On Wednesday, the Daily Beast published an article detailing the Washington State Republican Party’s connection to Greyson Arnold, a known pro-Nazi blogger. Arnold, who was on the organization’s payroll, runs a far-right Telegram account, Pure Politics.

Washington State Democratic Party Chair Tina Podlodowski issued the following statement in response to the piece:

“Since the rise of Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans, we’ve seen a surge in extremism and political violence — both leading up to and in the aftermath of the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection — in Washington and throughout the country. Yet, the state and national GOP do nothing; in fact, they just seem to veer farther and farther right. 

“And the fact, as this article makes clear, this isn’t the Washington GOP’s only connection to white nationalists, is disgusting and completely unacceptable. 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.

“We are seeing a trend in the Evergreen State and nationwide with MAGA Republicans attempting to hide their extremist beliefs from voters right now. Why? Because they know they are completely out of touch with a majority of Americans on the issues that matter most.

“Tiffany Smiley is a prime example. She recently was caught scrubbing a section from her website saying she had ‘serious questions about the integrity of our elections.’ She also is trying to backtrack on abortion and claim she opposes a federal ban, but yet calls herself ‘100% pro-life,’ endorsed Texas’s extreme, near-total abortion ban, and celebrated the fall of Roe v. Wade. 

“And then there’s Matt Larkin who won’t say whether he believes President Joe Biden’s win over Trump was legitimate — something Smiley won’t do either.

“Even Trump’s chosen candidate, Joe Kent, is trying to paint himself as a less extreme extremist, despite having connections  to a number of white nationalists, like Nick Fuentes, Patriot Prayer’s Joey Gibson, and Oath Keeper and Arizona state Sen. Wendy Rodgers, and publicly making statements in support of ‘a white people special interest group,’ as well as ending virtually all immigration in the U.S.

“MAGA Republicans like Smiley, Kent and Larkin can’t even be trusted to tell the truth. How could they be trusted to represent the people of Washington state in office? They can’t.

“As Democrats, we will never waver on our values, nor our commitment to pushing back against extremism. We know there is so much at stake this election year, which is why we are working round the clock statewide to help our incredible candidates cross the finish line in November. And we know extremism doesn’t belong in public office — neither do MAGA Republicans.”

Arnold, also a known associate of white nationalist Nick Fuentes, was connected to WA-03 candidate Joe Kent earlier this year as well. The two were photographed together at a fundraiser for Kent in July, but Kent and his campaign denied knowing Arnold. However, CNN later discovered a past interview where Arnold spoke to Kent in June for Pure Politics.