U.S. House nominee J.R. Majewski lied when he denied involvement in the QAnon movement, claiming that he “never read any QAnon drop,” a reference to messages posted by “Q.” During an appearance on a QAnon program, Majewski discussed “Q” drops while wearing QAnon clothing and suggested that the QAnon movement helped his political development, saying after discussing one “Q” drop: “It's very mind opening. And it broadened my horizons substantially, just getting involved in the movement, getting involved with what everybody is doing and just seeing, you know, how deep it goes.”
Majewski won the Republican primary in Ohio’s 9th Congressional District yesterday and will face incumbent Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur in November. Majewski made national news when he painted a pro-Trump mural on his lawn. He has also claimed that he helped organize and attended the January 6 insurrection.
Media Matters previously documented his promotion of the violence-linked QAnon conspiracy theory:
During his congressional campaign, Majewski has attempted to distance himself from his support for QAnon. He told the Toledo Blade in an April 1, 2021, article that he has “never read any QAnon drop” and claimed that he donated his QAnon shirt.
Distancing himself from the pro-Trump conspiracy movement — which hinges on a belief in elitist Satan-worshiping pedophiles and a ‘deep state’ plot to take down Mr. Trump — Mr. Majewski said he didn’t realize the meaning behind the shirt and later donated it to the Salvation Army.
“I’ve never read any QAnon drop — what they call the ‘Q drop,’ what they post on the website,” he said.
But he did admit to associating with followers.
“You’ll see me on the podcast with a guy that believes in QAnon. He’s like ‘J.R., you need to go and read the ‘Q drops’ ... like, I respect your beliefs, if you want to believe that stuff, that’s fine. I’m not going to bias myself to a bunch of people who want to write these things,” he said.
Majewski lied to the Toledo Blade. He participated in an October 7, 2020, YouTube streaming interview with the QAnon program The New Guard wearing a QAnon hoodie and discussed numerous QAnon drops. Here are two screen grabs from that episode:
The Daily Beast’s Will Sommer previously noted the interview on May 4 and explained that “Majewski’s claim that he’s never seen a QAnon clue contradicts evidence available online.” He added that “Majewski also has more than one QAnon shirt, according to videos reviewed by The Daily Beast.”
During the program, someone named “412Anon” read a “Q” drop about the purported dangerous blackmail culture of Washington, D.C., and how “‘Q’ is basically saying that it's really right now, it's at the most pervasive level of this we've ever seen.”
In response to that drop, Majewski said while the screen displayed “Q” drops: “I've worked for a couple large Fortune 100 companies and Fortune 500 companies. And I can tell you that the old adage that, you know, I've said this before, I don't play politics, right? And it's very mind opening. And it broadened my horizons substantially, just getting involved in the movement, getting involved with what everybody is doing and just seeing, you know, how deep it goes. And, you know, I didn't understand the statement that I'd made a years over, a year over a year, and staying true to the fact that I don't play politics well and really knowing what that means, because you don't put it into that perspective until you actually get involved. And it's breathtaking, to be honest with you.”
The program also discussed other drops, including one accusing the Clintons of corruption and another asking if Ukraine would “own and control the White House” if Joe Biden won the 2020 election.
