CNN
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Despite disavowing white nationalism last spring when one of its adherents backed it, a US House candidate in Washington then gave a never-before-seen interview in June to a Nazi sympathizer and white nationalist .
As Republican Joe Kent touted his support for far-right figures like Representatives Marjorie Taylor Green and Paul Gosar and backed MAGA policies, he spoke with Greyson Arnold, a Nazi sympathizer.
Kent’s exchange with Arnold is all the more remarkable as a few weeks later Kent’s campaign worked to get him away from Arnold after photos surfaced together. A Kent campaign strategist told The Associated Press in July that the campaign did not do background checks on those who took selfies with the candidate.
Arnold has a well-documented history of white nationalist, racist, anti-Semitic and pro-Nazi statements, including calling Adolf Hitler “a complicated historical figure that many people misunderstand.”
In a statement to CNN, campaign spokesman Matt Braynard said: “Joe Kent had no idea who this individual was when he met him on the street and Joe Kent condemned several repeat the statements that the individual is accused of having made.”
Braynard added that the campaign screens all interview requests and that Arnold approached Kent on the street through what he assumed was a local reporter. “None of the questions gave Joe the slightest indication that the individual held racist or anti-Semitic views and, had he done so, Joe would have immediately canceled the interview,” Braynard said.
The campaign said Arnold “is in no way part of our campaign and we would not allow our campaign to be associated with anyone who has this background. We also have no record of any contribution from this person and if we had received one, we would return it.
Kent, a former Green Beret and Gold Star spouse endorsed by former President Donald Trump, ran in this summer’s primaries against Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, one of ten Republicans who voted to impeach Trump in 2021.
In August, Kent qualified for the November general election against Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez in the state’s first two primary systems after beating out Beutler, who placed third. Inside Elections recently rebranded the race as more competitive, changing it from “Safe Republican” to “Likely Republican.”
On a since-suspended Twitter account and an active Telegram channel called “Pure Politics,” Greyson, or “American Greyson” as he calls himself, shared messages that called Nazi men the “pure race” and that the United States should have sided with the Nazis in World War II. Arnold falsely claimed there were ‘Jewish plans for the genocide of the German people,’ and in a post he shared a quote that said ‘Earth-ruled colored Jewish hordes’ were trying to exterminate white people .
Arnold was pictured in several photos with Kent at a fundraiser in April and canvassed Republican candidates with Washington State’s Young Republicans, with a recent photo showing Arnold in a Joe Kent shirt according to photos on their public Instagram.
Speaking to Arnold, Kent praised Gosar’s stance on illegal and legal immigration in a friendly five-minute interview.
“Paul Gosar has been excellent, obviously immigration – the border state there. He took me to the border, so I got a firsthand idea of all the crises we’re facing there,” Kent said. “Rep. Gosar also has impressive legislation he has proposed to get rid of a lot of legal immigration.”
Arnold was at the Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot, posting a video of himself leaving the front steps of the building saying they were “hunted by communists,” calling the riot a “baptism American,” as he said police were deploying tear gas. There is no indication that he entered the building and he has not been charged with any crime.
While Kent has tried to shift his campaign rhetoric to the center – including removing calls to rule on the 2020 election from his website between June and July – his campaign has been mired in associations with nationalists and extremists whites, which Kent has had on several occasions. take this distance.
Back in March 2022, Kent disavowed Nick Fuentes, a 24-year-old far-right white nationalist, after Fuentes endorsed Kent in the primary. Fuentes is the architect of the America’s First Political Action Conference, an annual white nationalist conference that received intense backlash this year after Gosar appeared at the event and Greene attended.
Kent said at the time that he did not know Fuentes despite a brief call with him in the spring of 2021 about the candidate’s social media strategy. In April 2021, Kent tweeted in defense of Fuentes after being banned from Twitter.
“Many are happy that their political rivals are being targeted by the state and big tech, they hate Trump, @NickJFuentes and MAGA. This short term thinking has led to some of the greatest tragedies in human history. We have to fight for all the talk and fight against the confluence of government and big tech.”
He later said he stood by his comments but reiterated that he did not want Fuentes’ endorsement due to “Fuentes’ “emphasis on race/religion”.
Kent’s website also features an endorsement from Arizona State Senator Wendy Rogers, who was censured by the Republican-controlled Arizona Senate after she gave a speech at the white nationalist conference calling at public hangings.
