Donald Trump and maga Republicans are attracting evil Nazi labels in the media and do nothing to end this scary association

Republicans Have a Real Nazi Thing Going On: echo essay published in the New York Magazine Intelligencer by Matt Stieb 

As Republicans are trying to find futile ways to push the Trump (authoritarian) agenda through Congress during the government shutdown, they are finding themselves sidetracked by an annoying and difficult image problem. Some of their young staffers seem to be obsessed with Nazis — and not in a “Nazis are bad” way.

The latest issue comes from the office of Representative Dave Taylor of Ohio. On Wednesday, Politico reported that the U.S. Capitol Police were called to his office because an “American flag altered to include a swastika” was displayed on a cubicle wall behind the seat of legislative aide Angelo Elia, who graduated from college two years ago.

“The content of that image does not reflect the values or standards of this office, my staff, or myself, and I condemn it in the strongest terms,” Taylor said in a statement before calling for an investigation into the flag. Elia did not respond to Politico’s request for comment, and it remains unclear who pinned the swastika to the cubicle board, how long it had been there, or why it hadn’t been noticed before.

Taylor said on Thursday that the swastika flag was part of a “ruse”:

Numerous Republican offices have confirmed that they were targeted by an unidentified group or individual who distributed American flags bearing a similar symbol, which were initially indistinguishable from an ordinary American flag to the naked eye. My office was among those that were subjected to this ruse.

Politico reports that other GOP congressional offices received similar flags in the mail back in February, according to a Hill aide who said their office threw the flag away.

The news of the swastika flag came just a day after Politico reported on a foul Telegram chat by young GOP operatives and at least one state legislator in which they frequently used racial slurs and texted one another statements like “I love Hitler.”

Already, the fallout from that message has Republicans scrambling to condemn chat members, which include the vice-chair of the Kansas Young Republicans, several people in the New York State Young Republicans organization, and Samuel Douglass, a state senator in Vermont. The state’s Republican governor, Phil Scott, has called for Douglass’s resignation. In New York, Representative Elise Stefanik — who may challenge Governor Kathy Hochul next year — called the story a “hit piece” on social media, while a senior adviser for her campaign called on those in the chat to resign.

Even the Vice-President J.D. Vance (former Marine corporal) weighed in, downplaying the racist and antisemitic language as “a college group chat,” although its members named by Politico are well past college age. (Vance took oaths as a Senator, as a Marine corporal and as vice-resident to uphold the Constitution❗)

Vance added that anybody who was concerned by its many racial slurs and love for Nazis was just “pearl clutching.” (Shameful from a former Marine corporal.)

Vice-President JD Vance author of Hillbilly Elegy was a former Marine corporal.