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Republican Politicians Have Embraced Anti-Semitic Media Over 100 Times

Republican Politicians Have Embraced Anti-Semitic Media Over 100 Times

The Republican Party has an antisemitism problem that’s reflected in its support of antisemitic media. Media Matters found more than 100 examples of Republican officials and campaign nominees embracing and promoting antisemitic media figures and outlets in 2021 and 2022.

Republicans have promoted and embraced people who have said that “we don't want people who are Jewish”; stated that Jewish people should “get the fuck out of America”; smeared Jewish people as “deceivers” who “plot,” “lie,” and “do whatever they have to do to accomplish their political agenda”; claimed that there was a “Jew Coup” against former President Donald Trump; and wished for “a total Aryan victory.”

Former President Donald Trump, who is running again for the White House, recently met with two virulent antisemites and admirers of Hitler: Ye (formerly Kanye West) and Nick Fuentes. House Republicans are also set to reinstate the committee assignments of Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA) and Paul Gosar (AZ), who have both frequently advanced antisemitism.

Antisemitic Media Figures And Outlets

The following antisemitic media figures and outlets are referenced multiple times in this guide:

Nick Fuentes. Fuentes is a streamer who uses his platform to forward white nationalist and antisemitic views. He is a Holocaust denier who has said that he wants “a total Aryan victory”; claimed that Jewish people have too much power; and stated that Jewish people should “get the fuck out of America.”

Andrew Torba and Gab. Torba is the CEO of social media platform Gab, which is a haven for white nationalists, neo-Nazis, and antisemites. Torba has said that he wants to exclude Jewish people from American political life, stating: “We don't want people who are Jewish. … This is an explicitly Christian movement because this is an explicitly Christian country.” He claims that Jewish people have too much power and “we're not bending the knee to the 2% anymore.”

Vincent James Foxx and Daily Veracity. Foxx is a streamer who heads the white nationalist site Daily Veracity. Foxx is a Holocaust denier who has also said that “the Holocaust is weaponized” against white people. He's claimed that Jewish people supposedly “not only control Hollywood, congress, and the media, but they control social media as well.” And he's alleged that the impeachment of former President Donald Trump was “The Jew Coup.”

Allen and Francine Fosdick. The Fosdicks host a streaming program and organize a yearly conference. They have promoted conspiracy theories alleging Jewish people, led by the Rothchilds, have been manipulating events such as wildfires through “space weather” and lasers; aim to subjugate the human race; and perpetuate evil “bloodlines” with other prominent Jewish people.

TruNews. TruNews is an antisemitic outlet led by Rick Wiles. TruNews has claimed that there was a “Jew coup” against former President Donald Trump and that “seditious Jews” were “orchestrating” his “impeachment lynching.” Wiles has said of Jewish people: “They are deceivers, they plot, they lie, they do whatever they have to do to accomplish their political agenda. … You have been taken over by a Jewish cabal.” He’s also claimed that “the American people are being oppressed by Jewish tyrants.”

Jarrin Jackson. Jackson is a streamer who unsuccessfully ran for the Oklahoma state Senate. He said that he “largely” agrees with the conspiracy theories that Jews are “taking over the world” and that they are attempting to get rid of white people through immigration and miscegenation. He’s also stated that he’s “not beholden to Jews” and listed “the Jews” as evidence that “evil exists.”

Republicans Embracing Antisemitic Media From 2021-2022

Across multiple months

  • Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar regularly posts on Gab.
  • Arizona state Rep. and secretary of state nominee (unsuccessful) Mark Finchem regularly posts on Gab.
  • Arizona state Sen. Wendy Rogers regularly posts on Gab.
  • Arizona Republican Party Chair Kelli Ward has repeatedly posted on Gab.
  • California House nominee (unsuccessful) Mike Cargile regularly posts on Gab.
  • Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert regularly posts on Gab.
  • Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz regularly posts on Gab.
  • Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene regularly posts on Gab.
  • Greene made seven payments totaling $37,761.01 to Gab.
  • The Kootenai County Republican Central Committee in Idaho endorsed commentator David Reilly for a school board seat in 2021. Reilly has claimed “that ‘Judaism is the religion of anti-Christ,’ and that ‘all Jews are dangerous.’” In 2022, the Kootenai GOP paid $11,000 for “operations” to Reilly and also tried to install him in Idaho Democratic Party leadership. He served as a voting delegate at the Idaho GOP convention.
  • Maryland’s gubernatorial nominee (unsuccessful) Dan Cox frequently posted on Gab before removing his account following scrutiny.
  • New Hampshire state Rep. Roy Rock regularly posts on Gab.
  • New York Rep. Elise Stefanik stood by and defended right-wing commentator and congressional candidate (unsuccessful) Carl Paladino after he said that Hitler is “the kind of leader we need today. We need somebody inspirational.”
  • North Carolina House nominee (unsuccessful) Sandy Smith regularly posted on Gab.
  • Ohio House nominee (unsuccessful) J.R. Majewski regularly posts on Gab.
  • Pennsylvania gubernatorial nominee (unsuccessful) Doug Mastriano regularly posted on Gab but later removed his account following criticism.
  • Washington House nominee (unsuccessful) Joe Kent regularly posted on Gab.
  • The Ashtabula County Republican Party in Ohio regularly posted on Gab before the election.
  • The Douglas County Republican Party in Georgia repeatedly posted on Gab before the election.
  • The Wyoming Republican Party regularly posts on Gab.

2021

January

  • Robert Regan, who would later become a Michigan state House nominee (unsuccessful), wrote a Facebook post that promoted a piece on the fringe right-wing website American Digital News accusing Jewish people, led by the Rothschild family, of causing global problems for their financial benefit.

February

  • Paul Gosar was the keynote speaker at Fuentes’ America First Political Action Conference. (Gosar and Fuentes met at a restaurant after the event.)

March

  • Republican National Committee member Solomon Yue, CNN’s Andrew Kaczynski and Drew Myers reported, appeared on the YouTube program of Greyson Arnold, who has “a history of racist, anti-Semitic and pro-Nazi statements.” During the program, Yue “spoke supportively” of Nick Fuentes. “Yue told CNN in an email he was unaware of the views of either man, Arnold or Fuentes, at the time of the interview and rejected them.”
  • Robert Regan used Facebook to agree with an antisemitic meme by QAnon influencer Jordan Sather which stated: “What is the real virus plaguing the world? (((Them))).”

April

  • Paul Gosar, as CNN’s Andrew Kaczynski and Em Steck reported, took a trip to the border with Greyson Arnold.

May

  • Paul Gosar praised Fuentes and told people to follow him on Twitter.
  • Gosar wrote to the FBI asking for information about its No Fly List. He tweeted of his letter: “Today young America First supporters like @NickJFuentes and tomorrow anyone else the regime dislikes. Secret tribunals and no ability to challenge in court is immoral.”
  • Robert Regan shared a meme sourced from the defunct pro-Nazi website smoloko.com that claimed that feminism “is a Jewish program to degrade and subjugate white men.”

June

  • Wendy Rogers appeared on TruNews.
  • Paul Gosar promoted Foxx’s Daily Veracity on Twitter.

July

August


September

October

  • Paul Gosar promoted Daily Veracity four times through his House email list.
  • Gosar promoted a column by Michelle Malkin on The Unz Review. As The Informant’s Nick Martin wrote, Gosar was promoting a site “that routinely publishes the work of neo-Nazis, white nationalists, and Holocaust deniers” and was founded “by former California businessman Ron Unz, who has written ‘it far more likely than not that the standard Holocaust narrative is at least substantially false, and quite possibly, almost entirely so.’”

November

  • Wendy Rogers wrote on Twitter: “Take Nick Fuentes off of the no fly list.”
  • Rogers wrote on Twitter: “Put President Trump, Alex Jones, Laura Loomer, Nick Fuentes, and others back on Twitter. Take Nick Fuentes off of the No Fly List.”
  • Paul Gosar twice promoted Foxx on Twitter.
  • Gosar, as Martin wrote, “retweeted Kyle Clifton, a young antisemite who has called Jews ‘evil’ and described the religion as an ‘elite cabal’ that controls the government and media.”
  • Gosar posted a video praising Gab and Andrew Torba.

December

  • Wendy Rogers wrote on Twitter after Nick Fuentes called her “based”: “Thank you, Nick Fuentes. We love you.”
  • Rogers wrote on Twitter: “Because Nick Fuentes said I am BASED, I am now truly BASED. It is official.”
  • Rogers wrote on Twitter: “To everyone who thinks they are BASED. I am officially based because Nick Fuentes said I am based. It is like knighthood. You have to get it from the originator.”
  • Rogers wrote on Gab: “I like Stew Peters, Lin Wood, Jarrin Jackson, and Nick Fuentes. I don’t know Baked Alaska but he is growing on me. Anyone who is being harassed by Pelosi’s Fedsurrection gulag team deserves to be heard.”
  • Rogers wrote on Gab: “Nick Fuentes and Lin Wood are being attacked by a lot of the same people. The Deep State is after them. That is why I defend them. I can't stand it when communists single out people and take away their rights and attempt to ruin their reputation.”
  • Paul Gosar responded to a tweet in which writer Jack Hadfield asked, “Why has Twitter taken down so many people on the populist nationalist right today?” Gosar wrote: “Go to Gab.” Hadfield has moderated a Facebook group that that includes “jokes about the Holocaust” and “antisemitic conspiracy theories.”

2022

January

  • Arizona gubernatorial nominee (unsuccessful) Kari Lake wrote on Twitter: “Join me on Gab. So much less vitriol than Twitter and easy to use.”
  • Matt Gaetz wrote: “I’m LOVING Gab!”
  • Paul Gosar, as the Twitter account AZ Right Wing Watch wrote, shared a tweet from the account “Based Andy Biggs Fan.” The account features antisemitic content.
  • Gosar wrote on Gab: “The phony January 6th Committee's partisan witch-hunt continues as they have now set their sights on young conservative Christians like Nick Fuentes. This is pure political persecution and it has to stop. @realnickjfuentes.” Fuentes responded by thanking him.
  • Gosar quoted the Gab user “Retardedist Retarded Retard” and wrote: “Thank you all for inviting me onto Gab back in August. I love the platform and I love the communities that use it. Gab is the future of social media - it's an honor to have your support.” The user that Gosar quoted is an antisemitic fan of Nick Fuentes.
  • Wendy Rogers wrote on Gab: “Listen to Stew Peters, Bannon’s War Room, Lin Wood, Jarrin Jackson, Nick Fuentes, Alex Jones, Tucker, Flyover Conservatives and many others who are exposing the truth. We may not agree with everyone, but there is wisdom in many counselors and it is better than listening to the #MockingbirdMedia.”
  • Rogers wrote on Gab: “Free Nick Fuentes. Free everyone. Free speech is not dangerous. Silencing speech is dangerous. If they can ban Fuentes they can ban the gospel.”
  • Rogers wrote on Gab: “Good evening to everyone except the people who hate our freedom of speech and want to ban Nick Fuentes.”
  • Rogers wrote on Gab: “First they came for Alex Jones and no one said anything. Then they came for Nick Fuentes and no one did anything. Then they came for President Trump. Next they will come for all of us.”
  • Rogers wrote on Telegram: “Happy show Anniversary to the most persecuted man in America - Nick Fuentes.”
  • Rogers wrote on Telegram: “I like Lin Wood, Andrew Torba, Laura Loomer, Nick Fuentes, and General Flynn. I think I made everyone mad all at the same time. Here we go! #JesusIsKing.”
  • Rogers wrote on Telegram: “Any politician who whines about censorship but doesn’t defend President Trump, Alex Jones and Nick Fuentes is a hypocrite.”
  • Rogers wrote on Telegram: “The Feds need to restore Nick Fuentes’ ability to travel or they are no better than the USSR. Take him and other patriots off of the no fly list NOW.”

February

  • Marjorie Taylor Greene spoke at Nick Fuentes’ America First Political Action Conference.
  • Idaho Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin, who also unsuccessfully ran for governor, spoke at Fuentes’ America First Political Action Conference through a prerecorded message.
  • Paul Gosar spoke at Fuentes’ America First Political Action Conference through a prerecorded message.
  • Wendy Rogers spoke at Fuentes’ America First Political Action Conference through a prerecorded message.
  • McGeachin was pictured with Vincent James Foxx at an event. She was subsequently asked about it but didn’t condemn him or his antisemitic views.
  • Rogers called on Foxx to “run for office.”
  • Gosar wrote: “I love Gab!”

March

  • Doug Mastriano appeared on Allen and Francine Fosdick’s program.
  • Paul Gosar wrote on Gab: “It's amazing what Andrew Torba and his team have done with Gab. I joined this truly free speech platform last November and since then I've watched as the performance, quality, and features have increased astronomically. There's even a Gab marketplace now where users can buy/sell goods and services. Andrew is a pioneer, leading millions away from the information stranglehold of Big Tech. I'm excited to see the Parallel Economy develop further. Gab on!”
  • Janice McGeachin defended speaking at Nick Fuentes’ America First Political Action Conference on the show of Jack Hadfield, who has moderated a Facebook group that that includes “jokes about the Holocaust” and “antisemitic conspiracy theories.”

April

May

  • Doug Mastriano appeared in a video interview with Andrew Torba, during which they both praised each other.
  • Media Matters documented that Georgia Senate nominee (unsuccessful) Herschel Walker ran advertising on Gab.
  • Media Matters documented that Paul Gosar has run advertising on Gab.

June

  • Joe Kent gave an interview to Greyson Arnold, as CNN’s Andrew Kaczynski and Em Steck reported.
  • Mark Finchem endorsed Jarrin Jackson.
  • Wendy Rogers endorsed Jarrin Jackson.
  • Paul Gosar wrote in a fundraising plea on Gab: “Andrew Torba & I have a great relationship and I'm thoroughly satisfied with my decision to join. Since that time, I have been attacked and smeared simply for having an account and posting on this platform to over 120,000 followers and for consistently promoting Gab on my other social media.”

July

  • The Washington Republican Party paid Greyson Arnold $821.87 for “payroll,” the Daily Beast reported.
  • Wendy Rogers thanked Andrew Torba for endorsing her state senate campaign.
  • Mark Finchem thanked Andrew Torba for endorsing his secretary of state campaign.
  • Doug Mastriano accepted a campaign donation from Gab CEO Andrew Torba.

August

  • J.R. Majewski reaffirmed his support for Gab following criticism in a post on the website.
  • Kari Lake endorsed antisemitic commentator Jarrin Jackson’s Oklahoma state senate bid, stating that “the Soros media attack him relentlessly because he's over the target.” Following criticism, she rescinded her endorsement through her campaign.
  • Paul Gosar wrote on Gab: “They've been going after Andrew Torba for months now - some would say years - because the platform that he is building threatens the Liberal World Order and their control over what we're allowed to say and see online.”

September

  • The Wyoming GOP praised Gab, writing: “The Wyoming Republican Party uses more than just Instagram and Facebook to communicate digitally. Gab is an awesome platform where Republican censorship is not evident. Head over to Gab and follow us @WYGOP.”
  • Paul Gosar promoted a film featuring Nick Fuentes, writing: “The persecution against Christians and Conservatives by the Biden Regime brings great dishonor to our country. If Americans do not have the freedom to dissent, then they have no freedom at all.” He later deleted the tweet.

October

  • Missouri Sen.-elect Eric Schmitt tweeted that “America needs a @kanyewest @KidRock tour” shortly after Ye wrote his “death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE” tweet. Schmitt later deleted it and claimed he “wasn't aware of the recent comments.”
  • Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita tweeted after Ye’s “death con 3” tweet: “The constant hypocrisy from the media is at an all-time high. They have now gone after Kanye for his new fashion line, his independent thinking, & for having opposing thoughts from the norm of Hollywood.”

November

  • Doug Mastriano’s campaign, the Daily Beast reported, helped with “a Facebook group which has for months featured a stream of xenophobic, transphobic, and antisemitic memes.”
  • Trump had dinner with Ye and Nick Fuentes at his Mar-a-Lago estate.
  • Paul Gosar wrote on Gab: “Gab is like Facebook but with free speech, anonymity, and a parallel economy of businesses who share our American values. The company is owned and run by Christian Americans, and the terms of service is the First Amendment. I'm glad to be here.”

Reprinted with permission from Media Matters.

How Can Jews Still Support A Republican Party Infested With  Anti-Semites?

How Can Jews Still Support A Republican Party Infested With  Anti-Semites?

The anti-Semitic outbursts of Kanye West have exposed again the increasing tolerance of foul bigotry within the Republican Party and among its "conservative" mouthpieces. With West now touted as a new Black GOP voice (despite or perhaps because of his admitted mental illness), his sickening threats against Jews were quickly excused by the likes of Tucker Carlson, the top Fox News host whose own embrace of explicit anti-Semitism appears imminent.

Over the past few years, nearly every day has seen an anti-Semitic outrage perpetrated by some figure or organization associated with the Republicans; as the intensity and frequency of these offenses grows, the response by the party and its officials, never robust, has only become weaker and more cowardly.

The question is what Republicans — not the burgeoning caucus of neo-Nazis who call themselves Republicans, but actual conservatives — will do about this cancer on their party. It is a question especially pertinent to the handful of American Jews who have provided substantial financing for the Republicans, and for the man who has stimulated so much hate, former President Donald J. Trump.

When Trump initially excused the murderous Nazi rioters in Charlottesville, Virginia, he upset at least some of the Jewish Republicans who had supported him, such as the financier Stephen Schwarzman and the investment banker Gary Cohn. They felt the disdain of the overwhelming majority of Jews who want no part of Trump or Trumpism.

And yet many of those same Jewish Republicans continue to support the party as its extremism endangers their community and every other minority in the United States. It is curious indeed that someone like the hedge fund billionaire Paul Singer, whose son is gay and therefore a target of fascist violence, would continue to subsidize this social poison.

Despite the fact that his own daughter and grandchildren are Jewish, Trump revived the "America First" slogan first popularized here by Hitler's agents and supercharged the return of fascist movements, with their animus against Jews, Blacks, gays and anyone else deemed "different." Having recently donned a "Q" pin to advertise his affinity for the conspiratorial, anti-Semitic and violent QAnon movement, the former president clearly understands that these hideous elements are crucial to his base. But the blame for this menace can no longer be attributed to him alone. Too many other Republicans are directly implicated or complicit.

In Arizona, much of the Republican apparatus is tainted by anti-Semitic rhetoric and ideologies, in particular state Sen. Wendy Rogers, who sucks up to the neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes and his America First Political Action Committee, and Rep. Paul Gosar, the member of Congress notorious for posting homicidal images of himself murdering Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and President Joe Biden. Mark Finchem, the party's nominee for secretary of state this year, is touting his endorsement by the openly anti-Semitic social media site Gab and its founder Andrew Torba, whose speeches explicitly echo the German Nazi Party.

In Pennsylvania, the Republicans nominated for governor a Christian nationalist state senator named Doug Mastriano, who hired Torba to send Gab's anti-Semitic subscribers to his campaign. He followed up with a bit of unsubtle Jew-baiting of his Democrat opponent Josh Shapiro.

In New York, the Republicans chose Carl Paladino, a raving racist, for an upstate congressional seat; his endorsement of Adolf Hitler as "the kind of leader we need" didn't bother Rep. Elise Stefanik, third-ranking Republican in the House, enough to evoke comment, let alone a disendorsement. And let's not forget Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the lunatic anti-Semite and apostle of QAnon violence who was nevertheless backed by nearly every House Republican last year when Democrats moved to strip her committee assignments.

The roster of white nationalists, fascists and neo-Nazis who identify as Republicans goes on much longer and includes such prominent party figures as Trump adviser Steve Bannon. There is now an entire wing of the party, bidding for dominant status, that bills itself as "nationalist" and promotes the authoritarian anti-Semitic leader of Hungary, Viktor Orban, as a Republican role model. That wing even has its own financier, the gay tech billionaire Peter Thiel, whose attraction to white nationalism may someday make him the Republican version of Ernst Röhm.

Whatever has motivated decent Republicans, including those of Jewish descent, to continue supporting what is rapidly becoming the party of fascism and anti-Semitism, they must stop and reconsider. If they imagine that they are using the far Right to achieve a political agenda of lower taxes or less regulation, they ought to recall how that worked out a century ago, when German conservatives, aristocrats, and nationalists thought they were manipulating Hitler and his movement to thwart socialism.

Those willing instruments of Nazism are stained forever — and that legacy of disgrace will be shared by the Republicans who are now enabling fascism in America.

Why Don't Republicans Act Against Their Party's Neo-Nazi Infestation?

Why Don't Republicans Act Against Their Party's Neo-Nazi Infestation?

As the Republican Party gives off an increasingly strong stench of fascism — with the anti-Semitic, racist and xenophobic attitudes inherent in that ideology — the party establishment looks more and more like the "Junker" conservatives of Germany in the 1930s. While those monarchists and militarists felt distaste for Hitler and his Nazi thugs, many of them nevertheless abetted his rise to power.

A disturbingly similar scenario is now visible in what was once the party of Lincoln, where the spineless Rep. Kevin McCarthy, conniving Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and sundry other "leaders" say little or nothing as fascists openly conspire to take over. Rather than confront the repeated provocations by their Nazi-adjacent colleagues over the past year, those timid figures are instead allowing the authoritarian cancer to grow out of control. Both McCarthy and McConnell know what's happening in the GOP, but their weak character will likely prevent them from acting with any resolve until it is far too late, if ever.

Instead, the scandalous connections continue to metastasize between far-right Republican officials and a motley assortment of neo-Nazis, white nationalists, and fascist thugs.

In Pennsylvania, state Sen. Doug Mastriano, an election-denying insurrectionist and Christian nationalist, won the party's gubernatorial primary last spring. Mastriano, a state senator, then proceeded to bring a vocal and aggressive anti-Semite named Andrew Torba into his campaign, along with Torba's followers. Torba operates Gab, the tiny social media site that serves as a headquarters for unsavory rightists — notably including the maniac who murdered 11 people at Pittsburgh's Tree of Life synagogue just after posting a diatribe on the website.

To save face, Torba denounced that massacre and insisted he opposes violence. But he isn't shy about expressing his desire for a nation free of Jews, which he frames in furious terms. He promotes violently anti-Semitic material, and recently opined that Jews can no longer be accepted as conservatives.

In this appalling saga's latest development, Mastriano declared that he opposes anti-Semitism and that Torba "doesn't speak for me or my campaign." But a few weeks ago, Mastriano, who rarely speaks to mainstream outlets, sat down for an interview with Torba and gushed: "Thank God for what you've done."

Reacting to the erupting controversy, Torba denied being a Mastriano consultant and — in a revealing remark — explained that the Republican was merely buying advertising on Gab. "The campaign paid Gab as a business for advertising during the primary," he wrote. "The campaign posts on Gab, as do 50-plus other campaigns from around the country."

So more than 50 Republican candidates are buying ads to entice the troglodytic Nazi subscribers on Gab — and providing many thousands of dollars in revenue to its obnoxious proprietor.

The official Republican response to this filthy tableau has been feeble indeed. The Republican Jewish Coalition, such as it is, tweeted its pathetic "hope" that Mastriano would reject Gab. Of all Mastriano's GOP colleagues in the state legislature, exactly one has spoken up to condemn Torba and demand his "total rejection" by Mastriano, which isn't happening. The Republican Governors Association, the Republican National Committee, the GOP congressional leaders, and the entire party apparatus evidently see no cause for alarm.

Sadly, it would be foolish to expect anything better from the Republican Party, because its Dear Leader Donald Trump has created a permission structure for fascism and even anti-Semitism, despite the fact that his oldest daughter and a couple of his grandchildren are Jews. Trump's own anti-Semitic emissions long ago became notorious, along with his coddling of neo-Nazis.

Why? Principally because those scum constantly praise his bigotry and bullying, so he sees nothing wrong with them. It's always and only about him — and the Nazi sympathizers are his most faithful fans, dating back to Richard Spencer's "Heil Trump" salute during the 2016 Republican convention.

But the white nationalist disease within the GOP now extends far beyond Trump and will surely outlast him. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) talks about Jewish space lasers and repeats anti-Semitic slurs about George Soros, as do so many of her colleagues. She and Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) both spoke before the neo-Nazi America First Political Action Committee, an outfit run by Holocaust denier Nicholas Fuentes. So did Arizona state Sen. Wendy Rogers, another raving Republican anti-Semite who called Fuentes "the most persecuted man in America."

The list of anti-Jewish and racist offenders in the GOP could take up many more pages, ad nauseam. There are less blatant but equally dangerous figures closer to the party's power centers, such as billionaire Peter Thiel, the would-be kingmaker who has courted a white nationalist leader and revealed his disdain for democracy — and is now financing U.S. Senate candidates in Arizona and Ohio.

The question remains whether decent Republicans, of whom there must still be many, intend to save their once-great party from slime and shame. So far, they've only demonstrated blindness and cowardice. And they seem fated to end like the Junkers, who waited until 1944 to act against Hitler — and ended up on the gallows.

They can't say nobody warned them.

Joe Conason is editor-in-chief of The National Memo and editor-at-large of Type Investigations. To find out more about him and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

Republican Candidates Are Advertising On White Nationalist Platform Gab

Republican Candidates Are Advertising On White Nationalist Platform Gab

As if the radicalization of the Republican Party weren’t already clearly enough established, a number of GOP candidates—notably, ex-football star Herschel Walker, the nominee in the race against incumbent Democrat Raphael Warnock for Georgia’s U.S. Senate seat—have begun advertising on the white-nationalist-friendly platform Gab.

The list also includes some less surprising names, such as Republicans’ go-to white nationalist in the House, Paul Gosar of Arizona, and the QAnon-loving keynote speaker for the white-nationalist “America First” conference earlier this year, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia.

As Alex Kaplan reports at Media Matters, Gab last August introduced a new feature enabling people to advertise on the site. Founder Andrew Torba called it “a huge step forward for our vision of a parallel economy” comprising clients who have been removed from other platforms for terms-of-use violations.

Walker has been among the more prolific advertisers. One ad, saying “we need your support today,” depicts Warnock as “celebrity funded” and “celebrity approved,” while another shows a lineup of liberal celebrities who have donated to Warnock’s campaign and asking, “Georgia Values? Or Hollywood Values?,” adding: “I need your help to WIN.”

Other “Team Walker” ads on Gab claim “the race is in a dead heat,” claim that “the Liberal Media is out to get me,” and “the road to defeating the Biden Agenda runs right through Georgia.”

As The Informant’s Nick Martin notes, it’s not clear whether Walker himself has an account at Gab. One unverified page with 7,000 followers uses his name and photo, but it has only posted there once—three days after the Jan. 6 insurrection, when its owner wrote: "Hey everyone. Coming on over to Gab after the sad news about Parler."

Among the other Republican candidates advertising on Gab has been Jerrod Sussler of Washington state’s 4th Congressional District, who is seeking to unseat incumbent Republican Congressman Dan Newhouse, who was targeted for primary defeat by Donald Trump after he voted for Trump’s impeachment in January 2021.

Gosar, who also delivered a taped speech at the white-nationalist America First convention in February, asked “every America First Patriot” to chip in to defend his reelection bid. He has previously praised Gab as comprising “people who respect real diversity, diversity of opinion, thoughts, and views.”

Greene’s ads on Gab have featured her aiming a .50-caliber sniper rifle (“Enter to win MTG’s gun!”) and posing with former Trump adviser Sebastian Gorka with an “Impeach Biden” sign. “Joe Biden must be impeached,” the text reads. “Not tomorrow. Not next week. Not next year. NOW … before it is too late!”

Gab established itself in 2016 as a friendly environment for right-wing extremists. “When a group of people are being systematically dehumanized and labeled as the alphabet soup of phobias,” Torba wrote, “they will look for a place that will allow them to speak freely without censorship and devoid of Social Justice bullying.”

The reality is that the site has been a free-for-all of bigotry, conspiracism, and violent rhetoric. Posts with headlines like “Satanic PizzaGate Is Going Viral Worldwide (Elites Are Terrified)” are standard fare. Antisemitism flourishes in the comments, where a mere downvote can get users accused of being a “#Jew.”

Pittsburgh mass shooter Robert Bowers was a regular Gab user, and posted his final threat (“Screw your optics. I’m going in”) to the site before embarking on his 2018 rampage inside a synagogue that left 11 people dead. Gab was largely deplatformed in the aftermath of that incident, but eventually found a hosting service with the Northwest-based Epik, which also hosts Alex Jones’ Infowars operation.

Torba’s own anti-Semitism is well established. Speaking at the February America First gathering, he told the audience he “rebukes the Synagogue of Satan.” He also called for “a parallel Christian society,” because “we are fed up with the Judeo-Bolshevik one.”

When criticized, Torba responded: “Sadly many Christians today are so afraid of being called a silly meaningless name by the world (bigot, antisemite, homophobe) that they refuse to even remotely share or discuss the Gospel in their daily lives, let alone live it,” adding: “You reveal your anti-Christian hatred when you refer to Biblical Truth as ‘antisemitism.’”

After its post-Pittsburgh downturn, Gab has worked to reestablish itself among far-right activists; in 2019, it was able to return to financial stability thanks to an online crowdfunding strategy. After the Jan. 6 insurrection—particularly the demise of Parler, which had become an effective competitor for the same audience—it once again became a popular place for extremists to gather and share their violent seditionist worldviews.

Media Matters noted that Gab also introduced targeted advertising recently. That means that there may be other Republican candidates buying ads on the platform whose activity is not immediately visible.

Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos.