In January 2019, amidst the longest-ever federal government shutdown, a dispute unfolded between President Donald Trump and Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Pelosi suggested postponing Trump’s State of the Union address due to security concerns, as the U.S. Secret Service hadn’t received funding during the 26-day shutdown. In response, Trump delayed a planned congressional delegation trip led by Pelosi to visit American troops in Belgium, Egypt, and Afghanistan, citing the shutdown’s impact on unpaid federal workers.
Pelosi canceled the trip, claiming that Trump’s public revelation of the excursion posed an insurmountable security risk. However, an online rumor emerged, aiming to discredit Pelosi’s motives. A blog called the “Marshall Report” alleged that Pelosi planned to travel with 93 family members, suggesting a sinister agenda involving terrorist plots against President Trump and Vice President Pence, implying Pelosi’s ascent to the presidency. The blog tied this narrative to the line of succession, fueling conspiracy theories about the trip’s hidden intentions and accusing Pelosi of secret collaborations and global schemes.
The blog referred to tweets from the @BLUEPRINT_Q account, linked to the discredited “QAnon” conspiracy theory, suggesting that Pelosi’s trip wasn’t intended to visit troops but had suspicious connections to the European Union, the Muslim Brotherhood, and drug trafficking. However, these claims lacked substantial evidence and stemmed from dubious sources promoting conspiracy theories, including @5Strat, known for disseminating outlandish claims like extraterrestrial enslavement and numerology-linked theories about President Trump.
Fred Doucette, a Republican member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives, supported the claim of Pelosi’s 93 family members on the trip, insinuating hidden intentions behind the canceled delegation. Despite efforts to investigate and seek comments from involved congressional members, no responses were received, leaving the allegations largely unsubstantiated and entangled in the realm of baseless conspiracy theories.