that Democrats were behind several packages containing explosive devices sent by mail to top Democrats this week.

Limbaugh suggested on his show on Wednesday – soon after reports that devices were sent to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former President Barack Obama, as well as to CNN’s New York office – that the act was committed to fuel support for Democrats two weeks before the midterm elections.

“It’s happening in October,” Limbaugh said. “There’s a reason for this.”

He added that attempted attacks were out of character for conservatives.

"Republicans just don't do this kind of thing," he said.

Owens said there was "a 0% chance" the bombs were sent by someone with conservative leanings, instead accusing "leftists" of staging the attack for political gain.

https://twitter.com/RealCandaceO/status/1055152462061957121?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Michael Flynn Jr., the son of the former national security adviser, called the mail bombs "a total false flag operation" in a series of tweets he later deleted.

"I condemn all political violence but again the timing is bullsh#t," said Flynn, who has previously promoted dangerous conspiracy theories.

https://twitter.com/JacobAWohl/status/1055105429712207872?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Others argued that the attempted attacks were designed to distract from political dissenters on the left - what the right has characterized as a left-wing "mob."

In a tweet that he later deleted, John Cardillo, a right-wing radio host and former officer in the New York Police Department, also suggested that the attempted attacks were staged by Democrats.

"Just too coincidental that two weeks before Election Day, as the 'blue wave' has turned into a ripple, and the left is losing ground because of incivility and violent rhetoric, explosive devices show up in the mailboxes of Soros, Clinton, and Obama," he tweeted, according to The Daily Beast.

Donald Trump Jr., the president's eldest son, "liked" another of Cardillo's tweets in which he listed acts of violence perpetrated against conservatives and said it was "only logical to question who actually sent the bombs."

The billionaire philanthropist and Democratic donor George Soros, former CIA Director John Brennan, and Rep. Maxine Waters, a California Democrat, were among the targets of the packages. Each has been critical of President Donald Trump and has in turn been criticized by Trump.