Paul Nehlen, Paul Ryan’s ‘Alt-Right’ Opponent, Goes On ‘Shekel-For-Hire’ Rant

Paul Nehlen Image by YouTube

By Nathan Guttman December 26, 2017

Hitting a new level in his anti-Semitism-laced tweets, Republican congressional candidate Paul Nehlen lashed out at his critics, hinting they are geting paid by the Jews to attack him.

Nehlen, who is aiming to unseat Speaker of the House Paul Ryan in the 2018 Republican primary in Ryan’s Wisconsin district, was criticized for tweeting memes on Friday with the words “It’s okay to be white” and “The Goyim know” — both common trope of online anti-Semites.

Nehlen first took aim on Tuesday at John Cardillo, a conservative commentator and staunch Trump supporter who said he was “sad watching @pnehlen’s fall.”

“You’ve exposed yourself as a shill for the sheckles [sic],” Nehlen replied, referring to the Israeli currency.

When Kurt Schlichter, a conservative writer who once contributed to Breitbart News, called out Nehlen for his attack, arguing that “Republicans can’t have anything to do with weirdo idiot candidates,” Nehlen shot back, again suggesting his critic was taking money from the Jews.

“Ah yes @KurtSchlichter joins the ranks of shekels-for-hire™ BlueChecks…” he tweeted, apparently trademarking the anti-Semitic term he just coined.

Contact Nathan Guttman at [email protected] or on Twitter @nathanguttman

Nathan Guttman, staff writer, was the Forward’s Washington bureau chief. He joined the staff in 2006 after serving for five years as Washington correspondent for the Israeli dailies Haaretz and The Jerusalem Post. In Israel, he was the features editor for Ha’aretz and chief editor of Channel 1 TV evening news. He was born in Canada and grew up in Israel. He is a graduate of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.