GOP primaries: Nazis, white supremacists and anti-Semites are all advancing in US politics

Avowed Nazis, white supremacists and anti-semites have been voted through to the Republican primaries.

Arthur Jones is the former leader of the American Nazi Party, a holocaust denier and a sympathiser of the Ku Klux Klan.

He is now also a Republican candidate challenging the Democratic representative Dan Lipinski for Illinois’ Chicago-area 3rd Congressional District, reports Fox News.

Jones is one of many holocaust deniers, anti-Semites, white-supremacists, ku klux klan sympathisers and American Nazi Party members that have got onto the Republican Party ballot for November's mid-term elections.

His campaign website is littered with Holocaust denial, with one post reading:

This idea that 'six million Jews,' were killed by the National Socialist government of Germany, in World War II, is the biggest, blackest, lie in history.

Some members of the Republican Party have come out to express their horror at Jones' candidacy, including Ted Cruz, who took to Twitter to say:

This is horrific. An avowed Nazi running for Congress. To the good people of Illinois, you have two reasonable choices: write in another candidate, or vote for the Democrat. This bigoted fool should receive ZERO votes.

In a statement to Fox News, Tom Schneider, the chairman of the Illinois GOP, said:

The Illinois Republican Party and our country have no place for Nazis like Arthur Jones.

We strongly oppose his racist views and his candidacy for any public office, including the 3rd Congressional District.

Having missed the deadline to run a third-party candidate, Illinois GOP will draft in a 'write-in candidate' - who voters can write down the name of - and actively petition voters not to vote for Jones.

Jones isn't the only anti-Semite who has won candidacy through the mid-term elections - but one of several.

John Fitzgerald is running against incumbent Democratic representative Mark DeSaulnier in California’s 11 after finishing second, reports Fox News.

Fitzgerald has a long history of anti-Semitism, including claims that Israel and the Jews had a prominent role in the African slave trade, as well as posting on his election site last month that he would give a reward of "$2,000 to anybody who can prove that the official Holocaust narrative is true".

Speaking on a neo-Nazi radio show, The New York Times reports he again denied the Holocaust, saying:

Everything we’ve been told about the Holocaust is a lie. My entire campaign, for the most part, is about exposing this lie.

The Californian Republican Party supported Fitzgerald, until they learnt of his anti-Semitic views. Matt Fleming, the communications director for the Californian GOP, told Fox News:

He is not a Republican, he is not a Democrat, he is an opportunist.

We completely condemn what he says and what he stands for.

I want to make this very clear, we urge voters not to vote for him.

A third example is self described 'pro-white' candidate Paul Nehlen, who is running for is running for House Speaker in Wisconsin’s 1st Congressional District.

Nehlen has suggested that Muslims shouldn't be allowed to live in the United States, and has been criticised for posting white supremacist content on social media and for saying that all his critics are Jewish.

Nehlen was banned from Twitter after he shared a racist picture of Prince Harry with his then girlfriend Meghan Markle with the Cheddar Man, believed to be the first modern Britain, photoshopped over Markle's face.

Speaking about the candidacy, Wisconsin Republican Party spokesperson Alec Zimmerman told Fox 6:

Paul Nehlen is not a member of the Republican Party of Wisconsin.

Nehlen and his ideas have no place in the Republican Party.

Likewise, Seth Grossman, the Republican candidate for Congress in New Jersey's District, previously faced criticism for calling diversity "a bunch of crap and un-American",

It was also revealed that in 2014, Grossman had shared an article on Facebook from a white nationalist website saying that African Americans "are at threat to all who cross their paths, black and non-black alike".

The House GOP retracted its endorsement. Rep. Steve Stivers, chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee said in a statement:

Bigotry has no place in society—let alone the U.S. House of Representatives. The NRCC withdraws our support of Seth Grossman and calls on him to reconsider his candidacy. The people of New Jersey's 2nd District deserve an inclusive Republican candidate who will be a trusted conservative voice in Congress

Russell Walker, who is running in North Carolina, talks about the "superiority" of white people on his campaign website, and says "there is no such thing as equality". He also said "God Is a Racist and [a] White Supremacist".

The official state party have withdrawn their endorsement and has pulled financial support.

Dallas Woodhouse, the state’s Republican party executive director, told Snopesthat the likelihood of Walker winning is low:

We will be likely passing a formal resolution that asks Republicans not to vote, or vote for someone else, which is extraordinary for our party to do.

HT Fox News

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