Update 10:18am CT, June 8: Following publication, Gov. Greg Abbott’s (R) staff denied to the Daily Dot that Monique Dawson ever worked for them or the campaign.
However, Dawson provided the Daily Dot with bank records and screenshots of text messages and group chats with colleagues and people she says supervised her employment as a canvasser. The texts timestamped from the last several months discuss times, dates, and locations to canvas for the campaign. A May 17 message from someone she said worked for the campaign says, “Greg Abbott will start in the beginning of June and will end on November 4.”
Dawson replied, “Can you count me in for Greg Abbott?”
Two of the individuals named in the texts have LinkedIn accounts showing they work for the political consulting firm Camelback Strategy Group. Camelback Strategy Group received $1.5 million from the Abbott campaign, online records show.
Dawson’s bank history includes payments from Arizona Grassroots. Arizona Secretary of State records show that Arizona Grassroots Advocates registered Camelback Strategy Group in 2019.
Via Twitter direct message, Dawson told the Daily Dot that she was unaware of the viral video until her manager told her about it. “[Team Abbott] knew I was working with them enough to send my manager to get me out the field and let me go on the spot and take all campaign materials back,” she said. “He said it came straight from the top.”
Abbott’s communications director didn’t respond to multiple follow-up inquiries about whether the campaign contracted canvassing to outside companies, including Camelback Strategy Group.
Dawson said that the campaign’s “lies” have led people to troll her and call for her GoFundMe to be taken down.
“He needs stop lying at some point,” she said of Abbott.
The original post appears below.
A video posted over the weekend shows a woman allegedly canvassing for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) laugh when a person at the door said they don’t support him. She says that the Abbott campaign fired her after the footage went viral.
In a video captured by a Ring camera, a woman knocked on someone’s door.
“I’m a volunteer for Greg Abbott and want to know if we can count on your support for his upcoming election,” she said when they answered.
The man at the door didn’t hesitate.
“Absolutely not,” he replied.
The woman burst out laughing. “Everybody got to have a job, sir,” she said, still laughing as she walked away.
The man, James Whitfield (@DrJamesWhit), tweeted footage of the interaction on Friday. “She asked the question,” he wrote, “I just kept it 100.”
Whitfield added that he supports Beto O’Rourke, the Democratic nominee for governor of Texas.
The clip swiftly went viral. It’s amassed 3 million views as of this writing.
People loved it. “I want to like this a thousand times,” wrote one.
The Abbott campaign reportedly did not share in their amusement.
On Saturday, Monique Dawson (@Monique48322061) identified herself as the woman in the video. She appears to have joined Twitter after the video of her canvassing for Abbott went viral.
“I just saw the look on his face and it was pure amusement,” Dawson tweeted of the video. “I couldn’t hold in my laugh to save my life, and they fired me.”
She included a link to a GoFundMe making the same claim. “If you can spare a $1 or 2 it will add up and replace what I could have been earning as a campaigner,” she wrote. “Bills are due and I have no other source of income outside this job.”
Abbott’s office didn’t respond to a phone message seeking comment Monday morning.
Dawson didn’t respond to an inquiry posted in a comment on one of her tweets about the incident.
She subsequently posted a video of herself in response to a request to verify her identity.
Twitter users soon connected Whitfield with Dawson. He’s also confirmed that she is the person in the video.
Whitfield told the Daily Dot that he was initially caught off guard to see Dawson standing at his door “with a big smile” asking about whether he supports Abbott.
“I think she could tell by the look on my face that my response was going to be less than favorable because she almost started laughing before I said ‘absolutely not,’” he said via email. Whitfield said he watched the video several times before deciding to share it.
“I felt called to share Monique’s joy with the world. While she may have been canvassing for someone I do not support, she operated with grace, joy, and kindness—a great lesson for us all.”
Although the viral clip resulted in her losing her job, Dawson appears to have come out ahead. As of this writing, her fundraiser has surpassed its $15,000 goal. Several people have also sent her job leads.
“Sorry you lost your job. Maybe Beto’s campaign will hire you?” one of her donors commented.
“I’m applying,” Dawson said.
