A new report claims a member of the Ron DeSantis political campaign created a now-deleted meme video about the candidate that featured a Nazi Black Sun symbol, and that high ranking members of the campaign celebrated the video’s creation, with one declaring the clip belonged in the Smithsonian.
The report by Semafor cites internal DeSantis campaign communications made on the encrypted messaging service Signal in a chat room titled “War Room Creative Ideas” created and moderated by campaign forward response director Christina Pushaw. Pushaw previously drew criticism from supporters of 45th President Donald Trump for her ties to pro-NATO elements in Georgia, which was partially annexed by Russia in 2008.
Staffers reportedly praised the deleted video, posted by anonymous pro-DeSantis Twitter account “Ron DeSantis Fancams” under the handle @DeSantiscams. The clip featured images and videos of DeSantis and his family to a remixed version of Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill.” After the one minute mark, an image of DeSantis’s face was joined by a rotating Black Sun, also known as a sonnenrad.
Unlike the swastika, which has existed in various cultures for thousands of years, the Black Sun was purposely created by Nazi SS leader Heinrich Himmler, who used it as a design element at a castle which he intended to use to as a center for the Nazi paramilitary organization. While the Black Sun is specific to Nazi ideologies, similar symbols do appear in other cultures.
“This belongs in the Smithsonian,” wrote DeSantis campaign director of research and data Kyle Lamb, according to Semafor. Lamb was fired from the campaign as part of its latest restructuring and relaunch.
Though it’s unclear who made the video, former DeSantis campaign aide Nate Hochman shared the video, and Axios reported he made it. Hochman too was fired by the DeSantis campaign shortly after the Nazi icon sparked national headlines about the campaign.
In a short statement to CNN, the DeSantis campaign confirmed “Hochman is no longer with the campaign. And we will not be commenting on him furhter.”
Previously, the DeSantis campaign was rocked by similar headlines over another controversial meme video compiling Trump’s past statements in support of the LGBT community, particularly those made after an Islamic terrorist attack at a gay nightclub in 2016.
Semafor notes that the New York Times claimed that video, too, was created inside the DeSantis campaign, and the creator of the video remains employed by DeSantis.
DeSantis defended that video, claiming it was “fair game,” but later denied personal responsibility for the creation of the video when speaking to Fox News.
“These things get shared, or whatever – and look, I’m responsible for it. Don’t get me wrong,” said DeSantis. “But the idea that I was sitting there, like – oh, share this video? No. It’s a rapid response thing.”
Pushaw remains the rapid response director for DeSantis at press time.
