Meet the QAnon-affiliated insurrectionist running for Congress in Ohio
J.R. Majewski has frequently bragged about his friendship with Rep. Jim Jordan and his role as a Trump surrogate. On January 6, he rushed the Capitol alongside other QAnon conspiracy theorists.
Written by Olivia Little
Published
A QAnon-affiliated insurrectionist is running for Congress in Ohio’s 9th District. J.R. Majewski has officially announced his candidacy, launched a campaign website, and is now actively fundraising for his congressional run. According to Majewski’s Twitter account, he gave his first campaign speech to Ohio's Ottawa County Republican Party on March 15.
Majewski is a QAnon supporter closely linked to prominent QAnon influencer RedPill78
Majewski is a QAnon conspiracy theorist who initially gained national attention after painting his entire yard to look like a Trump reelection banner in the summer of 2020. Shortly thereafter, then-President Donald Trump praised Majewski, and Fox News interviewed him about his yard while he was wearing a QAnon shirt. Majewski has also posted multiple images and hashtags on his Instagram account that are affiliated with the violence-linked QAnon conspiracy theory, including #WWG1WGA, #thegreatawakeningworldwide, and #qanon.
Majewski is also closely linked to RedPill78, a well-known QAnon influencer who has been banned from multiple major social media platforms for peddling the conspiracy theory. RedPill78 and Majewski are friends and have hosted “MAGA Meetups” together, as well as livestreams on YouTube, Twitch, and DLive.
Majewski frequently touts his supposed connections to Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH)
In mid-September, Majewski began tweeting that he would be attending an October 5 Sandusky County Republican Party dinner event with Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH).
On the morning of the dinner, Majewski tweeted that he might bring RedPill78 to the dinner after a user asked, “Can you ask [Jordan] why he voted with Democrats to denounce Qanon?!” After the event, Majewski tweeted that RedPill78 asked Jordan “a bunch of questions” but “Jim asked Red to keep most of it confidential.”
On November 7, Majewski tweeted at the congressman, claiming that Jordan’s deputy district director has Majewski’s contact information and could pass it along to him. The tweet included a TikTok video from the October dinner showing Jordan shaking Majewski’s hand and handing him an envelope while people applaud.
Majewski regularly brags about his communication line with Jordan. On November 18, he tweeted that he could get a follower in touch with Jordan. The tweet included a photo of himself, Jordan, and RedPill78 that appears to have been taken at the October dinner. This photo is also prominently displayed on Majewski’s campaign website and in his first campaign video. A week following the Capitol insurrection, Majewski again claimed on Twitter that he was in direct communication with Jordan.
For his part, Jordan had peddled the lie that the 2020 presidential election was stolen and called for an investigation prior to the insurrection. He even spoke at a “Stop the Steal” rally at the Pennsylvania state Capitol on November 5. A month after the insurrection, Jordan tweeted “How do you incite a riot that was already going to happen?” in an attempt to absolve Trump. Jordan later falsely claimed that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) had denied National Guard assistance during the attack at the Capitol.
Majewski claims to have helped organize and attended the January 6 Capitol insurrection
Ahead of the January 6 Capitol insurrection, Majewski claimed in multiple tweets to have organized resources to bring Trump supporters to the event. In a TikTok, Majewski claimed to have funded the travel of 30 “patriots.” “I’ve provided $20k amongst Trump supports and arranged travel for them over a 72hr period to travel to DC,” Majewski tweeted on December 30. Multiple Twitter users also credited Majewski for helping them travel to Washington, D.C., for January 6.
The day prior to the insurrection, Majewski posted multiple photos of himself and RedPill78 traveling to and around Washington, D.C. On the morning of January 6, Majewski posted a photo of the two in the D.C. metro with the caption “Get ready.”
In a January 6 video posted to RedPill78’s channels on the DLive and Twitch streaming platforms, he and Majewski described their experience at the insurrection and admitted to breaching police barricades and walking to the base of the Capitol:
REDPILL78: Now, when we were standing there, in front of the Capitol building, we were right there in that first wave of people that came in on our side. And we saw that they had crossed the snow fence. We saw that they had crossed that first barrier, and they were —
J.R. MAJEWSKI: Immediate. It was immediate.
REDPILL78: Yes. It — there, there — and that’s why I showed the police, they were letting people in. Because it was like we started walking, we never stopped walking, and we made it all the way to the —
MAJEWSKI: [unintelligible]
REDPILL78: Yeah, all the way to the base of the Capitol building. And you’re sitting there, and there’s almost like this little, like, scoop-out.
MAJEWSKI: Funnel.
REDPILL78: Yeah, yeah, so a funnel, definitely. And then stairs going up on either side. And they had built this tower out of scaffolding.
In a January 16 Gab post, Majewski uploaded what he claimed to be a screenshot of a text conversation between him and “a WhiteHouse insider.” The conversation includes references to both parties allegedly having contact with former White House deputy chief of staff for communications Dan Scavino about an “unreleased video” of the insurrection. At one point Majewski held a social media contest in which a follower “headed to DC on the 6th” could win the prize of taking a White House tour with himself and RedPill78.
Majewski refers to himself as a Trump surrogate
After Majewski’s yard went viral on MAGA Twitter and caught the attention of Trump, he began saying he had joined the Trump campaign as a surrogate.
Majewski posted a video to Instagram in September saying a seat was reserved for him at an Ohio rally by the Trump campaign. “Since it’s my hometown, the president and his team did something cool for me. ... I will be in the prime-time seat right behind the president.” According to Majewski’s Instagram posts, he attended the rally with his “buddy” RedPill78.
On August 6, Majewski thanked Trump on Twitter for the “honor to see you today in person and be in your motorcade.” In September, Majewski posted a video to Instagram that begins with him saying into the camera, “Guess who is meeting President Trump in Toledo, Ohio, on Monday?” Then, in October, Majewski posted a video on TikTok in which he says, “Guess who gets to meet the President today?” The video then shows what appears to be close-range footage of vehicles in a presidential motorcade.
In December, Majewski said he had been a surrogate for the Trump campaign, tweeting about holding multiple “MAGA Meetups” at his home. Majewski’s TikTok bio reads “OFFICIAL TRUMP 2020 Surrogate” and in a January 1 tweet, he said he had spoken “on behalf of the Trump Campaign Team.”