FILE - In this Feb. 23, 2017, file photo, Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Oxon Hill, Md. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

Probable Wisconsin Republican Senate candidate David Clarke went on a rant during an appearance on “The Godzilla Wins Picks Show” earlier this month, where he falsely asserted that deceased journalist Jamal Khashoggi was not a journalist.

While discussing the merger between the Pro Golf Association (PGA) and the LIV Golf organization, the latter of which is funded by the Saudi Arabian government, Clarke took a hard pivot to comment on the death of Khashoggi.

“Everyone should just stop with the self-righteousness about blood money and this [Jamal] Khashoggi,” Clarke said. “And first, I wish people would stop calling Khashoggi a journalist. He was not a journalist. He would write guest op-eds for the Washington Post, and that’s it.”

Khashoggi was in fact a reporter for several news outlets in Saudi Arabia, working for several news outlets in the Middle East including Al-Watan and Al-Arab News Channel before joining the Washington Post in 2017 as a guest columnist.

“As a matter of fact, there’s information that Khashoggi was playing both sides. Both the terrorist side and the American side.”

After fleeing from his native Saudi Arabia because of his unpopular progressive beliefs, Khashoggi sought refuge in the United States. In 2018, Khashoggi entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey and was murdered and dismembered inside. Evidence pointed to a premeditated murder, which was later suggested by Saudi Arabia’s attorney general. Khashoggi’s criticism of Saudi leadership and its policies is believed to be the motive of his murder, and the Saudi government has changed the story on what happened to Khashoggi multiple times.

Clarke’s comments about Khashoggi’s ties to terrorism is likely a misrepresentation of the journalist’s previous relationship with former al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. While Khashoggi profiled bin Laden multiple times, it was to report on the latter’s involvement as a mujahideen (guerrilla fighter) against the Soviet Union in the 1980s — an effort which had the support and funding of the Reagan administration. Khashoggi’s sympathy for bin Laden is widely reported to having ended once the terrorist called for continued violence against Americans after the Soviet Union’s collapse.

Clarke also went on to defend the Saudi Arabian government and suggest they should buy a National Football League (NFL) team in the future. He also said PGA golfers that criticized LIV Golf were “virtue signaling” against a longtime U.S. ally.

Although he hasn’t officially announced his intention to run, Clarke lead by a wide margin in a recent poll of the Republican Senate primary in Wisconsin. U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher was believed to be a major contender in the race, but he announced Friday that he would not enter shortly after the poll was released.