Bannon cuts ties with Ryan challenger after inflammatory tweets
By Brett Samuels (thehill.com) / Dec 27 2018
Former White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon and his conservative outlet, Breitbart News, have cut ties with a far-right activist challenging Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) in 2018 after the candidate posted several controversial tweets.
“Nehlen is dead to us,” Arthur Schwartz, a Bannon adviser, told CNN on Wednesday regarding Wisconsin congressional candidate Paul Nehlen (R).
“We don’t support him,” Breitbart editor Joel Pollak tweeted late Tuesday. “He’s disqualified himself.”
No. We don’t support him. Haven’t covered him in months. I had no real idea of his recent antisemitic statements when we spoke, Jamie, but I’ve since looked into it (and responded). He’s disqualified himself. https://t.co/22JyunCbr1
— Joel Pollak (@joelpollak) December 27, 2017
Bannon has in the past supported anti-establishment Republican candidates, including Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore, who lost the state’s special election to Democrat Doug Jones.
Nehlen on Saturday tweeted an illustration showing three Christian crosses with signs reading “No it’s not,” “It’s okay to be white” and “No it’s not.” The cross in the middle of the image was meant to represent Jesus Christ.
The meme originated on the messaging board 4chan, a forum that attracts neo-Nazis.
Nehlen then shared Tuesday that he is reading “The Culture of Critique,” a book about Jewish involvement in political movements that is considered by many to be anti-Semitic.
Nehlen has made controversial statements in the past, including when he told a New York Post columnist earlier this month to “eat a bullet,” after the writer told him his brain needed nourishment.
Nehlen challenged Ryan last year and lost by 68 points.
Speculation has swirled that Ryan will retire in 2018, though he has denied such reports.
PB/TK – Here I thought Bannon nor Breitbart could get offended about anything. Here’s a question for everyone; if I see a meme, let’s say a meme about NFL’ers kneeling, and I really like it and I share it, should I care about its origin?
