Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) on Wednesday tried to spread some gossip about how Kamala Harris came to choose Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her vice presidential running mate over Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro. However, the rumor-mongering backfired on Hawley when people simply didn’t buy it.

The Missouri Republican and self-described Christian nationalist took to X, formerly Twitter, to share an unsubstantiated claim about why the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee picked Walz:

So I hear Kamala had chosen SHAPIRO last week - but the lefty Dems had a meltdown. So she caved and went with Gov. Angry Old Man instead.

Hawley didn’t provide any sourcing for his would-be scoop, instead letting the phrase “so I hear” do some rhetorical heavy lifting.

But his claim didn’t match reporting on how Harris made her pick. Outlets like The Associated Press said that her decision was based on factors like a personal chemistry with Walz and on his background.

For his part, Shapiro reportedly expressed reservations about no longer leading Pennsylvania. And while he has faced left-wing criticism for his views on Israel amid the war in Gaza, among other things, there is no evidence that Harris had chosen and then dropped Shapiro due to a progressive “meltdown.”

As a result, many people responding to Hawley’s X post were skeptical about his claim.

Very skeptical.

Others adopted Hawley’s rhetorical device to mock him harder.

And some X users just went for the jugular.

H/T Raw Story