Yesterday, Seth Grossman, GOP congressional candidate from New Jersey lost the support of the National Republican Congressional Committee after he was found to have made racist comments and shared racist articles on Facebook, The Hill reports.
Rep. Steve Stivers (Ohio), the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), said in a statement to The Hill that the group is calling on Grossman to “reconsider his candidacy.” Grossman is running to replace Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R-N.J.), who is retiring at the end of his current term
“Bigotry has no place in society — let alone the U.S. House of Representatives. The NRCC withdraws our support of Seth Grossman and calls on him to reconsider his candidacy,” Stivers said.
“The people of New Jersey’s 2nd District deserve an inclusive Republican candidate who will be a trusted conservative voice in Congress,” he added.
CNN reported in June about Grossman’s long history of offensive social media posts and comments. He has called Kwanzaa “a phony holiday invented in 1960’s by black racists to weaken and divide Americans during a Christmas season of joy and good will.” He has said faithful Muslims cannot be good Americans, only ‘bad’ Muslims who reject their religion can be good Americans. He called Islam a “cancer”. He has said gay men who had HIV should have been quarantined in the 80’s. He called diversity “a bunch of crap and un-American” last April at a Republican forum.
The NRCC withdrew their support yesterday after Media Matters revealed articles from white nationalist websites were praised by the candidate. One of the articles he touted from American Renaissance, a white nationalist publication, said that black people “are a threat to all who cross their paths.” For context, Media Matters shared a larger excerpt from the article Grossman praised.
My experience has taught me that we live in a nation in which a jury is more likely to convict a black defendant who has committed a crime against a white. Even the dullest of blacks know this. There would be a lot more black-on-white crime if this were not the case.
However, my experience has also taught me that blacks are different by almost any measure to all other people. They cannot reason as well. They cannot communicate as well. They cannot control their impulses as well. They are a threat to all who cross their paths, black and non-black alike.
Grossman also shared articles and posts from VDare, a racist website. He responded to Media Matters request for a comment as to his reasoning for sharing the offensive links.
He distanced himself from the American Renaissance piece, writing: “I shared the post for the reasons I stated on 12/30/2014. … I did not and do not agree with any of its claims, and never visited the website. I believe I got the post from Alan (sic) West who I thought was pointing out ignorance, hatred, and bigotry in both races, and the need to address them through open discussion.” (Allen West, a right-wing pundit and former Republican congressman, praised the piece on December 29, 2014.)
Grossman stated of VDare: “I have never been to their site. I don’t know anything about them. I have no idea who shared that piece with me many years ago.” He also sent Media Matters a statement: “For more than 50 years, the Democratic Party set the agenda for black America. Far too many blacks still suffer from crime, poverty, and violence caused by that Democratic Party agenda. I am glad I helped Trump become President so he could change that agenda and get black and Hispanic Americans working again in record numbers. I am running for Congress so I can help Trump do even more to take the Democratic training wheels off the black and Hispanic communities so they can succeed even more.”
Blender Bytes
⊕ Grossman faces Democratic Senator Jeff Van Drew in the race to fill LoBiondo’s seat. Democrats hope to flip the seat in the November midterms. The contest is currently rated as “likely Democratic” by the Cook Political Report.
⊕ The GOP has had several candidates come under scrutiny for racist comments this year alone.
- Arthur Jones, an avowed Neo Nazi who snookered the Republican party in Illinois.
- Don Blankenship, who called Mitch McConnell’s father-in-law a “china person”.
- John Fitzgerald, whose anti-Semitic views came to light shortly before the June primary.
- Corey Stewart, who has concerning racist ties and is embraced by President Trump.
- Patrick Little, an anti-Semite who was escorted out of the California Republican Convention and lost his primary bid.
⊕ Seth Grossman is a vocal supporter of President Trump.
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