Paul Ryan’s Exit Leaves Opening For White Nationalist Republican Candidate

As the GOP drifts farther to the right, it’s a sad irony that one candidate who is running to replace Paul Ryan is an avowed anti-semite and white supremacist.  The Republican Party has some work to do in Wisconsin.

Paul Nehlen has been called by The Daily Beast as “the most prominent white nationalist in U.S. politics”.  He was permanently banned by Twitter earlier this year after he wrote a post about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle that the social media platform concluded was a violation of their terms and services.  Nehlen has also made multiple appearances on alt-right podcasts and programs such as Fash the Nation.  Breitbart has even cut ties with Nehlen after he stirred up anti-semitic sentiments in late 2017 — though it’s worth noting that it wasn’t an isolated incident.

Nehlen lost badly to Ryan in the 2016 primary but he still managed to get nearly 11,000 votes.  The only other Republican who has declared a campaign for Ryan’s seat is Nick Polce, a political newcomer without much name recognition yet; Polce has roughly 600 followers on Facebook compared to Nehlen’s 42,000.  

Ryan’s exit from the race leaves an opening in his party for Nehlen even though the Wisconsin GOP has made it know that it wants nothing to do with Nehlen.  Even if Nehlen’s chances of becoming the Republican candidate are slim, it underscores once more how fractured the Republican Party has become, and how the alt-right has infiltrated it to mainstream their message.  

It’s likely that the Wisconsin GOP will put up another candidate for the primary.  But they’ll have to vet a viable successor to Ryan quickly; the filing deadline for the congressional race is June 1.

The Democratic challengers, on the other hand, have wasted no time in taking advantage of Ryan’s announcement today: