Trump-Endorsed Senate Candidate Founded Site Where Users Promoted Nazi Propaganda

In 2013, Jason Lewis, a former Congressman and current Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Minnesota, founded a social network, Galt, which was used by people to promote xenophobia, disinformation, and Holocaust denial. As Buzzfeed News reported, Galt users shared and encouraged fellow users to watch a six-hour pro-Hitler documentary.

Lewis has a history of antisemitism. In his days as a radio shock jockey, he often made offensive comments. The same year that he founded Galt, he stated on air that “the Jewish lobby” controlled the Republican Party. Donald Trump endorsed Lewis’ Senate run and Mike Pence campaigned with Lewis in October of 2019. In February of 2020, Donald Trump, Jr., Trump campaign advisor Kimberly Guilfoyle, and Republican Jewish Coalition Chairman (and former U.S. Senator) Norm Coleman, hosted a fundraiser for Lewis. He won the Republican primary in August of 2020.

When asked to comment on Lewis’ involvement with Galt and the antisemitic content its users posted, campaign Communications Director Christine Snell told Buzzfeed: “Blaming Jason Lewis for comments made by others on a public website is akin to blaming Mark Zuckerberg for everything that’s said on Facebook.”

Aside from the fact that advocacy groups have been working for years to hold Zuckerberg accountable for the hate speech and disinformation that Facebook enables, the fact remains that Lewis has a documented history of personally making antisemitic comments.

Lewis’ promotion of antisemitic conspiracy theories about Jewish control over government affairs have been brushed off by supporters like Coleman. The Republican Jewish Coalition Chairman said that when in Congress, “Lewis was a staunch and consistent champion of Israel and his stellar record reflected that.” This, of course, has no bearing on Lewis’ promotion of antisemitism. The State of Israel is another country — one to which Lewis claimed Republicans had “dual loyalty” — and support for that country has no bearing on whether or not someone fuels antisemitism. Treating Israel and American Jews as one and the same is fundamentally antisemitic, as it encourages holding American Jews collectively responsible for the actions of another country’s government — actions that many American Jews do not support.