J.R. Majewski laughs and thanks a host who calls Media Matters reporter a “homo”

As part of his media strategy in response to reporting that he misrepresented his military service, Ohio GOP congressional nominee J.R. Majewski appeared on January 6 insurrectionist Teddy Daniels’ program and laughed at and thanked the host after Daniels called me a “homo.” Prior to the interview, Daniels mocked me for being Asian and attacked reporters covering the story as “homo writers.”  

The Associated Press released a September 21 investigative report finding that “Majewski presents himself as an Air Force combat veteran who deployed to Afghanistan after the 9/11 terrorist attacks,” but military documents obtained by the AP “indicate Majewski never deployed to Afghanistan but instead completed a six-month stint helping to load planes at an air base in Qatar, a longtime U.S. ally that is a safe distance from the fighting.” 

After the AP released its article, Media Matters reviewed its archives of Majewski’s media appearances and found six instances of him claiming to have deployed to Afghanistan. (The AP also wrote about a seventh appearance in its article.) 

After the revelation, Axios reported that “the National Republican Congressional Committee withdrew about $1 million in ad reservations for the district, according to a GOP source familiar with its strategy, all but surrendering the seat to Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur.”

Majewski has recently responded by appearing in the right-wing media, including on Newsmax and In the Trenches with Teddy Daniels, which is a streaming program. Daniels is a far-right Republican who unsuccessfully ran for Pennsylvania lieutenant governor and was GOP gubernatorial nominee Doug Mastriano’s preferred running mate. He is an Afghanistan combat veteran who Rolling Stone reported was “caught committing ‘unbecoming conduct’ at one police department and suspended at another.” The publication added that “his personal history includes domestic-abuse allegations.” 

Like Majewski, Daniels is a January 6 insurrectionist; he has claimed that “the Capitol Police and Metropolitan Police officers weren’t ‘real street cops’ because they became emotional while telling their stories.” 

Prior to the Majewski interview, Daniels said: “It's funny how The Associated Press, Rolling Stone, Media Matters, and all the other shit rags that only the homos with the blue hair read all come out with the same article on the same day. No, that's not coordinated at all.” (I did not know of the AP article or reporting ahead of time.) 

He added: “Republicans, veterans, Trump people, all things that these homo writers in the liberal media hate, hate. They hate me. They hate you.”

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Citation From the September 22, 2022, edition of In the Trenches with Teddy Daniels

Daniels later mocked me for being Asian, stating: “This guy graduated from George Washington, calls himself an investigative reporter since 2007.” He then said, seemingly adopting a mock Asian accent: “Eric Hananoki.” He added: “Does he know Mr. Miyagi? I wonder if he knows Mr. Miyagi.”

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Citation From the September 22, 2022, edition of In the Trenches with Teddy Daniels

Daniels then aired the interview with Majewski, where he said of me: “Is Eric Hananoki anti-veteran? Did some, did some vet steal his girlfriend like — brother, that’s what I’m starting to think when I see the articles that this homo-looking dude writes, OK?” Majewski then laughed.  

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Citation From the September 22, 2022, edition of In the Trenches with Teddy Daniels

Daniels repeated the attack later, saying: “Don't let these scumbag homo liberal propaganda reporters do what they're doing. They're coming at you because they're afraid of you. And they're trying to change the narrative. And Marcy Kaptur is a piece of shit. And you heard it here first, folks. J.R., I'm going to let you wrap up with anything you want to wrap up with, brother.” 

Majewski replied: “Well, thanks, Teddy. I appreciate you, brother.” 

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Citation From the September 22, 2022, edition of In the Trenches with Teddy Daniels

During the interview, Majewski attempted to explain the discrepancies the AP wrote about by claiming: “The operations group that I was with out of California, we supported all of our men and women in the front lines. And Afghanistan was part of that, that entire area of responsibility.” 

In addition to being a January 6 insurrectionist, Majewski is a QAnon conspiracy theorist and a supporter of the white nationalist social media haven Gab and its antisemitic CEO, Andrew Torba.