In September 2019, Blumenthal was part of an American delegation which visited Damascus to take part in a Assad-backed trade union convention and to stand "against the economic blockade, imperialist interventions and terrorism." The Syrian government does not allow independent labor unions and strikes are illegal. Bellingcat wrote that recent visitors and a tour operator in Damascus had told it that Syria was not generally issuing travel visa to US citizens at the time Blumenthal visited. Muhammad Idrees Ahmad, writing in Al Jazeera, said the delegation included Rania Khalek, Paul Larudee of the Syrian Solidarity Movement, Ajamu Baraka, former RT producer Anya Parampil and "other pro-Assad conspiracy theorists". The delegation visited government-held areas and, according to Idrees Ahmad, were accompanied by a minder from the Assad government.