During a White House visit in February, Iowa state Rep. Eddie Andrews (R-Johnston) took a selfie with far-right conspiracy theorist Dom Lucre, who spread images of child sex abuse on X.
Andrews and Lucre posed for the photo at a Black History Month celebration event at the White House on Feb. 20. The representative then posted the photo on his Facebook page.
Lucre is a media personality and frequent X user who was suspended from Elon Musk’s social media platform in 2023 for posting images of child abuse and exploitation. The images were related to an Australian man who was sentenced to 129 years in prison for abusing children in the Philippines. Musk reinstated Lucre, who currently has 1.5 million followers on X, four days after he was suspended despite pledging to crack down on such offenses.
Lucre has also caused controversy for spreading QAnon theories to his followers, according to BBC’s Shayan Sardarizadeh.
Andrews has served in the Iowa state legislature since 2021, where he serves on the Public Safety Committee. In 2023, Andrews was fined by the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board for distributing illegal campaign materials, according to Bleeding Heartland.