Paul Nehlen Releases Statement From ‘Semitic Liaison’ After Twitter Suspension
Congressional candidate Paul Nehlen has grown closer to white nationalist leaders and thinkers in recent months. Image by Twitter
By Ari Feldman January 25, 2018
Paul Nehlen, the Wisconsin business man running to unseat Republican Speaker Paul Ryan, released a statement from his campaign’s “Semitic Liaison” after being suspended from Twitter. Nehlen was suspended for seven days; Twitter said he violated the company’s rules by making anti-Semitic posts.
The statement was apparently written by Matt Fischer, who goes by @MattsOurSemite on Twitter.
“As a Jew, I cannot help but notice the double standards when it comes to pointing out overrepresentation,” Fischer wrote. “Why is it that we can freely discuss White overrepresentation, but any discussion of Jewish overrepresentation causes such backlash?”
Fischer also referenced the “media charts” Nehlen posted on his Twitter account that assigned Jewish stars to members of major media outlets. Fischer challenged Jewish journalists to “point to even a single name in the charts of a media executive who was falsely identified as Jewish.”
Authorized statement on behalf of the @pnehlen campaign pic.twitter.com/2Ac03CpDGh
— Matt Semite (@MattsOurSemite) January 24, 2018
Fischer’s statement was also posted on Gab, a micro-blogging service similar to Twitter that does not suspend or remove users’ accounts for posting hate speech or offensive content. Twitter’s guidelines state that users cannot “promote violence against, threaten, or harass other people on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability, or serious disease” while using the service.
Correction: January 26, 12:05 p.m. — This post has been updated to reflect that Gab does not remove hate speech or offensive content from its site. Gab’s guidelines state that the company can remove illegal pornography and other illegal content.
Contact Ari Feldman at feldman@forward.com or on Twitter @aefeldman
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.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
