VP backs out of QAnon boosters’ event

Other GOP office seekers in Mont. were also slated to attend

BILLINGS, Mont. — Vice President Mike Pence canceled plans to attend a Trump campaign fundraiser in Montana following revelations that the event’s hosts had expressed support for the QAnon conspiracy theory.

President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign said Saturday that Pence’s schedule had been changed, but the campaign did not provide a reason or say whether the fundraiser might be held at a later time. The change comes after reports Wednesday that hosts Cayrn and Michael Borland, of Bozeman, Montana, had shared QAnon memes and retweeted posts from QAnon accounts.

The baseless conspiracy theory alleges that Trump is battling an entrenched bureaucracy and sex trafficking ring run by pedophiles.

Three Republicans seeking election in Montana also had been scheduled to attend the fundraiser: U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, who faces a November challenge from Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock; U.S. Rep. Greg Gianforte, who is running for governor; and state Auditor Matt Rosendale, a candidate for the U.S. House.

Pence, Daines and the other Republican candidates are still scheduled to hold a campaign rally Monday afternoon in Belgrade, near Bozeman. Pence will host a rally earlier in the day in Wisconsin, an event that was added as a substitute for the fundraiser, the Trump campaign said.

Daines campaign spokeswoman Julia Doyle said the first-term senator does not know the Borlands nor “does he know what QAnon even is.”

Gianforte, who faces Democratic Lt. Gov. Mike Cooney in November, also does not know the Borlands or what QAnon is, spokesman Travis Hall said.

A Rosendale spokesman said he was unaware of QAnon.

Pence last month told CBS, “I don’t know anything about QAnon, and I dismiss it out of hand.”

The Borlands did not return telephone messages Saturday seeking comment.

Mike Pence