On Wednesday, ABC 15 reported that Arizona Republicans, including Rep. Debbie Lesko, are standing by their endorsement of a state legislative candidate who was exposed for having dressed in blackface — and one associate defended her by claiming that blackface isn't really any worse than drag performances.
"Political allies are defending Mary Ann Mendoza, a Republican Arizona House candidate from Mesa, after photos of her in blackface and brownface surfaced on social media," reported Melissa Blasius.
Mendoza, who gained prominence as one of former President Donald Trump's "Angel Moms," or mothers who lost their children in crimes committed by unauthorized immigrants, was found to have Facebook photos of herself dressed up as Aunt Jemima and as an American Indian, both times with her skin darkened up, at various parties.
Blackface costumes have been roundly condemned as harkening back to minstrel shows, in which white performers would dress up as Black people to perform denigrating stereotypes as a comedic performance.
"Lesko's emailed statement to ABC15 said, 'Instead of focusing on decade-old Halloween photos posted by liberal opponents right before an election, voters care about a secure border and common sense policies that will keep Arizona strong. That is what voters will get with Mary Ann Mendoza,'" said the report.
"Her heart is pure and she deserves our full support," Kathleen Winn, a friend of Mendoza's, told ABC 15. "Whatever makeup she wore is no worse than drag queens'."
This comes as Republicans around the country are pushing moral panic about LGBTQ presence in public spaces and around children, with many targeting drag queen events open to children, even though these events are designed to be non-sexualized and child-friendly.
This is not the first time that Mendoza has faced controversy. She was originally scheduled to give a speech for Trump's re-election campaign at the 2020 Republican National Convention, but was pulled from the lineup after she promoted a thread on Twitter that espoused the QAnon conspiracy theory and said, "malevolent Jewish forces in the banking industry are out to enslave non-Jews and promote world wars."
