evidence: Ramaswamy’s entire shtick is a sort of intellectually polished version of what elevated Donald Trump in 2015, embracing popular conspiracy theories in the manner of Trump but attempting to rationalize them through rhetorical cleverness. In speaking to the Atlantic’s John Hendrickson, though, Ramaswamy got a little too cute, suggesting that perhaps 9/11 was somehow a function of government infiltration. At a dinner, Ramaswamy told the audience that the public could handle the "truth" about the Capitol riot. Hendrickson later asked him what that "truth" was, obviously understanding that Ramaswamy was generally winking at conspiracy theories like those elevated by former Fox News host Tucker Carlson. Ramaswamy shrugged, offering a just-asking-questions response about the unsupported idea that government agents were involved. [...] "I think it is legitimate to say how many police, how many federal agents, were on the planes that hit the Twin Towers. Maybe the answer is zero. It probably is zero for all I know, right? I have no reason to think it was anything other than zero," Ramaswamy said. "But if we’re doing a comprehensive assessment of what happened on 9/11, we have a 9/11 Commission, absolutely that should be an answer the public knows the answer to."