Arthur Jones has no opponent for his congressional race. But the Republican candidate for the Illinois 3rd Congressional District is running on a distinctly and decidedly anti-Semitic, Holocaust-denying stance.
Jones told a Chicago Sun-Times reporter that the Holocaust was an “extortion racket.” Devoting an entire page on his campaign website to the “Holocaust racket,” Jones said that the extermination of 6 million Jews — and millions of others in Nazi-occupied areas during the 1930s and 1940s — was “the biggest, blackest lie in history.”
From there, Jones went into pure Alex Jones-like territory:
Other than a few professional concentration camp survivors, such as the late Simon Wiesenthal or the current Semitic Super star Elie Wiesel, there is no proof such a so-cold “Holocaust” ever took place anywhere in Europe, against the Jews . . .
Yes! Jewish international communism and Jewish international Zionism are directly responsible for the murder of at least 300 million people and these blood-thirsty criminal vampires may yet ignite a third world war, if we don’t stop them. Iran is their next target.
The page goes on, and is joined by a page that cherry-picks quotes about white supremacy from world leaders — and notorious anti-Semite Charles Lindbergh. He devoted as many words to his anti-Semitism as he did to his views on the issues.
And speaking of the issues, they tended to align closely with those of President Donald Trump, the leader of the Republican Party. Jones, for example, said he wants to “bring our troops home to defend our own country’s borders against illegal alien drug dealers, criminals, and potential terrorists,” adding that immigrants were “spreading diseases and violent crime across the country.” Those are charged words coming from a Nazi apologist, but coming from the president, they’d seem to be regular talking points.
For those asking, the Republicans only have 51 votes in the Senate, and they need 60. That is why we need to win more Republicans in 2018 Election! We can then be even tougher on Crime (and Border), and even better to our Military & Veterans!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 20, 2018
The so-called bipartisan DACA deal presented yesterday to myself and a group of Republican Senators and Congressmen was a big step backwards. Wall was not properly funded, Chain & Lottery were made worse and USA would be forced to take large numbers of people from high crime…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 12, 2018
Ralph Northam will allow crime to be rampant in Virginia. He’s weak on crime, weak on our GREAT VETS, Anti-Second Amendment….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 7, 2017
.@EdWGillespie will totally turn around the high crime and poor economic performance of VA. MS-13 and crime will be gone. Vote today, ASAP!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 7, 2017
The Democrats want MASSIVE tax increases & soft, crime producing borders.The Republicans want the biggest tax cut in history & the WALL!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 11, 2017
No American should be separated from their loved ones because of preventable crime committed by those illegally in our country. Our cities should be Sanctuaries for Americans – not for criminal aliens! pic.twitter.com/CvtkCG1pln
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 10, 2017
Hard to believe that the Democrats, who have gone so far LEFT that they are no longer recognizable, are fighting so hard for Sanctuary crime
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 13, 2017
Jones also attacked NAFTA, calling it a “treasonous trade treat[y] that . . . caused 93 million Americans to lose their jobs.”
But what’s amazing is how how seamless his anti-Semitic views are there, right next to boilerplate Republican planks. Yes, Jones said he wants to crack down on so-called “sanctuary cities,” but he too wants to kill off Obamacare! And sure, it’s a bigot saying that “the homosexual/lesbian/bi-sexual/transgender movement is a blatant assault on the Christian based foundation of this country” that seeks “to overthrow all the moral teachings of the Christian religion on which all of our laws are based.” But, Jones would be a solid vote against Planned Parenthood, which most Republicans have wanted to repeal.
And yes, Jones did have a few, shall we say, less-than-orthodoxy Republican views — for example, he wanted gun reform. But his proposed gun reforms would explicitly take them away from minorities.
But, more importantly, Jones’ stance underscores an important fact. For the better part of a decade, conservative pundits like Jonah Goldberg have attempted to completely repaint Nazism as a left-wing movement. And Jones would fall into the camp of former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke and the white nationalist crowd that marched in Charlottesville, Virginia. But David Duke voted for Trump and has often praised Trump’s actions and rhetoric.
So it must be a big surprise to Goldberg that they’re choosing to be Republicans.
