A Republican congressional candidate has made news this week for calling a pair of recent mass shootings "false flags" and praising Adolf Hitler's leadership.
House candidate Carl Paladino, whose campaign is backed by Rep. Elise Stefanink (R-NY), at first denied posting an article claiming that Democrats intended to revoke the Second Amendment and suggesting the Uvalde, Texas, gunman was "receiving hypnosis training" by the CIA, but he later said he had only "scanned" the article before sharing it on Facebook, reported The Buffalo News.
"Sometimes it's contrary to what I think," Paladino told the newspaper, adding that he does not believe in "conspiracy theories" described in the article but agrees with some of its points.
Paladino said he had asked his secretary to remove the post and insisted that he wasn't sure how it came to appear on his Facebook page.
"I don't even know how to post on Facebook," he said.
However, sources told the newspaper they had received copies of the same material in an email blast from Paladino, who often sends out communications in mass emails to friends and associates.
Paladino, who has drawn criticism for racist comments about the Obamas and other insulting remarks about ethnic groups, was also called out for praising Hitler in a radio interview from last year.
"[He is] the kind of leader we need today," Paladino said, in remarks flagged by Media Matters. "We need somebody inspirational. We need somebody that is a doer, has been there and done it.”
\u201cCarl Paladino, whose House bid is backed by third-ranked House GOPer Elise Stefanik, said on radio last year that Hitler is "the kind of leader we need today. We need somebody inspirational. We need somebody that is a doer, has been there and done it.\u201d https://t.co/pg24M23DNA\u201d— Eric Hananoki (@Eric Hananoki) 1654784702
