The Miami lawyer who took flak last week for nodding behind President Donald Trump during his NBC News town hall remained defiant in the face of online trolls harassing her and her employees.
Mayra Joli, who immigrated to the United States from the Dominican Republic with her family in the 1990s, is an immigration lawyer who once supported former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2016, but then changed her mind to support President Donald Trump, according to Fox News.
“The more they trashed him, the more I wanted to find out more about him, and I’ve been supporting him since. The rest is history,” Joli said. “Donald Trump taught me that I cannot just be silent, and I have to think for myself.”
Social media dubbed Joli the “nodding lady” after clips of her nodding in agreement with Trump during the town hall went viral. CNN devoted a segment to her, implying she ought not to have been sitting among undecided voters, even though moderator Savannah Guthrie pointed out that the audience was of mixed opinions.
CNN just did a whole segment about the nodding woman from the Trump townhall. They acted like it was a big scandal that she was a Trump supporter despite the fact that Savannah Guthrie said last night that the audience is a mix of Trump, Biden, and undecided voters. pic.twitter.com/R1cAiUQnWH
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) October 16, 2020
After her identity was revealed, Joli said both she and her employees at the Joli Law Firm were harassed. “Nobody can call an employer to fire me,” she told Fox News. “What they’re doing is calling my employees so they quit.”
“They start sending other [messages] saying, ‘I can’t believe you’re working for that person. I thought you were better,’” Joli added. “I am a fighter, but [my employees] have a private life. They aren’t used to this commotion.”
Though she did not share the messages sent to her employees, Joli shared screenshots on Facebook of some of the vitriolic private messages she received herself because of her cameo behind the president.
One of the messages read: “So. Trump’s Town Hall was suppose [sic] to have undecided voters and yet you were there. A black woman pretending that you were undecided, but so impressed by Trump. You are unethical and you are a disgrace. There is NOTHING good about Trump nor [sic] you. Disgusting.”
“So you were the idiot nodding you head behind Trump,” another message said. “You are a moron. Embarrassing. How did you pass the bar exam (assuming you did)[.]”
“Do your Johns pay you twice, like Don paid Stormy?” queried yet another detractor. “Cruelty as policy. You’re a hideous, head-nodding Trump Slut [sic]. 215,00 dead Americans. ’15 cases (magically) down to zero.’ Trump lies, fools believe. Head nodding Trump Sluts [sic] are worse. Ergo, f**k you, lie abider.”
People also reportedly attacked her law firm by posting one-star reviews of it online, but Joli takes such behavior in stride. “Somebody’s going to see that review, then see the career I’ve led helping people, so I don’t need that client,” she said. She also maintained that she would continue to support Trump.
Joli, who said she left her home country because of its rampant corruption, said she has seen an uptick of illegal immigrants seeking her help in becoming naturalized citizens.
“They were coming to me, telling me, ‘I want to fix my situation because of Donald Trump.’ I told them, ‘No, you want to fix your situation because of you.’ The fact that Donald Trump is the president means nothing because with or without Donald Trump … nothing will change. It just prolongs your agony. You have to find a way to fix it, and that’s why attorneys are there.”