Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

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

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

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.