An online petition called for the removal of Heather Mewshaw, American Sign Language (ASL) interpreter, from White House briefings after her support for former U.S. President Donald Trump was uncovered in videos shared online.
The Joe Biden-selected ASL interpreter is said to be the person in-charge of a pro-Trump Facebook group that espoused right-wing ideals.
Mewshaw was introduced by U.S. Press Secretary Jen Psaki as "today's interpreter, Heather" on Monday, as the Biden administration disclosed it would be adding a sign language interpreter to its daily press briefings.
The decision, which has already been welcomed by advocates, will make the briefings more accessible to those who are deaf or with hearing problems.
"Out of many ASL interpreters in DC/MD/VA, they unknowingly hired a notorious Trump supporter, Heather Mewshaw, to interpret for the White House briefing... the Deaf Community is outraged when they saw her presence," the petition read, adding Mewshaw's actions are "unethical and harmful to the Deaf Community at large."
Mewshaw provided interpretation to videos that featured misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccine, the Capitol siege and conspiracy theories about the November 2020 U.S. presidential election. She was pictured in a Make America Great Again (MAGA) hat in some of the online page's videos.
"Joe Biden is literally and legally not the President-elect," read a headline on one Facebook clip in which another interpreter in Mewshaw's group interprets comments made by right-wing personality Candace Owens.
In August last year, the National Association of the Deaf sued Trump and former press secretary Kayleigh McEnany for failing to provide an interpreter during COVID-19 briefings, which they argued hindered the ability of deaf and those with hearing issues to learn necessary information during the crisis.
Originally called Right Side ASL, Mewshaw's group of interpreters rebranded itself as Hands of Liberty after Facebook deleted the content from its platform in November. Hands of Liberty also removed its accounts on Instagram, Twitter and Parler.
