It’s not clear who created the site, but the Republican National Committee pinned the blame on Democrats
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A website purporting to host details about theRepublican National Committee’s 2026 midterm conventioninstead redirected visitors’ attention to a subject President Donald Trump has long sought to put behind him, according to a new report.
Google’s preview for the imposter site — gopdallas2026.com — stated that it included “details about the 2026 RNC Midterm Convention at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, Sept. 9-10 including registration, VIP experiences,”The New York Timesreported.
But when users clicked the link, they were instead sent to the Department of Justice’s cache of documents related toJeffrey Epstein, the deceased sex offender.
The fake site appeared far more prominently in Google search results than the RNC’s official convention page, gopconvention.com, drawing immediate attention to the discrepancy.
It remains unclear who created the lookalike website, but the RNC has blamed Democrats.
“Democrats are too broke to have their own midterm convention, so they settled for a sad, fake little website,” RNC spokesperson Zach Parkinsonwrote on social media, responding to aDaily Mailreport that linked the site to a creative agency run by a former Democratic operative.
As of Saturday afternoon, the site still redirects users to the Justice Department’s website.
The upcoming, first-of-its-kind convention is intended to boost Republicans ahead of the midterm elections in November, which historically see the president’s party lose seats in Congress.
However,some GOP lawmakers reportedly have no interest in attending, whileRepublican operatives have complained about the pricey tickets.
The Independenthas contacted the RNC for comment.
