Trump campaign dismisses Nazis flying swastikas at MAGA boat parade as 'liberal activists'

15 October 2024

Over the weekend, a group of neo-Nazis crashed a Florida boat parade in support of former President Donald Trump, in their own boat festooned with Trump flags and swastika flags. His campaign is now making a spurious argument to explain their presence.

As Rolling Stone previously reported, the neo-Nazis — whose presence was promoted by the Goyim Defense League (GDL) — showed up to the event in Jupiter, Florida without invitation, which longtime Trump confidant Roger Stone billed as "the mother of all TRUMP boat parades." An Instagram video shows the boat revving its engines in the water as its passengers, who are clad in skeleton masks and sunglasses, wave at onlookers.

Now, Newsweek is reporting that the Trump campaign is accusing the neo-Nazi provocateurs of being undercover "liberal activists" attempting to connect the 2024 GOP presidential nominee's candidacy with Nazism. According to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the GDL, which actively promotes far-right causes on social media, has presences not just in Florida but in Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, New York, South Carolina and Texas.

"Kamala's supporters are reaching all-time lows. Social media posts show that genuine Trump supporters identified these idiots as liberal activists trying to create fake news," Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told Newsweek. "They clearly responded accordingly."

Leavitt was referring to a video in which a boat in front of the GDL vessel — which was heard chanting "sieg heil" and "hail Trump" — revved its engines to soak the neo-Nazis in water. However, the video didn't show any evidence that the boat was being piloted by incognito liberals.

Rather, the Nazis in that video are likely with the Order of the Black Sun (OBS), according to the Florida chapter of the ADL. The ADL's website describes the OBS as "a small neo-Nazi network primarily based in the state of Florida" formed in early 2023 that "distributes propaganda and holds in-person demonstrations to spread their white supremacist ideology."

The logo of the OBS is the Sonnenrad, which appeared in a campaign video created by an aide for Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis' short-lived campaign for the Republican presidential nomination. DeSantis famously refused to disavow neo-Nazis in Florida after a group of them were seen protesting outside of Disney World in Orlando, and carrying signs supporting DeSantis.

The boat full of OBS activists wouldn't be the first time Trump supporters have dog-whistled neo-Nazi rhetoric. Last month, MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell advertised a sale on his pillows in which the price had been discounted to $14.88. In neo-Nazi circles, "1488" is a reference to the "14 Words" slogan ("We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children") while "88" is a reference to the numerical placement of the letter H in the alphabet (for "heil Hitler"). Lindell has denied knowledge of the reference.

Leavitt stated to Newsweek that Trump "abhors the hatred implied in these images," and that he would expand the Civil Rights Act to include anti-Semitism if elected.

"President Trump is steadfast in the fight against bigotry," Leavitt said of the former president who recently promised to enforce an 18th century law allowing for the detainment of people based solely on their country of birth without trial.

Click here to read Newsweek's report in full.

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