Arizona’s top shitposter, The Real Thelma Johnson, is back. Here’s why

No, she didn't "die."

Last fall, rumors spread on X that The Real Thelma Johnson, Arizona's top parody political account and a self-described "MeeMaw," was dead. Not metaphorically — literally dead. There seemed to be little basis for such a conclusion, particularly because "Thelma Johnson" is not a real person. Earlier this year, Thelma returned to scream "F*CK ELON" in one post, only to disappear again.

Now, however, Thelma is back and pumping out anti-Trump and anti-MAGA memes to her roughly 100,000 followers at a rate no real octogenarian could maintain. Since returning in earnest on July 13, Thelma has posted oodles of funny tweets, needling Donald Trump over his connection to Jeffrey Epstein — which Trump seems desperate to erase from our collective memory — and going after Elon Musk and plenty others in the right-wing Twittersphere.

Don't ever cheat at a Coldplay concert! pic.twitter.com/hGhLXadIes

— TheRealThelmaJohnson (@TheRealThelmaJ1) July 18, 2025

What brought her back? And where did that death rumor come from? Phoenix New Times corresponded with Thelma to find out.

What led you to stop posting for more than half a year? Your last post was about X training AI on users' posts, and people speculated it had something to do with that.

There were many reasons, including that. Mainly, it became difficult to support a platform that had been turned into a blatant arm of the Trump campaign.

Before Elon went Dark MAGA, I had also made the mistake of joining his revenue sharing program. Within a month, my views were throttled from millions a day down to 100,000 max a day. It was very dramatic and I don't think my content was bad. Why talk when no one is listening? I quit the blue check program and withdrew from the monetization and am testing the waters now, it seems better, I've gotten millions on a single post.

With Elon off the Trump train and the Epstein news breaking, I thought it might be time to come back from the dead. I didn't start that rumor, by the way, I have no idea who did. If there is a graceful way to leave social media, I don't know what it is, so I just stopped posting.

What was your reaction when the "death" rumor started circulating? Were you off social media enough that it didn't get to you at the time, or did it penetrate? And did you consider chiming in to put it to bed?

Someone IRL actually called me to tell me about it. By that time, it had taken root and I figured if I wasn't ready to go back to posting, no one would believe me anyway. Your sleuthing and articles helped keep me alive, as it were.

It has been hot as hell in Phoenix but luckily today Charlie Kirk's giant head moved in front of the sun for a while and gave us a much needed break... pic.twitter.com/pYkWkgSNy3

— TheRealThelmaJohnson (@TheRealThelmaJ1) July 20, 2025

I know you are understandably protective of your identity, but can you give readers a broad sense of the person behind the curtain? Or are you really a MeeMaw with great photo-editing skills?

I can't hear you Zach, I think you're breaking up...

Fair enough! During your absence — or since coming back, for that matter — did you ever consider moving to BlueSky, Threads or some other X competitor?

This place has a rhythm I understand and it's all I know how to do. As they say, "Be careful what you get good at..."

I've noticed you seem to be using generative AI a bit more since you came back. What are your thoughts on the relative benefits and pitfalls of generative AI? It's something we grapple with a lot in journalism.

I hate A.I. It's completely dystopian, controlled by the worst people on the planet and already causing major societal issues. I use it because I'm too lazy to open my laptop and I don't think AI is going anywhere.

The Phoenix Art Museum has a pretty good exhibit going on right now pic.twitter.com/Bks9SJaerS

— TheRealThelmaJohnson (@TheRealThelmaJ1) July 21, 2025

What's the key to — and I use this term in the most flattering way — good shitposting? How quickly do you go from getting an idea to posting it? Do you roll it over and refine the joke or do they tend to come out of your head fully formed?

I post way too much — ideas always come five or six at a time and I am not one to hold back. Twitter is weird. I'll spend two hours on a GIF I think is brilliant and 10 people will like it. I'll throw out a line that hit my brain two minutes before and it goes viral. I do try to edit my thoughts down.

How long do you think you'll be back for this time? Is posting how you keep a grip on your sanity as the country goes more insane, or does all of [gestures to everything] this sometimes get overwhelming?

I don't know how long I will last. Most days, Twitter shows you in rapid-fire fashion how busy MAGA is at instituting control over every aspect of our society and country and rigging every angle they can think of. I don't think I'm alone in feeling exhausted just watching it. If I can do my part to help morale a little and give people a Caturday every now and then, it makes me happy, though.

If you do take another break, will you let everyone know in advance?

I will, Zach, and I appreciate you and New Times more than you will ever know. Keep up the good work young man!