Tennessee state Rep. Kelly Keisling (R) is spreading a conspiracy theory to his constituents that claims that President Obama will fake his own assassination to avoid an election against Republican candidate Mitt Romney.
In an email sent from a government email address in his office, Keisling forwarded along a warning that the President and the Department of Homeland Security are potentially working together to try to implement martial law, heading off an election by pretending the President has been killed.
The Huffington Post has the story:
Keisling’s assistant, Frankie Anderson, confirmed that the email was sent “at Keisling’s request” from a state account under the name of **** Whitt, who is identified in the email as Keisling’s assistant. Anderson said he is filling in for Whitt.[...]
Janet Moore, one of the recipients of Keisling’s email, said she called the lawmaker Tuesday morning to express her disagreement with his decision to send the email. Moore, who lives in an adjoining legislative district in rural Tennessee, told HuffPost that Keisling told her that the rumor was “pretty ridiculous, isn’t it?”
When she asked Keisling why he sent the email, if he found it ridiculous, she said that Keisling told her, “I wouldn’t put anything past anybody.”
It’s unclear why Keisling would send to voters such a conspiracy theory based on race-baiting and paranoia, and his office would not offer any comment to the Huffington Post.
The Constitution Party of Florida also has the rumor posted on its website.
