Kimberly GuilfoyleOLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images
- The scheduled speakers at this year's Republican National Convention have shared so many conspiracies and debunked claims that previous conventions look quaint in comparison.
- An anti-abortion activist who spoke Tuesday night said earlier this year that police officers should racially profile her adopted son because of "statistics."
- Another speaker lost her slot at the convention after retweeting an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory that was supported by Hitler.
- A former Fox host warned that Democrats will "defund, dismantle, and destroy American law enforcement" in a speech that some described as fascist.
- A sitting Republican congressman claimed Democrats want to "take away your guns," while another said Joe Biden and the "woketopians" will "disarm you, empty the prisons, lock you in your home, and invite MS-13 to live next door."
- Scroll down to read the wildest claims made by people who were invited to speak at this year's Republican National Convention.
Clint Eastwood made headlines in 2012 after he yelled at an empty chair during primetime at the Republican National Convention. The move drew widespread ridicule, with critics saying Eastwood distracted from the campaign platform and policy message the GOP was trying to sell through its candidate, Mitt Romney.
Fast forward to 2020: this week's RNC has been so full of misinformation, outlandish performances, and dystopian conspiracy theories that they make Eastwood's act look quaint. Donald Trump's takeover of the Republican Party in the 2016 election cycle has also made these performances more a feature of the RNC than a bug.
An anti-abortion activist claimed Margaret Sanger, who founded the first birth control clinic in the US, was a "racist" who wanted to "eradicate the minority population."
A former Fox News host said Democrats will "defund, dismantle, and destroy American law enforcement."
A sitting Republican congressman claimed Democrats want to "take away your guns" and allow "crime, violence, and mob rule" run rampant in American cities. Another congressman warned that Biden and "woketopians" will "disarm you, empty the prisons, lock you in your home, and invite MS-13 to live next door."
Here's a look at some of the wildest claims made by speakers who were invited and supported by the president:
Mary Ann Mendoza, a member of the Women for Trump campaign group, spread an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory on Twitter the day of her speech
President Donald Trump listens as Mary Ann Mendoza, an "Angel Mom" who lost her son Brandon when he was killed by a drunk driver that was an undocumented immigrant, speaks in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, March 15, 2019, in Washington.
AP Photo/Evan Vucci
Immigration hardliner Mary Ann Mendoza lost a scheduled speaking slot Tuesday night after retweeting an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory about how the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion is not a fabrication," and that "it certainly is not anti-semetic to point out this fact."
The Protocols of the Elders of Zion is a completely fabricated and false anti-Semitic text. It later inspired Adolf Hitler's genocidal policies in World War II.
The thread Mendoza retweeted also baselessly claimed that the the Rothschilds, a Jewish family in the banking sector, were part of a secret plot to sink the Titanic, instigate the Vietnam War, and assassinate President John F. Kennedy.
Anti-abortion activist Abby Johnson said it would be 'smart' for the police to racially profile her adopted son because of 'statistics'
Abby Johnson
Courtesy of the Committee on Arrangements for the 2020 Republican National Committee via Getty Images
Anti-abortion activist Abby Johnson has made her name in Republican politics by making outlandish claims about Planned Parenthood with no evidence to back them up.
The big draw of her convention speech was a baseless assertion that Planned Parenthood higher-ups told her as a then-employee that the organization pushes abortion procedures to make money, even though no one else has corroborated her story.
No federal funds can be used for abortions within the organization, and Planned Parenthood's annual reports say abortions only account for 3% of its services provided.
On Tuesday, she said Margaret Sanger, who founded the first birth control clinic in the US, was a "racist" who wanted to "eradicate the minority population."
As The New York Times pointed out, Sanger did have common beliefs with those who advocated for eugenics and spoke at some eugenics conferences. But there is no evidence that she was a "racist" who wanted to "eradicate the minority population."
Moreover, "historians seem to disagree on just how involved in the eugenics movement she was. Some contend her involvement was for political reasons — to win support for birth control," NPR said.
Ahead of Johnson's speech, Vice News also uncovered footage from a YouTube video she made advocating for police to racially profile her adopted son.
"Statistically, my brown son is more likely to commit a violent offense over my white sons," she said in the video.
"I recognize that I'm going to have to have a different conversation with Jude than I do with my brown-haired little Irish, very, very pale-skinned white sons as they grow up."
Johnson floated the idea of 'household votes,' in which married couples would only get one vote because 'in a Godly household, the husband would get the final say.'
Abby Johnson
Courtesy of the Committee on Arrangements for the 2020 Republican National Committee via Getty Images
Johnson sandwiched her RNC speaking gig with tweets promoting the theory of "household voting," where married couples would have to settle on one vote instead of each spouse getting their own.
"I would support bringing back household voting. How anti-feminist of me," she tweeted in May.
Johnson added that "in a Godly household, the husband would get the final say."
She doubled down after her convention speech, which was shared by President Trump to his 85.5 million followers.
Former Fox host Kimberly Guilfoyle shouted about how Democrats 'want to destroy this country' in a speech that some described as fascist
Kimberly Guilfoyle
OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images
Guilfoyle, who is currently dating Donald Trump Jr. and is a frequent surrogate for the president on the campaign trail, warned of a dark, lawless, and crime-filled America under a Joe Biden presidency.
"They want to destroy this country and everything that we have fought for and hold dear," she said in her speech, prompting one reporter to describe Guilfoyle's words as "lunatic" and "fascist."
As Guilfoyle continued speaking, her voice grew louder and she raised some eyebrows with her gestures, at one point drawing comparisons to a speech that the character Dwight Schrute gave on NBC's "The Office," in which he quoted lines from notorious dictators like Italy's Benito Mussolini.
"They want open borders, closed schools, dangerous amnesty, and will selfishly send your jobs back to China while they get rich," Guilfoyle said. "They will defund, dismantle and destroy America's law enforcement. When you are in trouble and need police, don't count on the Democrats."
Although several left-wing activists and progressive lawmakers have supported calls to "defund the police," top Democrats and establishment figures like Biden, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer have rejected the proposal. Vox also recently examined Biden's criminal justice policy and found that his plan would "actually increase the number of police officers in Black and brown communities."
As Guilfoyle continued speaking, her voice grew louder and she raised some eyebrows with her gestures, at one point drawing comparisons to a speech that the character Dwight Schrute gave on NBC's "The Office," in which he quoted lines from notorious dictators like Italy's Benito Mussolini.
St. Louis couple Mark and Patricia McCloskey: Democrats want to spread 'chaos and violence' and 'abolish the suburbs all together'
A married couple, identified as Mark and Patricia McCloskey, pointed guns at protesters from the front lawn of their St. Louis home on June 28, 2020.
Daniel Shular/Twitter
The McCloskeys made headlines this year when they were captured in viral videos pointing guns at a group of peaceful protesters outside their house in St. Louis.
"These radicals are not content with marching in the streets," Mark McCloskey said. "They want to walk the hall of Congress, they want to take over, they want power. This is Joe Biden's party. These are the people who will be in charge of your future and the future of your children."
Patricia McCloskey spoke after her husband. She claimed that Democrats "are not satisfied with spreading the chaos and violence into our communities" and want to "abolish the suburbs all together."
She also said Democratic leaders would bring "crime, lawlessness, and low quality apartments" to "thriving" neighborhoods. "So make no mistake," Patricia McCloskey said, "no matter where you live, your family will not be safe in the radical Democrats' America."
Trump and his Republican allies frequently celebrate the rollback of Obama-era housing rules and exploit white fear and grievances by claiming low-income housing is destroying suburban neighborhoods.
Housing advocates have criticized the rule change, saying it would give localities much freer rein to allow discriminatory and unequal housing conditions to persist.
Florida congressman Matt Gaetz: Democrats and 'woketopians' will 'disarm you, empty the prisons, lock you in your home, and invite MS-13 to live next door'
Rep. Matt Gaetz, the Florida Republican, this week accused Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg of making false statements before Congress in 2018.
AP
Gaetz is one of Trump's most loyal defenders in Congress and he used his speech on Monday to urge voters to "fight to save America now or we may lose her forever."
He added that the "woketopians" will make Biden "an extra in a movie written, produced, and directed by others. It's a horror film, really."
The Florida congressman falsely claimed that Democrats will "disarm you, empty the prisons, lock you in your home, and invite MS-13 to live next door."
"And the police aren't coming when you call in Democrat-run cities, they're already being defunded, disbanded," he said, alluding to recent calls from left-wing activists to defund local police organizations in the wake of George Floyd's death in police custody.
"Blaming our best and allowing society's worst? That's the story they write in Hollywood," he said. "That's if the lights even stay on in California anymore. They used to write only in fiction, but nightmares are becoming real."