Virginia U.S. Senate Candidate Paid Anti-Semite For Fundraising List
Corey Stewart
During his failed primary bid for Virginia governor in 2017, Republican Corey Stewart paid far-right commentator Paul Nehlen $759 as a “fundraising commission” in May, according to a June 2017 campaign finance filing with the Virginia Department of Elections.
Stewart’s payment to Nehlen, made to his company the “Paul Nehlan (sic) Group” in the filings, came before Nehlen began openly making anti-Semitic statements but after his string of anti-Muslim comments and conspiracy theory posts, CNN reported Thursday.
Earlier this week, a video surfaced of Stewart praising Nehlen back in January 2017, during the weekend of President Trump’s inauguration. In the video, Stewart calls Nehlen one of his “personal heroes” and said he was “inspired” by his attempt to challenge House Speaker Paul Ryan in the 2016 primary.
The Washington Post reported Thursday that Stewart said he no longer considers Nehlen a hero.
“That was before he went nuts and started spewing a bunch of stupid stuff,” Stewart told the Post about his 2017 praise for Nehlen. “When he started saying all that crazy stuff, I wanted nothing to do with him after that.”
The far-right website Breitbart cut ties with Nehlen in December 2017 when it was revealed he had gone on a white nationalist podcast and made anti-Semitic tweets. In January, Nehlen was condemned for tweeting that his critics were Jewish. He was banned from Twitter in February following a racist tweet about Prince Harry’s then-fiancée Meghan Markle.
Stewart, the at-large chairman of Prince William County’s Board of Supervisors, is facing off against conservative commentator E.W. Jackson and House of Delegates member Nick Freitas for the nomination to face incumbent Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine this November. The primary is June 12.
Contact Alyssa Fisher at fisher@forward.com
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