Newly-Elected Texas GOP Candidate Deleted Multiple Posts Promoting QAnon and Spreading Conspiracies About Jan. 6
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Newly-elected Rep. Mayra Flores (R-TX) made history when she won a special election for Texas’ 34th congressional district earlier this month, making her the first Mexican-born member of Congress, but also found her name in headlines for her past social media posts promoting QAnon conspiracy theories. A new report from CNN’s Andrew Kaczynski dug up additional troublesome posts by the new congresswoman — and her efforts to conceal them.
Flores won to take over an open seat for a few months after the previous representative, Rep. Filemon Vela (D-TX) retired at the end of March. She vastly outraised her Democratic opponent Dan Sanchez, raking in over a $1 million compared to barely $46,000 for Sanchez, with similarly lopsided outside spending from PACs and political party groups. To keep her seat, she’ll have to run again and win in November.
“I’ve always been against any of that,” Flores said when asked about the QAnon content in her posts during a San Antonio Express-News interview in April. “I’ve never been supportive of it.”
Previous reports found multiple posts by Flores on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook (including several paid Facebook ads) that incorporated hashtags and slogans popular among QAnon supporters. In addition to additional QAnon posts, Kaczynski also found Flores had promulgated conspiracies about the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, including falsely claiming that Black Lives Matter or Antifa activists were behind the violence:
Before running for office, Flores was a local Republican activist who tweeted under the handle “LaRepublicana86,” where she spread false claims about election fraud and immediately began suggesting on January 6, 2021, that the Capitol riot was caused by Antifa and “infiltrators.”
In one deleted tweet from January 7, 2021, Flores retweeted a claim that DC police had let crowds go to the Capitol and Antifa was among the crowd. “DC police let them through the gates! This was a set up! Antifa is definitely among this crowd!!!,” read the tweet from conservative activist David J. Harris that Flores shared.
In a tweet from January 6, Flores said the Capitol riot “surely was caused by infiltrators.” In another tweet that day, Flores posted images suggesting Capitol rioter Jacob Chansley — more commonly known as the QAnon Shaman — had also attended an Arizona Black Lives Matter rally. Following the Capitol riot, pro-Trump social media users attempted to falsely claim Chansley was a member of Blacks Live Matter and Antifa. The claim was repeatedly debunked.
Flores also posted multiple tweets supporting former President Donald Trump’s baseless claims of fraud in the 2020 election, urging Republican members of Congress to oppose certifying the Electoral College votes, praising highly-criticized “Kraken” attorney Sidney Powell, and a photo of the crowd at the Jan. 6 “Stop the Steal” rally prior to the attack on the Capitol.
She also removed tweets praising conspiratorial Trump attorney Sidney Powell as “an American hero” and a photo of the crowd at the 1/6 “Stop the Steal” rally.https://t.co/klsSMz0m0f pic.twitter.com/TqQDmuvuGy
— andrew kaczynski (@KFILE) June 23, 2022
This conspiratorial content was deleted before she launched her congressional campaign, Kaczynski reported. Flores did not reply to CNN’s request for comment, but Kaczynski tweeted a screenshot indicating that she had blocked him.
— andrew kaczynski (@KFILE) June 23, 2022
