GOP congressional nominee and right-wing commentator David Winkler, who has the backing of Pennsylvania Republicans and U.S. Senate nominee Dave McCormick, used a fringe streaming program to push conspiracy theories about the 9/11 attacks. Winkler, who has been touted by right-wing media, said he thinks “that there needs to be more of an investigative look into 9/11” to find “out the total truth” and that “it wouldn't surprise” him if the United States was “involved” in the terrorist attack.
Winkler is a military veteran and political commentator who previously ran for office in New Jersey. He is now the Republican nominee for the U.S. House of Representatives in Pennsylvania’s 4th Congressional District. The Republican Party of Pennsylvania has backed his campaign.
Winkler has appeared with U.S. Senate candidate Dave McCormick and said that his fellow Republican has endorsed him. He has also been appearing at pro-Trump events across Pennsylvania and recently met with Trump running mate JD Vance in Pennsylvania.
Right-wing media outlets including the New York Post, One America News, and Real America’s Voice have promoted his congressional campaign. While the New York Post regularly writes about 9/11 conspiracy theorists, it does not appear to have written about Winkler's 9/11 views. Fox News also hosted Winkler when he ran for the state Senate in New Jersey in 2020.
Winkler appeared on the streaming program Concerned Citizens, which was uploaded to Rumble on September 16, 2023, titled “The 9/11 Discussion.” The over 1-hour and 40-minute program contained significant commentary about 9/11, with Winkler repeatedly engaging in 9/11 conspiracy theories.
During one part of the show, Winkler called for “more of an investigative look into 9/11” and said that “we need to look at what happened on that day” to find “out the total truth.”
DAVID WINKLER: I do understand where you guys are going with, you know, the bomb aspect — I’ve dealt with explosives as well — and the way that the towers went down, I do think that there needs to be more of an investigative look into 9/11. I know that they've done all those commissions and all that investigating on the, you know, the after effects and what it's done to people. But I think we need to look at what happened on that day, and because — but at the same time, I think that it would, if we found out the total truth, I mean that's going to send an utter shock to all the Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. You know, it's going to be, “What did we fight? You know, what did we exactly fight for?”
Winkler later indicated he believes planes hit the twin towers. But he then said the country needs to investigate whether we are "also involved” in 9/11, adding, “It wouldn't surprise me”:
DAVID WINKLER: So it's an actual plane that hit these things. So there is still a terrorist aspect to it, but "are we also involved" is the question that we have to answer. Are we also involved in this, which it wouldn't surprise me based upon, you know, what I was seeing on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan, you know, there's things that made me question what was going on. But at the same time, I do believe that our initial part of the invasion was warranted. Those people are pure evil, like the al Qaeda network and the Taliban network are pure evil. And if they could kill all the Westerners, they absolutely would. I mean, it doesn't matter if you're white, Black, in between. If you represent Western ideology, they'll kill you.
Media Matters has repeatedly documented over the years how the Republican Party has embraced commentators-turned-political candidates with histories of pushing conspiracy theories. (The most notable example, of course, is former President Donald Trump.) Streamer Royce White, whose U.S. Senate campaign has the support of Minnesota Republicans, is also a 9/11 conspiracy theorist.
