J.R. Majewski, a QAnon adherent and part-time MAGA rapper, could become the next conspiracy theorist in Congress after he won the Republican primary for Ohio’s 9th District this week.
Majewski, who works at a nuclear power company and traveled to Washington, D.C. to participate in the "Stop the Steal" rally on January 6 before former President Donald Trump's supporters stormed the United States Capitol, first garnered attention in 2020 by painting a 19,000 square-foot Trump campaign sign on his lawn.
That notoriety–and a congratulatory tweet from Trump–helped him ride the wave of Trumpism in the 9th District, winning 35 percent of the vote in the primary for Republicans to replace Democratic Representative Marcy Kaptur.
Majewski's rapping has received newfound attention in the days since his primary win, and a video circulated on social media showing him rapping a verse from "Let's Go Brandon," a song by rapper Loza Alexander that has been used by conservatives to attack Democratic President Joe Biden since it went viral on TikTok.
You can watch the video, which shows Majewski wearing a “Let’s Go Brandon” shirt and ill-fitting cargo shorts, below.
this is jr majewski, who just won the gop nomination for congress in ohio last night, "rapping" his verse of "let's go brandon." i can't. (h/t @daveweigel)pic.twitter.com/NHlls51HQV— Oliver Willis (@Oliver Willis) 1651679525
The anti-Biden rap song was inspired by the "Let's go Brandon!" meme that took over right-wing social media since NBC's Kelli Stavast interviewed NASCAR driver Brandon Brown after he came in first place at Alabama's Talladega Superspeedway in early October.
The interview went viral because the crowd could be heard chanting "F*** Joe Biden" in the background, which Stavast misheard as "Let's go Brandon!"
The moment, and the use of the chant since, is widely viewed as an example of the heightened political polarization in American politics as the Biden administration continues to work on bridging the gaps in a stalled legislature in an effort to codify its social and economic agenda.
Majewski raps that "Joe is focused on ice cream while he’s crappin’ his pants,” while pushing back against COVID-19 vaccinations. He also declares Biden is hampering "our dreams and our freedom," criticizes "woke" politics and calls for a wall to be constructed at the United States-Mexico border.
The video of Majewski's rapping prompted many to mock his candidacy and urge fellow voters to consider voting for his Democratic opposition.
Elections are about choices. \n\nRep. Marcy Kaptur has been a champion for Ohio working families for years. And just last month, she secured millions of dollars to repair the Cleveland harbor. \n\nBelow is her opponent.\n\nAnd last night he won the Republican nomination.https://twitter.com/owillis/status/1521880352914120705\u00a0\u2026— Joe Neguse (@Joe Neguse) 1651724944
this...pay attention people, to every primary, even if you think you're in a Blue State - cause we have them here in Cali too. Not sure the money's good enough to be in this ad with this fool - who just won his primary.https://twitter.com/owillis/status/1521880352914120705\u00a0\u2026— Lisa Dyson (@Lisa Dyson) 1651690048
Absurd, vulgar, entertaining instead of serious, Qanon-adjacent. This is the Trump GOP all the wayhttps://twitter.com/owillis/status/1521880352914120705\u00a0\u2026— Robert E Kelly (@Robert E Kelly) 1651700540
Who's gonna tell Vanilla Lice here who started raphttps://twitter.com/owillis/status/1521880352914120705\u00a0\u2026— Keith Olbermann (@Keith Olbermann) 1651704280
This is what American politics have come to for the GQP. Just wow. What an absolute joke. Idiocracy in full force. GFY @JRMajewski ! #americaisthebadplacehttps://twitter.com/owillis/status/1521880352914120705\u00a0\u2026— Reyn (@Reyn) 1651685943
We are turning into Idiocracy sooner than I expected.https://twitter.com/owillis/status/1521880352914120705\u00a0\u2026— Frank Drake (@Frank Drake) 1651723090
There is a line in this song that goes \u201cdivided we fall, we need to finish the wall\u201d and I don\u2019t even think it was meant to be ironic or anythinghttps://twitter.com/owillis/status/1521880352914120705\u00a0\u2026— MikeHoncho (@MikeHoncho) 1651748990
"United we stand, divided we fall"\n\n*makes a rap video trashing people who disagree with him*https://twitter.com/owillis/status/1521880352914120705\u00a0\u2026— Independent Populist (@Independent Populist) 1651711660
No wonder rest of the developed world laughs at us and our ridiculous culture wars https://twitter.com/owillis/status/1521880352914120705\u00a0\u2026— Arturo Loaiza-Bonilla, MD MSEd (@Arturo Loaiza-Bonilla, MD MSEd) 1651687590
Should Majewski win his congressional bid, he would become the latest QAnon adherent to rise to prominence in Washington.
QAnon, whose believers allege Democrats are part of a Satan-worshipping, baby-eating global pedophile ring that conspired against former President Donald Trump during his time in office, counts Georgia Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene as one of its more vocal adherents.
Greene, by her own admission, has claimed that the eponymous "Q," the anonymous individual or individuals from whom many of these conspiracies originate, is "a patriot" and that they've provided adherents a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take this global cabal of Satan-worshipping pedophiles out, and I think we have the president to do it."
Aside from Greene, many of former President Trump's supporters have attracted attention for making bizarre claims, behavior that has sparked discussion among mental health experts and political scientists alike who've expressed concerns about the prevalence of conspiracy theories within the right-wing ecosystem.
