Amid Steve King White Supremacy Scandal, Congressmen Meet With Holocaust Skeptic
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
Internet troll Chuck Johnson, who has said he doesn’t believe in Auschwitz and its gas chambers, met with two Republican lawmakers in Congress on Wednesday — to talk about genetics, the The Daily Beast reported.
Representatives Andy Harris and Phil Roe were spotted walking with Johnson, HuffPost reporter Matt Fuller first noted Wednesday on Twitter. The meeting between Johnson, Harris and Roe came just days after the Minority Leader of the House stripped Congressman Steve King of his committee assignments, citing his public defense of white supremacy.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but is that Chuck C. Johnson walking with Reps. Phil Roe and Andy Harris?
Both waited for him to get through security. pic.twitter.com/ybfdK8Bwqy
— Matt Fuller (@MEPFuller) January 16, 2019
Johnson is a former Breitbart News reporter, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency reported. In an “Ask Reddit” session from January 2017, he said, “I do not and never have believed the 6 million figure,” referring to the number of Jews who died in the Holocaust. He also said he agrees with Holocaust denier David Cole about “Auschwitz and the gas chambers not being real.”
Harris and Roe claim they weren’t aware of Johnson’s rhetoric.
“Of course I disavow and condemn white supremacy and anti-semitism,” Harris wrote in a joint statement.
“Congressman Roe was not aware of this individual’s viewpoints nor were they discussed during their brief meeting, and had the congressman been aware he would not have agreed to take the meeting,” it continued. “White supremacist and anti-Semitic views are abhorrent and have no place in our society.”
Alyssa Fisher is a news writer at the Forward. Email her at [email protected], or follow her on Twitter at @alyssalfisher
Did you know that only 2% of Forward readers donate to support our nonprofit newsroom? That 2% make it possible for millions to read the Forward without a paywall or subscription — removing any barriers to the full and fair Jewish story.
But while the Forward is free to read, it isn’t free to produce. Big stories — like deep dives into the antisemitism data, political scoops or reporting trips to college campuses — take months of research and fact-checking. All while we keep you informed of what you need to know each day.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Forward Publisher & CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
