White House’s first’sign language interpreter’ … it turns out that Trump is a conspiracy supporter

White House spokesman Jen Saki is holding a weekday briefing, saying, “We will rebuild the White House’s trust.” [AP=연합뉴스]

On the 20th (local time), when US President Joe Biden took office, the White House first announced the resumption of regular briefings. This is to create a “white house of trust” different from the former administration of Donald Trump.

On the 25th, White House spokesman Jen Saki said, “We will provide sign language interpretation for all White House briefings.” Emphasizing the “Biden administration’s inclusive efforts” to create an open White House.

However, it was revealed that the first sign language interpreter selected as a “symbol of inclusion” interpreted President Trump’s allegations of election denial and various conspiracy theories, according to the US current affairs weekly Time reported on the 27th (local time).

According to this, Saki spokesman Heather Mushaw, who was introduced as “the interpreter of the day,” has created and managed a page that translates extremist conspiracy theories videos into sign language on social media.

On the 25th (local time), Heather Mu-sho interprets a briefing by White House spokesman Jen Saki. [백악관 트위터 캡처]

According to reports, this page contains a video interpreting the claims of the far right, such as the theory of the use of the Corona 19 vaccine and the conspiracy theory related to the occupation of the Capitol on the 6th. Insisting against election fraud, he even conveyed in sign language that “Biden is not legally elected president.”

This page, managed by Mu Show, was operated on various social media, but was also suspended on Facebook and YouTube in November last year. Recently, he is active on the extreme right-oriented video platform under the name of’Hand of Freedom’.

On this page, several sign language interpreters were in charge of sign language interpretation, and Mu-Sho also provided sign language interpretation for several videos while wearing a hat of former President Trump’s slogan “Make America Great Again (Make America Great Again).

On the 20th (local time), Heather Mushaw put on a’MAGA’ hat and uploaded a video interpreting ″Thanks to former President Donald Trump″ on the video platform site’Rumble’. [럼블(Rumble) 캡처]

Professor John Henna, who studies American sign language at the University of North Carolina, said, “It can be a problem for the deaf or those interested in sign language that the person representing the far right becomes the face of the White House.”

After a report by Time, a petition came up on the petition website,’Change’, stating that “Shoot Header Mushaw from the White House sign language interpreter.” The person who filed the petition claimed that “Muso is a far-right account manager blocked by Facebook and YouTube,” and that “his behavior was unethical and had a detrimental effect on the deaf community.”

In response, the White House did not respond to requests from local media for comment.

Reporter Seok Kyung-min [email protected]