Conservatives are accusing Vice President Kamala Harris of using a letter to frame former Fox News host Tucker Carlson as opposed to the Second Amendment.
The incident began early Wednesday morning when a letter from a man named "Tucker" was shared to the official @VP account on X. In it, the man, who describes himself as being "fairly conservative," thanks Harris and other Democrats for supporting "common sense gun safety laws."
"Tucker, thank you for writing to me," @VP wrote above the letter. "While we may not agree on every issue, we both know that every person in our nation should have the freedom to live safe from gun violence. The majority of Americans stand with us in support of commonsense gun safety legislation."
Alternative text attached to the screenshot further notes that the letter's author is from Alabama. Although the letter does not include a date, references to "the Biden-Harris administration" suggest it was written at some point after the 2020 election.
But conservatives quickly conjured up a theory that Harris was attempting to pin the letter on Carlson.
"The obvious implication here is that Tucker CARLSON wrote her this letter (which he didn’t, obviously), but is hidden behind the plausible deniability that it was just some random conservative man who just so happened to be called Tucker too," one user wrote. "Everything about this bitch is fake."
Arguments were made, without evidence, that the letter was "fake" or had been generated by artificial intelligence (AI).
"How am I shocked that @VP posted a fake letter?" another asked. "It’s 2024, this woman has been known to be a fraud for at least 3.5 years, and yet here I am, surprised."
The allegation soon made its way to the Gateway Pundit, a far-right blog notorious for carrying fake news.
"This new breed of Commie Democrats are truly pathetic," the outlet wrote. "They have absolutely no respect for the American public."
In a statement to the blog, Carlson appeared to believe the conspiratorial allegation without question before noting his stanch support for gun rights.
“Ha! Seriously? I’m carrying a gun right now, as I always do. There are few things I hate more than the Democratic Party’s attempt to disarm the American population. That’s what dictatorships do," Carlson said. “People actually think I sent a handwritten letter to Kamala Harris endorsing gun confiscation? That’s moronic.”
But Carlson wasn't done there. Carlson responded further by doing exactly what conservatives claimed Harris did without evidence: posted a fake letter to X.
The letter, which Carlson jokingly says is "from a fan" named "Kamala," mockingly imitates the missive shared by Harris.
"Dear Tucker, I can't believe I'm writing you this letter, but here goes. Honestly, I never though we had all that much in common," the fake letter begins. "Since college, I've considered myself moderately progressive, in the sense that I don't belive in law enforcement, national boarders or the right of American citizens to excercise fundamental human autonomy."
The fake letter, unsurprisingly, was a hit among conservatives and received widespread praise from some of X's biggest far-right users.
For now, Harris nor any of her representatives have weighed in on the conspiracy theory.
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