(Editor’s Note: While his ideology and racist language may be crude, don’t underestimate the potential impact of far right Paul Ryan primary challenger Paul Nehlen. In the 2016 election he produced a powerful campaign video and his campaign website is slick. Clearly he has a lot of money behind him – his or others. – Mark L. Taylor)
By Christopher Mathias
The HuffPost (12/16/17)
HuffPost asked Paul Nehlen three times by email this week if he considers himself a white nationalist. Twice Nehlen dodged the question. The third time he didn’t respond.
The Wisconsin Republican is running to replace House Speaker Paul Ryan, who might not be seeking re-election. Nehlen campaigned in Alabama recently for Roy Moore, the Senate nominee accused of sexual misconduct, who suffered a historic defeat Tuesday. Nehlen claims to have raised “six figures” for the Moore campaign.
Nehlen was a speaker Monday at Moore’s campaign rally in Midland City, Alabama. He took the stage wearing the red “Make America great again” cap and warned the crowd that “we’re engaged in a spiritual battle.” Moore was the only one, he said, who could “drain that swamp” up in D.C.
Steve Bannon’s effort to publicly distance himself from the alt-right is a ruse. Bannon, the Breitbart News executive chairman and a former White House chief strategist, had championed Moore and is backing Nehlen.
Only two days earlier, on Dec. 9, Nehlen was a guest on an anti-Semitic white power podcast called “Fash the Nation,” talking to hosts “Jazzhands McFeels” and “Marcus Halberstram” for about an hour. (“Fash” is shorthand among the so-called alt-right, a loose association of white nationalists, for “fascist.”)
Fluent in coded language
It was Nehlen’s second appearance on the show, and his fluency with white nationalist jargon was evident as he made thinly veiled anti-Semitic remarks and proudly recounted having told a Jewish magazine editor to “eat a bullet.”
On Dec. 8, Nehlen used Gab, a micro-blogging platform used primarily by white nationalists, to repost a drawing another user had made for him. The drawing showed a puny Ryan, seen as the anti-Trump, next to a buff “Chad” Nehlen. (Chad is an alt-right term for a fit alpha-male womanizer.) In the accompanying text, Nehlen is described as having “redpilled on globalism, RR and JQ.”
“Redpilled,” a reference to the Matrix movie trilogy, is used to describe an awakening to white supremacist teachings. “RR” stands for “race realism,” and “JQ” stands for the “Jewish question,” the anti-Semitic conspiracy theory that Jews have undue influence over the media, banking and politics.
Earlier this month, Nehlen tweeted “It’s okay to be white,” a meme that originated on the message board 4chan, a haven for neo-Nazi trolls, and was spread enthusiastically by white nationalists. “In fact it’s pretty awesome,” he added in a follow-up tweet.
Supporting neo-Nazis
On at least two occasions this month, Nehlen has retweeted racist memes shared by Mark Collett, a British Nazi sympathizer.
On the night of Aug. 11, when neo-Nazis and other assorted racists marched with tiki torches through Charlottesville, Virginia, Nehlen retweeted an image of the march posted by white nationalist Jason Kessler: “Incredible moment for white people who’ve had it up to here & aren’t going to take it anymore. Tomorrow we #UnitetheRight #Charlottesville.” …
Read the Rest and Two Audio Clips
- Paul Nehlen Campaign Video On Assault Rifle Bump Fire And Suppressors: 44-Second Video