Bemidji Pioneer: “A dinner hosted by the Wabasha County Republican Party last month featured keynote speaker Trevor Loudon, a far-right conspiracy theorist who told the GOP faithful that more than a hundred members of Congress should be investigated for espionage, that the killing of George Floyd and the unrest that followed ‘was planned since 2016,’ and suggested that voting machines were rigged in last year’s presidential election. Loudon spoke at a GOP ‘Wabasha County BPOU: Minnesota On the Rise’ banquet held March 27 at the Zumbro Community Church. It was attended by an estimated 400 people, according to a YouTube comment beneath a video of Loudon’s speech. Described by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a ‘far-right conspiracy theorist,’ Loudon has a history of making toxic statements. He is a ‘birther’ who has spread the discredited notion that President Barack Obama is not a U.S. citizen. The event was promoted on Facebook by Beverly C. Roche-Snow, Wabasha County GOP chairwoman. When contacted by Forum News Service, she hung up the phone.”

“Rep. Steve Drazkowski, a Republican from Mazeppa whose district covers parts of Wabasha County, did not attend the event. But he was dismissive of the Southern Poverty Law Center’s labeling of Loudon as ‘far right-wing.’ ‘The Southern Poverty Law Center is a left-wing group, very far left,’ Drazkowski said. ‘If they have problems with this Trevor Loudon guy, I will tell you that Republicans, conservatives have equal problems with the Southern Poverty Law Center.’ GOP state Sen. Michael Goggin of Red Wing attended the banquet, and a video showed him posing for a photograph with Loudon. Goggin did not return email or a call seeking comment.”