The Texas Republican Party on Saturday passed a resolution saying it will not associate with known antisemites. A similar measure failed to pass in December of last year.
The move comes after Jonathan Stickland, former president of the conservative Defend Texas Liberty PAC, hosted vocal Adolf Hitler admirer Nick Fuentes at his office. Stickland, who also served as a Texas House member from 2013 to 2021, was replaced as president of the PAC shortly after.
The incident had some members of the Texas GOP calling for the party to distance itself from the PAC and to ban associating with Nazi sympathizers.
“In December, the state Republican executive committee met and considered a resolution that basically declared that the party will not associate with antisemites,” said Matthew Watkins, managing editor for news and politics at The Texas Tribune. “That resolution failed narrowly at the time, drawing a lot of backlash, including from the lieutenant governor, Dan Patrick. They met again last Saturday and voted to approve the resolution. It was slightly watered down, but still, that message we don’t associate with antisemites.”
The party also voted to censure House Speaker Dade Phelan.
Hear more stories from the week in Texas politics in the audio player above.
