Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert downplayed the Capitol riot at a major QAnon conference and posed for photos with a conspiracy theorist influencer
Photo by Caroline Brehman/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
- Rep. Louie Gohmert, a Texas Republican, spoke at a major QAnon conference on Saturday in Dallas.
- Gohmert downplayed the Jan. 6 Capitol riot to the crowd of QAnon supporters and MAGA proponents.
- The congressman spoke in front of a large image of the event's logo, which featured the QAnon mantra "Where we go one, we go all."
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Rep. Louie Gohmert, a Texas Republican, spoke at a major QAnon conference on Saturday in Dallas and downplayed the January 6 Capitol riot to a crowd that included major conspiracy theorist influencers.
The congressman condemned his colleagues in the House who are pushing for a bipartisan commission to investigate the Capitol riot and argued that the events of Jan. 6 paled in comparison to both the 9/11 terror and Pearl Harbor attacks, according to reporters and watchdog groups covering the event. Earlier this month, Gohmert joined many of his Republican colleagues in blocking the creation of a Jan. 6 commission.
Gohmert took photos at the event with QAnon supporters, including Zak Paine, the host of a popular QAnon show RedPill78, who has said he stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6.
Gohmert spoke on stage at the Omni Hotel in Dallas in front of a large image of the event's logo, which featured the QAnon mantra "Where we go one, we go all," abbreviated to "WWG1WGA."
The phrase was taken from the 1996 film "White Squall" and is widely used by QAnon adherents to show their support for the far-right conspiracy theory. Gohmert and three other Texas House Republicans voted against a congressional resolution condemning QAnon last fall.
A prominent QAnon influencer, John Sabal, aka "QAnon John," and his girlfriend, Amy, organized the conference. Sabal detailed his support for QAnon during an October 2020 interview with Insider at a Trump rally in Middletown, PA.
-Alex Kaplan (@AlKapDC) May 29, 2021
"I want to make [the Conservative Political Action Conference] look like a puppy show," Sabal told a far-right podcast host last month of his QAnon conference.
The three-day conference featured several prominent QAnon promoters, including Trump's former national security advisor, Michael Flynn, and ex-Trump attorney Sidney Powell. The chairman of the Texas Republican Party, Allen West, also spoke at the events.
The pro-Trump QAnon conspiracy theory, which claims that major Democrats and celebrities are operating a global pedophile ring, is closely tied to the Capitol riot. Forty people arrested for entering the Capitol on Jan. 6 are QAnon adherents. Rosanne Boyland, a rioter who died on the steps of the Capitol, was an avid QAnon believer, according to Boyland's family and friends.
Spokespeople for Gohmert and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy didn't immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment.
A reporter at a Texas CBS affiliate said that a member of Gohmert's staff falsely told the outlet that the congressman did not attend the event.
Gohmert has promoted the false claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from Trump, and repeatedly defended the Capitol rioters and others accused of unlawfully entering the Capitol as part of the pro-Trump mob on Jan. 6. Other Republican lawmakers have described the rioters as harmless "tourists" and otherwise defended the attack on Congress.
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