Owen Shroyer has made despicable false claims about George Floyd’s death, COVID-19 and the Sandy Hook shooting. Gonzales’ consultant hosted him on Tuesday.
On Tuesday, a top Tony Gonzales consultant and Travis County GOP chair hosted notorious conspiracy theorist Owen Shroyer at a meeting of local Republicans.
Just last week, Shroyer spread conspiracy theories alleging that George Floyd’s death was staged to “sabotage President Trump.” He’s spread numerous lies about COVID-19, including arguing that hospitals are actually empty. And Shroyer continues to be tangled up in a lawsuit over his false claims regarding the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting.
Matt Mackowiak is Gonzales’ primary spokesperson, most recently falsely claiming that a local Texas Republican suing Gonzales is a paid employee of his opponent Raul Reyes’ campaign. (He’s not.)
Despite all this, Gonzales hasn’t said a single word disavowing any of Shroyer’s dangerous lies.
Not surprising, considering Gonzales remained silent after multiple GOP County chairs in Texas’ 23rd Congressional District shared racist conspiracy theories about George Floyd’s death, including calling it a “staged event,” and was similarly nowhere to be found when Bexar County GOP Chair Cynthia Brehm falsely claimed coronavirus to be a hoax and urged Texans to “take off your masks.”
“Maybe Tony Gonzales is too busy getting sued by fellow Texas Republicans to notice, but his utter silence as extreme, far-right voices take over his party is getting awfully uncomfortable,” DCCC spokesman Avery Jaffe said. “From spreading conspiracy theories to stripping away health care, Gonzales’ unwillingness to say anything about the reckless voices in his party shows he doesn’t have the backbone to stand up for Texans in Congress.”
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