A woman who was scheduled to speak at the Republican National Convention on the evening of Aug. 25 reportedly was pulled from the speaker’s list after she retweeted a thread containing anti-Semitic conspiracy theories earlier in the day.
The Daily Beast reported Mary Ann Mendoza, who is also a member of President Donald Trump’s campaign advisory board, had issued a since-deleted tweet encouraging her followers to “read this thread.” According to The Daily Beast, the thread was “from a QAnon conspiracy theorist” and it “laid out a fevered, anti-Semitic view of the world. In its telling, the Rothschilds — a famous Jewish banking family from Germany — created a plot to terrorize non-Jewish ‘goyim,’ with purported details of their scheme that included plans to ‘make the goyim destroy each other’ and ‘rob the goyim of their landed properties.’ ”
According to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, QAnon conspiracy theorists “believe in a complex narrative about a group of powerful people working to bring down President Donald Trump who also run an international child sex trafficking ring. Critics say its focus on Jewish figures, especially the billionaire political donor George Soros and the wealthy Rothschild family, is anti-Semitic.”
Additionally, the thread also alleges that “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion” is “not a fabrication,” according to The Daily Beast. “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion” is a “thoroughly discredited” booklet that “has been heralded by anti-Semites as proof that Jews are plotting to take over the world,” according to the Anti-Defamation League.
CNN White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins tweeted that “Mendoza’s speech has been pulled from tonight’s convention programming.”
Mary Ann Mendoza’s speech has been pulled from tonight’s convention programming, CNN has learned.
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) August 26, 2020
Mendoza apologized for retweeting the thread.
“I retweeted a very long thread earlier without reading every post within the thread,” she tweeted. “My apologies for not paying attention to the intent of the whole message. That does not reflect my feelings or personal thoughts whatsoever.”
https://twitter.com/mamendoza480/status/1298404223063711745?s=20
Mendoza had been planning to use her RNC speech to talk “about her son’s 2014 death at the hands of a drunk driver who was in the country illegally,” according to The Daily Beast.
Republican Jewish Coalition executive director Matt Brooks said in a statement, “We are deeply troubled by Mendoza’s tweets and comments that trafficked in vicious antisemitic messages. While we mourn the horrible loss of her son, her views clearly disqualify her from addressing the Convention. We are pleased that Convention officials took prompt action to make sure the Convention reflects who we are and our values as a party.”
