The new face of the Republican Party, Illinois Congressional hopeful Arthur Jones, shows no signs of abandoning his Nazi beliefs in the age of Trump:
“I don’t call myself a Nazi, I call myself an American patriot and statesmen,” Jones insisted.
Despite the assurances that he hasn’t belonged to a “formal” Nazi group since the early 1990’s, Jones confirmed on Thursday in an interview with CNN that he believes the Holocaust to be an “extortion racket” and a “scam” propounded by Jews in order to convince other countries to fight wars for the state of Israel:
When presented with facts about the extermination of Jews by Nazi Germany, Jones responded by saying “Poppycock.” He went on to claim that “the Jews basically control the country, the Congress, the economy, the media.”
Although he is the sole Republican nominee for Illinois’ third Congressional District, facing no Republican opposition in his Party's primary, his stated goal is to reform what he refers to as the “Jew-Party” system.
A video of Jones’ exchange with Alisyn Camerota this morning provides clearer insight into Jones’ philosophy. Warning—contains vile language you probably don’t want emanating from your office cubicle:
He reassured Camerota that the only organization he belongs to is one all his own, called “America First” which not only echoes but exactly parrots Donald Trump’s named philosophy of government.
CNN is being criticized in some quarters for giving Mr. Jones a platform to spread his rhetoric into the households of millions of Americans. I’m not so sure. At least Jones is being completely honest in spewing his vile hatreds, and not hiding behind assertions that there are “very fine people” on both sides. At least Jones isn’t making any effort to whitewash the fact that his chief advisor and speechwriter is an avowed racist. At least with Jones, you know you’re getting straightforward endorsement of race-based ethnic cleansing as opposed to having to figure it out by tallying up this week’s number of ICE arrests and deportations.
But most of all, with Jones you get a real sense that the Republican Party wont't bend over backwards to prevent someone with beliefs as abhorrent as Jones' from representing themselves as the face of the GOP. As pointed out by Jack Holmes of Esquire, the Republican Party had ample time to decide not to place this specimen under the Congressional spotlight by simply running a halfway respectable human being against him. Jones went door-to-door and collected 800 signatures by hiding his true beliefs. It’s hard to believe that absolutely no other single Republican in the entire District could be persuaded to run against an avowed Nazi, even as a “sacrificial lamb” in a heavily Democratic district. You simply call your core voters and explain that you need to put an alternative candidate on the ballot and you need a signature to do that. Drop by. Make an effort.
Instead they showed they didn’t care enough about showing his face to the world as their candidate to make even that effort:
So, as a measure of the true horror of this American moment, it makes a perverse kind of sense to see Arthur Jones careening his way towards the Republican nomination for an Illinois congressional seat. Jones has no opponents in the Republican primary…
The Republican Party refuses to put a stop to his candidacy. Where is their opponent for Jones in the Republican primary—you know, someone who's not at least a de facto Nazi? The essential moral cowardice of today's Republican leadership is breathtaking. It's no longer enough for the Paul Ryans and Mitch McConnells to stand idly by as the president stomps on our democratic norms and makes a mockery of this nation's founding principles from the Oval Office. It's not enough for them to let Roy Moore happen. Now they may allow Arthur Jones to get dangerously close to the United States Congress, all because they're afraid of their own base.
Camerota actually got the best of Jones in the CNN interview, telling the Holocaust-denying Jones that “Chances are, you’ll go down in flames.” But there was no indication that Jones understood the double meaning.
