Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick on Monday strongly condemned anti-Semitism in the Texas GOP and announced that his campaign is buying $3 million in Israel bonds — the same amount he received this summer from the group that recently ousted major Hosted by white supremacist Nick Fuentes.
Patrick’s statement comes more than two weeks after the Texas Tribune first reported Fuentes’ meeting with Patrick, the president of Defend Texas Liberty, and a major donor to Texas Republicans, including Attorney General Ken Paxton. Fuentes’s presence has caused a stir in the state, with top Republicans like House Speaker Dade Phelan calling on his fellow party members to redirect money received from the group to pro-Israel charities.
Patrick’s decision was reversed on Monday. While some Republicans followed Phelan’s suggestion, others – including Patrick – were initially defiant, dismissing the scandal as a one-time mistake or, in Patrick’s words, “a serious mistake”. Patrick then accused Phelan of politicizing anti-Semitism and called for his resignation.
On Monday, Patrick said he was “appalled by what I’m learning about anti-Semitic activities among some people in Texas who call themselves conservatives and Republicans,” before noting his previous condemnation of Fuentes. .
“Recently, I condemned Nick Fuentes, an avowed anti-Semite, when I learned he had met with the chairman of the Defend Texas Liberty PAC,” Patrick said. “I was assured that changes would be made. I also learned that there are other so-called Republicans who share these disgusting beliefs and are trying to spread their anti-Semitic views within the GOP.
He said that people who are anti-Semitic, praise Adolf Hitler or deny the Holocaust are “not welcome in our party.” He urged other Republicans to review their staffers’ social media before hiring them. requested.
Patrick’s statement follows a Tribune report that Fuentes, a staunch admirer of Hitler, encouraged his followers to beat women and about marrying a 16-year-old girl when she was older. Thought, had spent approximately 7 hours in Pell’s offices. Horse Strategies, a consulting firm for Defend Texas Liberty-funded groups. The statement came after the Tribune contacted Fuentes’ office for comment on an upcoming story about other associates who are connected to Defend Texas Liberty or the group that primarily funds it.
Former Bedford state Rep. Jonathan Stickland is the owner of Pale Horse and was president of Defend Texas Liberty — until last week, when the group quietly updated its website, reflecting that it is now owned by longtime right-wing activist and consultant Luke Macias. Is in leadership. ,
Meanwhile, the Texas GOP’s top leadership body continues to dispute its response to the Fuentes scandal. Last week, one-third of the party’s 64-member executive committee, including Vice Chairwoman Dana Myers, called on the party and its donors to sever ties with Defend Texas Liberty until Stickland is removed from the group and Is not “removed and separated” from his for-profit organizations. , and “A full account of the meeting has been provided.”
Defend Texas Liberty is funded almost entirely by two West Texas oil billionaires, Tim Dunn and Farris Wilkes, and is a key part of a vast network of campaigns, institutions, dark money groups and media companies that they have founded. Has funded his far-right pursuit. Idea.
Later on Monday, Phelan took aim at X, formerly Dunn, and Wilkes on Twitter, though he did not call them out by name. He also called for the resignation of Texas GOP Chairman Matt Rinaldi, a former House member who served in Stickland’s office during Fuentes’ time. Rinaldi has denied meeting with Fuentes during the trip.
“If we are to root out this cancer, as Lieutenant Governor Patrick says, then those efforts begin with Matt Rinaldi’s resignation,” Phelan wrote.
He said donors should demand their money back in order to protect Texas Liberty and any other Pale Horse-affiliated group. Then, Phelan said, those groups should be disbanded.
Defend Texas Liberty and its billionaire funders are also major supporters of Paxton, and their families have given him nearly twice as much as his second-largest donors, Texans for Lawsuit Reform.
Paxton had received more money from billionaires and their groups than any other statewide politician — until this summer, when Defend Texas Liberty gave Patrick $3 million before he presided over Paxton’s impeachment trial and acquittal in the Texas Senate. Gave loan and donation of Rs.
Paxton has not yet issued a statement or comment on the Fuentes scandal.