Image by facebook

By Sam Kestenbaum January 22, 2018

Paul Nehlen, a Wisconsin businessman hoping to unseat Rep. Paul Ryan in a primary election, is tapping into hardcore elements of the “alt-right” — appearing on white nationalist podcasts and proudly promoting anti-Semitic books on his Twitter feed.

After President Trump shortened the prison sentence of kosher meatpacking magnate Sholom Rubashkin, Nehlen urged the president to pardon a different man — a jailed soldier who he thought deserved, but was not receiving, the same treatment.

“While we understand that our President had his reasons for releasing Rubashkin from prison, we also believe that putting America First means putting American soldiers first, and there is an American solider who has not yet received the President’s attention like Sholom Rubashkin has,” Nehlen wrote in a December release that he has been reposting since.

Antisemitism Notebook

Your weekly guide through the news and the noise of how rising antisemitism and disputes over how to address it are shaping American Jewish life.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

The solider Nehlen mentioned is Clint Lorance, a former first lieutenant who was found guilty of two counts of second-degree murder in 2013 for ordering soldiers in his unit in Afghanistan to open fire on three men on motorcycle who were approaching his patrol. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

To read more about Paul Nehlen go here and here.

Email Sam Kestenbaum at kestenbaum@forward.com and follow him on Twitter at @skestenbaum

A message from our CEO & publisher 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.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

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.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount