Rep. Paul Gosar was reportedly scheduled to attend a far-right conference with ties to white nationalists the day of Adolf Hitler’s birthday before his campaign appeared to back out.
The Arizona Republican was set to be a “featured guest” at an event hosted by the American Populist Union, a far-right group aligned with the white nationalist “groypers,” who are largely followers of Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes, the Arizona Mirror first reported Wednesday. The event was scheduled for April 20, a date that is celebrated among neo-Nazis and white supremacists as Hitler’s birthday.
Hours after publishing its report, a representative for Gosar’s campaign told the Arizona Mirror that the congressman had a “farm tour” scheduled the day of the event, and that the American Populist Union never contacted Gosar or his campaign about being a featured guest at the event.
However, Gosar himself promoted the event on his Instagram story, according to a screenshot captured by AZ Right Wing Watch.
Gosar has routinely cozied up to white nationalists only to later feign ignorance when called out for it. In 2021, Gosar attended the America First Political Action Conference in Florida, a white nationalist gathering led by Fuentes, a white supremacist with a legion of racist followers. Following Gosar’s keynote speech at the conference, members of the crowd chanted his name.
The GOP didn’t care when Gosar attended in 2021. At this year’s AFPAC conference, which was also attended by extremist Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), Gosar sent a video message. When confronted by reporters, Gosar gave the excuse that the video “wasn’t supposed to go to Nick’s group” and instead a staffer “misconstrued” directions from his chief of staff.
Following Gosar’s video and Greene’s attendance at the event, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) described their participation as “appalling,” then dropped the issue entirely.
Fuentes later said on a livestream that he and his followers would continue to work with Gosar “behind the scenes.”
“We’re staunch allies of him and he’s been a staunch ally of ours,” Fuentes said.
Following Gosar’s apparent denial that he was set to attend the American Populist Union event, a white nationalist organizer for the group told The Washington Post in a statement that “there seems to be a misunderstanding and scheduling conflict” with the congressman’s office.