Ramaswamy, who wants to cut U.S. aid for war-ravaged Ukraine, tweeted that at a campaign stop in Grinnell, Iowa, two protesters “got into their car & rammed it into ours.” The Grinnell Police Department in a press release rebutted that claim, finding that driver Celia Meagher was backing up when her Honda accidentally bumped an empty rental car used by the Ramaswamy campaign, causing “minor damage.” Ramaswamy, the police department stated, was at a coffee house across the street when the incident occurred.

“It was reported on social media that two protestors intentionally rammed into the [campaign’s] vehicle and fled the scene,” the police department noted. “Our investigation has found no evidence to substantiate that information. Meagher stated she was not in the area to protest, she did not know who the vehicle she struck belonged to, she did not intentionally back into the vehicle, and she did not flee the scene of the accident.”

[Just what we need in the GOP — another wealthy fabulist fabricating ways to make himself into a martyr. — Ed]