Arizona Democrat Joanna Mendoza scrubbed social media posts from 2020 regarding defunding the police.

Posted by The Rob Carson Show, Oct 5, 2026Checked Oct 30, 2026

Polygraph verdictTrue

Sources: 5 support5 context
Said: 1 time·
Confidence: 70%

The Rob Carson ShowOct 5, 2026

Multiple outlets report, citing an Arizona Republic review of archived internet records, that Mendoza deleted social media posts from her 2020 Arizona Senate period about police funding and reallocation, including a post criticizing a cartoon that mocked calls to defund the police. Her own PBS interview acknowledges the 'social media scrubbing' conversation while denying she ever supported defunding.

What was said

… What did I say? I said the Democrat Party would have to reinvent itself or disappear into the dustbin of history. Because right now, I mean, if this is what you want, America doesn't want this. This is Arizona Democrat Joanna Mendoza. She scrubbed her social media of all of the things she said about of defunding and getting rid of the police about five years ago. I want to talk about something that has been reported, that some online comments that you made prior to your campaign launch, you erased these from social media, progressive comments dating back to 2020, George Floyd, that particular area, era, I should say. …

The Rob Carson Show · Oct 5, 2026· from the transcriptPost →

What we found

Supports. The Arizona Republic review, as reported by Tucson.com, says Mendoza undertook a sweeping purge of her social media before launching her campaign, removing posts on policing and other topics, including posts dating to her 2020 Senate run.[5][6]

Supports. Deleted posts included one criticizing a political cartoon that mocked calls to defund the police, and another praising 'reallocation of funding' from police, so the deletions concern defunding and police funding.[3][5][6]

Supports. In her PBS interview, Mendoza responded to a question about 'social media scrubbing' without disputing that the scrubbing occurred, disputing only that it reflected her views on defunding.[4][7]

Context. Mendoza denies ever supporting defunding the police, saying she said so in 2020 and repeated it in a 2026 debate; this denial concerns her position, not whether the posts were deleted.[4][7][8]

Context. Most sources are partisan or unrated outlets (Free Beacon, NRCC, Townhall, California Globe) echoing the same underlying Arizona Republic review, so corroboration is limited to one independent record. No tier1 source in the set addresses the deletions directly.[1][2][3][9][10]