Skip to main content

Trending

  • Ukraine
  • Tucker Carlson
  • Elon Musk

Social Media Menu

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Utility Navigation

  • Take Action
  • Search
  • Donate

Media Matters for America

Main navigation

  • News & Analysis
  • Research & Studies
  • Audio & Video
  • Archives

Media Matters for America

  • Nav
  • Search

Main navigation

  • News & Analysis
  • Research & Studies
  • Audio & Video
  • Archives

Trending

  • Ukraine
  • Tucker Carlson
  • Elon Musk

Utility Navigation

  • Take Action
  • Search
  • Donate

Social Media Menu

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
bad-moments-tech-hearings.png
Melissa Joskow / Media Matters

GOP-endorsed congressional candidate pushes unhinged Seth Rich murder conspiracy theory

Joanne Wright tweeted the smear that Fox News contributor Donna Brazile and D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser helped orchestrate the murder

Written by Eric Hananoki

Published 03/02/20 2:32 PM EST

Share

  • Email
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Print

Comment

  • Comments

California congressional candidate Joanne Wright has been pushing a reprehensible conspiracy theory from a far-right media source which claims that Fox News contributor Donna Brazile and Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser helped orchestrate the murder of Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich. The California Republican Party recently endorsed Wright in its upcoming March 3 primary, where she is running unopposed. 

Wright is a candidate in California’s 34th Congressional District, which includes parts of Los Angeles County. She is one of at least 30 congressional candidates who have backed QAnon, a violence-linked conspiracy theory which started with claims that President Donald Trump was working with then-special counsel Robert Mueller to stop the president’s perceived enemies, the “deep state,” and pedophiles. 

She recently claimed that “the Corona virus is a man made virus created in a Wuhan laboratory,” a conspiracy theory that has been frequently pushed by right-wing outlets. 

Wright has also pushed the conspiracy theory that Rich was murdered by Democratic Party officials. She has repeatedly smeared Bowser and Brazile, who previously headed the DNC, including tweeting: “Brazile and DC Mayor Muriel Bowser were informed Seth Rich was being taken to Medstar Hospital and were there when he arrived. The word is the wound wasn’t life-threatening but either after the women went in his room or sent their doctors in, Seth died.” 

Wright has sourced her claim to a post by far-right blogger and conspiracy theorist Matt Couch. Brazile told the Daily Dot that “there is simply no truth to the claims in the article,” while Bowser’s office denied the report. 

The Los Angeles Times reported that the California GOP endorsed Wright because it “gives automatic endorsements to GOP candidates if they’re the sole Republican on the ballot.”

The California Republican Party has denounced Wright’s comments. “These views are not representative of the @CAGOP regarding this serious public health issue,” the organization tweeted Saturday.

…

The California GOP has endorsed Wright by default because she is the lone Republican running in that district, according to Cynthia Bryant, executive director of the California Republican Party. Bryant said the organization plans to review the rule that gives automatic endorsements to GOP candidates if they’re the sole Republican on the ballot.

“There’s a little thing called the 1st Amendment,” Bryant said of Wright’s tweet. “Candidates can say whatever they want to.”

The state party has gone out of its way to promote Wright on social media. On February 24, the California GOP tweeted that it was “proud to endorse her for CA-34.” That tweet has since been deleted. 

CAGOP endorsement of Joanne Wright image

The California GOP also wrote on Facebook that it was “proud to endorse” Wright, but that post has been removed as well. 

The party includes Wright in its online endorsement guide. 

In 2018, the California GOP endorsed unsuccessful congressional candidate Dale Mensing, who wrote that the chemtrails conspiracy theory “is one of the three primary issues” of his campaign and used a video from Infowars conspiracy theorist Alex Jones as evidence. The party is endorsing Mensing, who is unopposed in the Republican primary, again this cycle. 

The Latest

  1. Laura Ingraham dismisses gun reform because Uvalde shooter could have “built a pressure cooker bomb and killed just as many people”

    Video & Audio 05/25/22 10:53 PM EDT

  2. Fox News contributor blames “fatherless children” and “loss of religion” for mass school shootings

    Video & Audio 05/25/22 10:21 PM EDT

  3. Sean Hannity scrolls the names of “kids killed by gun violence 2019-present” to attack Democrats

    Video & Audio 05/25/22 9:43 PM EDT

  4. Tucker Carlson blames “the homeless” for mass violence in America

    Video & Audio 05/25/22 8:42 PM EDT

  5. Tucker Carlson threatens “civil war” over gun control

    Video & Audio 05/25/22 8:27 PM EDT

Pagination

  • Current page 1
  • …
  • Next page ››

In This Article

  • Seth Rich Conspiracy Theory

    Seth-Rich-Conspiracy-Theory-MMFA-Tag.png
Comments
0 Comments
Share Count
0 Shares

Related

  1. Tucker Carlson’s cowardly Seth Rich lies

    Article 02/15/22 11:05 AM EST

  2. Tucker Carlson shows on-screen graphic promoting noxious Seth Rich conspiracy theory

    Article 04/12/21 1:52 PM EDT

  3. Watch Brianna Keilar call out Sean Hannity's lies and conspiracy theories

    Video & Audio 02/05/21 4:03 PM EST

Media Matters for America

Footer menu

  • About
  • Contact
  • Corrections
  • Submissions
  • Jobs
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions

Social Media Menu

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

© 2022 Media Matters for America