The Washington State Republican Party this summer hired a far-right, white nationalist podcaster as a field organizer but said he was fired after the party became aware of his social media posts.
Federal Election Commission filings show the podcaster, Greyson Arnold, was paid $821.87 on July 15, with the expense listed as "payroll." The payment was first reported by The Daily Beast.
Arnold has a history of racist, anti-immigrant and antisemitic statements that have been documented in multiple news stories. He was suspended from Twitter but maintains a following on Telegram, where his "Pure Politics" channel has accumulated more than 12,500 subscribers.
A spokesperson for the state GOP said Arnold was hired by a field director and quickly let go after the party became aware of his views.
"The Washington State Republican Party has hired over 100 field employees across the state during this election cycle. We give Field Directors the ability to hire field staff onto their teams. When the Washington State Republican Party became aware of this individual staffer's conduct and views expressed on social media, we terminated the employee. He no longer works for the party," Ben Gonzalez, the state GOP spokesperson, said in a statement.
He said Arnold was let go after one week and that his viewpoints "do not reflect the values of the Republican Party."
Arnold, who did not respond to a request for comment, has repeatedly shared online memes saying the U.S. fought on the wrong side in World War II because a "Jewish cabal" controlled the government, CNN reported last year, after an Oregon Republican official did an interview for Arnold's YouTube show.
During a visit to Seattle this year, Arnold shared a photo of a neighborhood on Telegram and complained most of its residents "can barely even speak English" but are legal voters. He called "diversity from immigration" "a weapon to inflict upon your enemies."
In 2020, Arnold tweeted that Adolf Hitler was a "complicated historical figure which many people misunderstand" and shared a meme calling the Nazis a "pure" race, CNN reported.
Arnold has traveled the country to record interviews at political events, including Donald Trump rallies.
Earlier this year, Arnold interviewed 3rd District congressional candidate Joe Kent outside a campaign event in Yelm, Thurston County, and shared a photo of the pair together, CNN reported last month. A Kent spokesperson told CNN he had no idea who Arnold was when he approached for the interview and condemned his views.
State Democratic Party Chair Tina Podlodowski blasted the Republican Party in a statement Wednesday, saying the rise of Trump and the MAGA Republican movement has led to a surge in extremism and political violence, including the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
"Republicans in this state and nationally need to step up and disavow the racist vitriol and violence coming from many of its members, rather than continuing to normalize it or lying when called out, like for putting an extremist and Nazi sympathizer on the payroll," Podlodowski said in a statement.
Arnold also posted a photo in April from a fundraising event for the King County Republican Party, saying he was there "after a personal invite."
Mathew Patrick Thomas, the chair of the King County party, said he had "no clue who this guy is," adding "we don't have anything to do with that crap."
