Carl Paladino, a Buffalo businessman and former candidate for governor, reposted a conspiracy theory-laced message by another person casting doubt on whether the shootings at a supermarket in Buffalo and an elementary school in Uvalde were real, according to screenshots of the since-deleted post from Wednesday captured by the watchdog group Media Matters for America.

Paladino has been endorsed by Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, the No. 3 Republican in the House. He is running for the seat held by GOP Rep. Chris Jacobs, who recently announced he was ending his re-election bid after he came out in support of a federal ban on so-called assault weapons. The 23rd Congressional District includes suburbs of Buffalo…

“In almost every mass shooting including the most recent horrific Buffalo Tops Market & the Texas school shootings, there are strange occurrences that are never full explained,” the Facebook post states before it claims the goal is take guns away from Americans.