Pence will not attend fundraiser next week hosted by couple who shared QAnon posts

Vice President Pence will not attend a fundraiser next week in Montana hosted by a couple who has shared social media posts supporting the QAnon conspiracy theory.

President Trump’s reelection campaign told The Hill that that Pence’s schedule has changed and that he will instead hold a rally for the Montana Republican Party.

The campaign did not say if the fundraiser would be held later in the year or why his schedule shifted.

The schedule change comes after it was reported that Caryn and Michael Borland, the couple slated to host the fundraiser, shared social media posts boosting the QAnon conspiracy theory, which has garnered more widespread support in recent months. 

The baseless theory alleges that Trump is planning to arrest a cabal of government officials running a child sex trafficking ring. 

QAnon is a right-wing conspiracy theory started by an anonymous user, Q, on message boards. It claims a group of U.S. officials and celebrities is controlling the government to undermine Trump and run a child sex trafficking ring.

The couple has reportedly donated more than $220,000 to Trump’s reelection campaign.

The QAnon conspiracy has become prominent after several Republican candidates running for office have had to defend against past remarks supporting the theory.

Among them is Georgia Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene, who is running in a safe GOP district in the Peach State, virtually guaranteeing her a spot in the House in the next Congress.

Pence has said he does not know much about the theory and rejects it.

“I don’t know anything about that conspiracy theory. I don’t know anything about QAnon, and I dismiss it out of hand,” Pence said in August.

Trump, however, has been less concise about his stand on the theory and its supporters. 

“I don’t know much about the movement other than I understand they like me very much, which I appreciate. But I don’t know much about the movement,” he said at a press briefing last month.