Neo-Nazi Holocaust denier rejected as candidate by Republican Party

A neo-Nazi Holocaust denier who says Israel is pressuring Donald Trump into a new world war has been rejected as the Republican Party’s nominee for a congressional seat in Illinois.

Art Jones, who is well-known to Jewish groups like the Anti-Defamation League, became the Republican nominee by default, since the district – which includes Chicago – is so heavily Democrat that no other Republicans chose to contest it.

Last year he was filmed criticising Trump, saying he had “surrounded himself with hordes of Jews, including a Jew in his own family, that punk named Jared Kushner”.

Under a National Socialist Movement banner, he gave a speech to white supremacists, blasting what he called the United States’ “two-party, Jew-party system,” before signing off with a ‘Heil Hitler’ salute and shouting: “White power!”

In his speech, he said Kushner “knows nothing about foreign affairs, and yet he is going to determine our policy in the Middle East? It’s absolutely absurd”.

Accusing Trump of “betraying us,” Jones said: “We’re sending our troops to fight in Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Yemen… Why? One reason: Israel. The Jewish lobby has Donald Trump locked up.”

He continued. “I don’t think the man realises how naïve he appears to the rest of the world. He’s nothing but a puppet in their hands. And we were foolish enough to send this naïve Jew-loving fool into the White House. I’m embarrassed I voted for him.”

The ADL calls Jones, who celebrates Hitler’s birthday, a “long-time neo-Nazi” who has repeatedly sought higher office. In 2016 he was reportedly taken off the ballot in the same district after voter signatures were found to be invalid, however local reporters say he appears to have passed that hurdle this year.

Jones is a former leader of the American Nazi Party and now heads a group called the America First Committee, which he told the Sun-Times is “open to any white American citizen of European, non-Jewish descent.”

Tim Schneider, chairman of the Illinois Republican Party, said in a statement to the Sun-Times: “The Illinois Republican Party and our country have no place for Nazis like Arthur Jones. We strongly oppose his racist views and his candidacy for any public office, including the 3rd Congressional District.”