Mary Ann Mendoza, a woman expected to speak at the Republican National Convention, has been uninvited from the event. The reason? She retweeted an antisemitic conspiracy theory. The would-be RNC speaker is apparently a follower of “Q Anon,” an anonymous Twitter user who peddles extremist, far-right conspiracies. Q Anon has been likened to the older “Elders of Zion” conspiracies espoused by powerful corporate figures like Henry Ford.
In her retweet, Mendoza stated, “Do yourself a favor and read this thread”. The thread included a meandering, bizarre claim that there is a Jewish conspiracy to rule the world. Mendoza herself deleted the tweet and claimed she hadn’t read “every tweet” in the thread. Apparently, she forgot to do herself a favor and read that thread, as she herself suggested.
“My apologies for not paying attention to the intent of the whole message,” Mendoza wrote. “That does not reflect my feelings or personal thoughts whatsoever.”
Mendoza was going to be a speaker at the Republican National Convention. She rose to prominence among conservatives after a drunk driver killed her police officer son.
Her appearance on the RNC speakers’ list shows how far Trump’s campaign is having to reach to find supporters. Many moderate Republicans seem eager to distance themselves from Trump. Meanwhile, outlandish conspiracy theorists like Mendoza are eager for Trump’s approval.
Notably, many moderate Republicans have turned to backing Joe Biden in recent weeks. Jeff Flake and John Kasich, for instance, have both recently backed Biden. Trump’s incendiary personality has done little to endear him to moderate voters. This is the demographic that Biden seems to be aiming for most directly.
Trump has enjoyed popularity among the extreme right and fringe groups. Q Anon, for example, is a conspiracy theory Twitter account that many extremists online enjoy. The FBI has warned that the group could pose a “significant domestic threat” with their rhetoric calling Trump “the shield of Western Civilization.”
Trump gave the group a huge boost recently by mentioning them by name during an interview in the White House. “I don’t know much about the movement other than I understand they like me very much, which I appreciate,” he told reporters. Q Anon, which is a group that clearly knows how to use the best password managers to keep their identities secret, alleges that there is a “deep-state” conspiracy to “destroy” Donald Trump.
