As conspiracy theories go, there are few more disgraceful than those propagated at the expense of murdered innocents, and at the top of that list are the high-profile “9/11 Truthers” on the Left, and especially on the Right, and their “alternate explanations” for the 9/11 Islamist attack on our nation.
Allow me to start with a little background on the psychology of conspiracy propagators and their conscripts. It helps to understand what motivates these influencers and those who buy into these deceptions.
Most conspiracy theories start with a foundational fact: You saw a plane hit the second WTC tower and saw the buildings collapse, killing thousands of people. Then, upon those horrendous facts are heaped a lot of unsubstantiated fiction in an effort to make sense of the unfathomable. The theories depend on a basic maxim, “You can’t prove a negative,” and they are all constructed on the 1% fact and 99% fallacy formula.
Many conspiracies assert the existence of a political or economic “star chamber,” puppet masters whose purpose is to manipulate information around an event to alter the outcome. For example, the 9/11 antisemitic variety: Israel orchestrated the events of 9/11 in order to manipulate the rest of the world to fight its Islamic adversaries. Or, the assertion that George W. Bush orchestrated the attack at the behest of producers of military hardware who would profit by prosecuting the Global War on Terror.
Most disciples of such delusions are not inherently ignorant or bad, but they harbor deep insecurities, often from early childhood. That insecurity compels them to grasp straw-man explanations when their fear is triggered, particularly by events too random and violent for them to process rationally. They embrace an alternate explanation that gives them a sense of order amid chaos and soothes their insecurity.
In effect, adherents of conspiracy theories are so insecure in their person that they can’t handle the truth. Thus, they become fanatical devotees of “alternate realities” about which they believe they possess special knowledge and insight, which, in turn, creates a comfort zone for them.
Ironically, a widely circulated 9/11 conspiracy theory video titled “9-11: Can You Handle The Truth?” opens with this thesis about those who believe the government’s account of 9/11: “A religious-like fervor cemented by fear and denial prevents most people from acknowledging facts...” Ironic, because that actually explains the “religious-like fervor cemented by fear and denial” that seduces some into embracing such theories.
Notably, conspiracy theory adherents are most vulnerable to influencer conspiracy gurus. The most ardent adherents within what amount to conspiracy cults have surrendered their willingness to discern fact from fiction in order to have a sense of security.
Given the psychology behind this phenomenon, conspiracy theorists should be called out for the pathetic frauds they are, and we should encourage anyone who subscribes to their folly to stop drinking their toxic Kool-Aid.
Popular conspiracy theorists know they can grow their followings and monetize them.
Such is the case with a few once-rational conservative commentators like Tucker Carlson, who has joined the “truther” chorus amid his increasingly apparent dissociation from reality.
In the early years following the 9/11 attack, Carlson loathed 9/11 conspiracy nuts like Alex Jones, the king of charismatic conspiracy kooks, claiming they were “parasites” and “there isn’t any” evidence for their claims.
But in recent years, Carlson has fallen into that pit. He now claims, “For nearly 25 years, the true story on 9/11 has been withheld from the American people.” He insists that “the official story on 9/11 is a complete lie,” that “the 9/11 commission is a cover-up,” and that “the 9/11 report is a joke.” Carlson even says, “I would be totally comfortable sharing condolences with Osama bin Laden’s family.”
He is all in, and his progressive psychological decompensation is textbook.
Unfortunately, his partner in crime, Candace Owens, has fallen down the same 9/11 Truther rat hole, also claiming it was orchestrated by, wait for it, The Jews! According to Owens, Benjamin Netanyahu “murdered 3,000 Americans on 9/11.” She claims: “From 9/11 to the Lavon Affair and many in between, false-flags are the Israeli way. Mossad agents are taught that they will inherit the earth ‘by way of deception’. Bibi wants a third world war so they can hit a global reset — as they have done every time people start noticing.”
Daily Wire editor-in-chief Brent Scher, Owens’s former boss, said of her 9/11 rants: “We need better conspiracy theorists. Israel did 9/11 is one of the most tired conspiracies in the playbook. Didn’t know we were stating it as fact now in the asylum.”
Not only has she become a 9/11 Truther, but she has spent months insisting that the September 10, 2025, murder of Charlie Kirk, the anniversary of which we observe today, was orchestrated by some unseen nefarious forces.
These psychologically demented distractions are not only indicative of underlying mental health issues on display for the world to see in real time, but they drag hundreds of thousands of people into the same mental health abyss.
Moreover, the purveyors of these delusions denigrate the victims of tragic events, and that is inexcusable.
Meanwhile, as I detailed in my column this week, “The Islamist Threat Is Still a Clear and Present Danger,” these influencers distract their followers from the real and impending threat.
(NOTE: The pathology underlying conspiracy adherents is similar to the cult pathology of those who tenaciously cling to the so-called “climate change” theories.)
