D’oh! McCain Mocked Rival Over Chemtrails But Has Own Chemtrail ‘Problem’

UNITED STATES - APRIL 26 - Senate Armed Services Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., speaks during a news conference in support of fighter safety research, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, April 26, 2016. (Photo By... UNITED STATES - APRIL 26 - Senate Armed Services Chairman John McCain, R-Ariz., speaks during a news conference in support of fighter safety research, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, April 26, 2016. (Photo By Al Drago/CQ Roll Call) (CQ Roll Call via AP Images) MORE LESS
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It’s not even summer yet, and this election year is jumping the shark.

Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) re-election campaign on Monday mocked his primary opponent for entertaining constituents’ chemtrail conspiracy theories. But it turns out McCain last year forwarded to the Environmental Protection Agency a letter from a constituent concerned about chemtrails, and asked the EPA to respond.

In the April 2015 cover letter, McCain notified the EPA that a constituent had “encountered a problem.”

“Because the situation is under your jurisdiction, I am respectfully referring this matter to you for consideration,” the letter reads.

Chemtrails conspiracists believe that the cloud trails left by airplanes are chemicals purposefully sprayed by the government, when really the contrails are just frozen water vapor.

The constituent expressed concern about “the spraying coming from the unmarked planes” and asked the senator to look into it. “My dearest friend said those are Chemical Trails planes, they omit chemical emissions and leave those nasty steaks in the sky,” wrote the constituent.

The McCain letter to the EPA was provided to TPM by the campaign for McCain’s likely Democratic opponent, Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick (D-AZ).

A spokeswoman for McCain’s campaign told TPM that forwarding such letters to the appropriate agency is standard practice in the senator’s office.

“It’s standard policy to forward constituent correspondence outside the purview of the Senate office to a relevant federal agency. The Senate office receives more than 600,000 pieces of mail per year, on issues ranging from veteran’s benefits to UFOs,” spokeswoman Lorna Romero said in an email statement. “If you’re trying to compare that to holding an official taxpayer-funded town hall meeting to entertain chemtrail conspiracy theories, you may have been abducted by aliens yourself.”

The McCain campaign on Monday released a web video criticizing his primary opponent, Arizona state Sen Kelli Ward (R) for entertaining conspiracy theories about chemtrails at a public meeting with constituents. The video labeled Ward “Chemtrail Kelli” and warned that she has “bad judgment” and is “dangerous for Arizona.”

Ward in 2014 held a public meeting for constituents concerned about chemtrails. She later clarified that she does not believe in chemtrails.

Read the letter:

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