Even though he was endorsed by former President Donald J. Trump, Republican Senate candidate Blake Masters was dogged by a trail of youthful writings in which he lamented the United States’ involvement in World Wars I and II, approvedly quoted a Nazi war criminal, and advocated a form of nationalism that went well beyond Mr. Trump’s isolationism.
Controversial remarks he expressed in the CrossFit chat room as a Stanford student in 2007 have been found and shared to the New York Times by critics of the candidate.
The subject of Pearl Harbor was never broached, nor did he express an opinion on whether or not the United States should have chosen to ignore it.
“Significant dangers to Americans” from Iraq and al-Qaeda, according to 20-year-old CrossFit trainer Chris Masters, were not real.
According to him, a true libertarian opposes any and all wars that are not strictly defensive, and with the United States military (many of our best men and women!) currently stationed in over 100 countries and bombing several dozen since war was last declared, defence isn’t even the name of the game. To be like the Swiss, we need be more decentralised and defensive.”
It’s possible that Mr. Masters’ libertarian ideas as a college student aligned with the Ron Paul movement. Nevertheless, they would be an anomaly in the Senate he plans to join in the next Congress in 2017.
So it should unsurprising that Mr. Masters’ adolescent writings have already been used as political fodder in the intensely fought Republican primary fight to take on rookie Democrat Senator Mark Kelly in Arizona. Aug. 2 is the day of the Arizona primary election.
As reported by Jewish Insider in April and June 2006, businessman Jim Lamon has seized on the writings of Republican presidential candidate Jim Masters on an early blogging site called Live Journal, where Mr. Masters claimed that “unrestricted immigration” is the only option for a libertarian-minded voter.
He is now 35 years old and adopts a stance diametrically opposite to his younger self’s and in accordance with Donald Trump’s views: He advocates militarising the border and halting what he deems a “invasion” of immigrants entering the nation illegally. He is running for president.
When asked for comment, Mr. Masters said no. “The obvious front-runner,” Amalia Halikias, his campaign manager, said in a statement, praising Trump’s endorsement and expressing scorn for media “sifting through CrossFit message boards from 2007 to try to smear him.”
Joe Biden and Mark Kelly have given us an inflation problem and border issue, which is what people worry about more than anything else, she remarked.
On April 11, Mr. Masters made the remark that America’s gun violence problem could be boiled down to “Black people, frankly.” He was also criticised for his apparent embrace of the “replacement theory” promoted by white supremacists when he accused Democrats of trying to flood the country with immigrants in order “to change the demographics of our country.” Mr.
In his early works, Mr. Masters dealt with a broad variety of topics, which may be problematic for a mainstream political candidate.
According to LewRockwell.com, the “Houses of Morgan and Rothschild” were responsible for the United States’ entrance into World War I by failing to notify American steamship passengers of German threats that preceded the sinking of the Lusitania. C. Edward Griffin, an enthusiastic libertarian who once declared that “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion” – an infamous antisemitic fake — “accurately reflect much of what is occurring in our society now.”
“Historical people who dabbled in some of the ugliest antisemitic clichés conceivable,” said ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt of Mr. Masters’ citations to Goering and Griffin.
When it comes to antisemitic clichés like the infamous ‘Protocols of the Elder of Zion,’ any student of history should know better, according to Mr. Greenblatt.
“Regardless of how old he will be at the time, Mr. Masters ought to reject his choice to defend these persons and their ideals and denounce antisemitism in all forms,” he said. “
A campaign commercial by Mr. Lamon, for example, portrays Mr. Masters as a conspiratorial anti-Semitic.
“The left-wing media” would “attempt to defame me,” Mr. Masters responded, saying, “calling me a racist, sexist, and terrorist.” His last comment was: “Well, it seems that losers Republicans would do it as well.”