The Republican Party Continues the Hallowed Tradition of Blaming Its Anti-Semitism on Hackers

Earlier this week, the Republican Party of Wabasha County in Minnesota shared a rather alarmingly anti-Semitic post on its Facebook page, which compared Democratic Governor Tim Walz’s covid-19 mask mandate to the Nazi regime. Naturally, the party blamed this post on hackers, but spoiler alert: it’s never hackers, it’s always just plain ole anti-Semitism and stupidity!

While the post has since been removed, Jewish Community Action took a screenshot and shared it via Twitter:

According to Jennifer Carnahan, the chair of the state’s Republican party, it was a hack, or so she and others initially wanted to believe. In a tweet, she wrote that after she was informed of the post, “immediately we reached out to the Wabasha board,” and that they “believe this was a hack and are removing their FB page immediately.” “Our party,” she added, “does not support/condone divisive and harmful posts or language of this nature,” despite ample evidence that the Republican Party in fact delights and traffics fairly regularly in anti-Semitism. As Beverly Snow, the chair of the Wabasha County Republican Party, told one local news outlet, “That was maliciously put up. It was not put up by anyone from our party.” Snow added, “I have no idea how they got on, but no one but me will ever get on there again.”

What happened shortly after was easily predictable. It was, in fact, a county party board member who posted the vile image, and Carnahan was forced to issue a mea culpa, writing in a statement:

Upon further investigation today, the Republican Party of Minnesota has learned the Wabasha County Facebook page was not hacked last night, as believed by the Wabasha County Chair. The offensive picture was unfortunately posted by a board member who has resigned effective immediately at the party’s request. We are saddened by the vitriolic post and hope as we move forward that Republicans and Democrats alike will maintain the highest level of integrity, respect, and sensitivity. The Wabasha County Board and MN GOP apologizes for this disappointing post.

Oops! My thoughts and prayers go to the Minnesota Republican Party as they cope with this tragic realization that their party is filled with bigots, racists, and anti-Semites.