MAGA Republicans generally get rather sniffy when you accuse them of being Nazis. I mean, sure, they sound like Nazis, look like Nazis, and do a whole bunch of Nazi things every single day. But were they a member of the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei between 1920 and 1945? Didn’t think so. Checkmate, libs!
But for Ohio Representative Dave Taylor, the accusation just became a teeny bit more difficult to deny, as he’s now forced to explain why his office on Capitol Hill was proudly flying a Nazi swastika flag.
Politico reports that they received a screengrab from a virtual meeting from Taylor’s office showing an American flag altered to make the red and white lines into a swastika. The desk in question appears to belong to Taylor staffer Angelo Elia, who had it in pride of place on the wall of his cubicle. Elia could not be reached for comment.
This is Taylor’s private office, the place where he presumably spends every day when working in Washington. So, what’s his explanation as to why there’s an unambiguous fascist symbol of one of America’s most hated historic enemies flying in his office? He’s being framed!
Taylor released a statement:
“I am aware of an image that appears to depict a vile and deeply inappropriate symbol near an employee in my office. 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.”
Later, in comments from Taylor’s office spokesperson, they said he believed some evil and mischievous person out to cause “foul play or vandalism” had put it there to make him look bad.
Oh yeah, sure, Dave, that makes sense
And so he quickly summoned the Capitol Police to figure out which sinister individual was going around putting swastika flags in his office, vowing to get to the bottom of the situation with a full investigation and saying, “No further comment will be provided until it has been completed.”
Dave, buddy, I don’t think you’ll need Sherlock Holmes to crack this case. The recent explosive revelations about the Young Republican leaders group chat, which was full of holocaust jokes and praise of Adolf Hitler, would seem to point in one specific direction…
Taylor may not have put this flag up himself, and he may be sincere in calling the swastika “vile”, but it beggars belief he didn’t notice this on his office wall. Even if that’s true, he should maybe institute a concrete “No Nazis” hiring policy when it comes to his staff.
