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Since shortly after Christmas, the “super PAC” supporting Jeb Bush, Right to Rise USA, has been criticizing Senator Marco Rubio of Florida for missing votes in the Senate. But the ad the group released delivering that message relied on a journalist who has highlighted conspiracy theories about major news events to make its case.Ben Swann is an award-winning television journalist who, on his own YouTube channel, raised questions about the collapse of one of the buildings at the World Trade Center and about official accounts of the 2012 mass shooting in Sandy Hook, Conn. And now he is being used in the Right to Rise spot to validate the group’s points about Mr. Rubio’s missed votes.In a clip featuring Mr. Swann, he notes that many of Mr. Rubio’s missed votes came before the senator began his presidential run. Mr. Bush also highlighted Mr. Rubio’s missed votes during a debate last fall.
Mr. Swann, who currently works for a television station in Atlanta, has drawn attention for his focus on conspiracy theories around major news stories. He examined questions about whether 7 World Trade Center could have collapsed as authorities said it did, and allegations that the gunman in the Sandy Hook shootings didn’t act alone.Mr. Swann did not respond to a request for comment on the Bush ad.But Zak Carter, who works with Mr. Swann on his “Truth in Media” project, defended Mr. Swann’s work as a journalist.“We find him to be someone willing to report very objectively on topics that a lot of journalists won’t touch, but not someone looking to advance conspiracies,” Mr. Carter said in an email.Asked about Mr. Swann’s presence in the ad, a spokesman for Right to Rise, Paul Lindsay, said, “What matters are the facts in the ad, and there’s no conspiracy over the fact that Marco Rubio has missed more votes in the last three years than any other U.S. senator.”
