GOP candidate brags about raising $25k to take people to rally that incited Capitol attack

Ohio congressional candidate J.R. Majewski said in a video posted online Friday that he had raised $25,000 to help others attend the Jan. 6 “Stop the Steal” rally where Donald Trump and his allies helped incite an attack on the U.S. Capitol.

“I raised about $20-25,000 somewhere, I can’t remember the number exactly, through donations from other people and myself,” Majewski said. “I was able to raise enough money to take a lot of people to Washington, D.C.”

That rally was organized to protest the certification of President Joe Biden’s victory over Trump in the 2020 presidential election. It was at that event that Trump promised the crowd he would be with them as they marched down to the Capitol, telling them the country would not be won through weakness.

Five people died in the violence that ensued that day.

Majewski is running for the Republican nomination in Ohio’s 9th congressional district, a seat currently held by Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur.

He first attracted national attention during the 2020 election after he painted the lawn outside of his house using the same color and design as Trump’s election signs. The stunt attracted national media attention, including appearing on Fox News.

Footage of the painted lawn and related media coverage are included in a video highlight reel for Majewski’s recently announced campaign.

In an interview about his lawn, which aired on Fox News, Majewski wore a shirt featuring the “Q” logo from the baseless QAnon conspiracy theory, which intelligence officials have said poses a domestic terror threat. QAnon believers claim that a group of high-level Democrats and celebrities are the leaders of a secretive global ring of child traffickers who engage in cannibalism. The entire story is false and has been debunked repeatedly.

The candidate also posted multiple images and posts using QAnon-related hashtags to his Instagram account. Majewski hosted online “MAGA Meetups” alongside his friend, RedPill78, who is known online as a QAnon “influencer.”

If elected, Majewski would join several other recently elected Republican members of Congress, including Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA) and Lauren Boebert (CO), who have also affiliated themselves with QAnon in the past.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.