It is almost with an air of inevitability that the images and hyperventilating coverage of a group of Nazis will sweep across the media landscape with most any political gathering in Florida. The message of a DeSantis connection is clear, and the lasting impression of a growing problem of hatred in Florida is desired. That it is all built on a farcical premise and relies upon a group of stunted dolts is made obvious with any encounter of these "Nationalists Without A Country."
This past weekend, the outfit Turning Point USA staged its annual Student Action Summit in Tampa, and the press was focused excitedly on one item. Granted, the visuals of Nazi flags and SS banners are ripe for the news imagery, but the coverage and reporting are notably slanted. Business Insider delivered this interpretational headline: "Nazi flags displayed outside Turning Point USA summit attended by Trump condemned as 'pure hatred' by the Florida Holocaust Museum."
The implication that it had been the organizers who had displayed these flags was picked up by a number of other outlets and news affiliates. Also bypassed in most of the coverage was how the attendees of the conference were in visible opposition to these "protestors." No one took up arms with them, some voiced vocal opposition, but mostly everyone steered clear and ignored the idiocy. Eventually, the corrupted crew wandered off without incident.
Possibly the most desperate claim was this report stating these stunted supremacists somehow managed to "hijack" the event when their protest attendance was easily outnumbered by any line at the coffee stands inside. One only needs to see their crowd to be unimpressed. Outside, I met up with Jason Rantz, who was curious about the uproar – more like an up-grumble – as he took pics.
If I had to guess: this is staged. I just hope left-wing outlets don’t fall for this. pic.twitter.com/CuuAtaA3A6
— Jason Rantz on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) July 23, 2022
I was in attendance at this event with Brandon Morse from our partner site RedState, and he shot a video of their indolence.
About those Nazeez that popped up at #SAS2022… pic.twitter.com/H5FCkPMMIB
— Brandon Morse (@TheBrandonMorse) July 24, 2022
As can be seen, the primary issue is that they are a small – make that minuscule – lot of hate mongers. Never amounting to more than a dozen, this is a desultory group of 20-year-olds guided by one older leader but never by an actual message. The next issue is they have no core message they are trying to deliver. I approached this rag-tag rabble and could not get any of them to explain their appearance. One member would be barking unintelligible talking points from a bullhorn; the only real message is these geniuses did not grasp the cleverness of wearing all black and full-face masks in 96-degree heat.
They bore signs with the hooknose cartoon, and one waved a flag that lent support to Governor Ron DeSantis, the fresh-from-the-bag folds still visible. This crowd looked more like a central casting gathering of "Nazis" for a TV production rather than a threatening horde of hate mongers. Their reticence to speak with me, or any of the very few others in attendance who approached, matched what I saw in Orlando this past February.
Outside the complex where CPAC was held, this same wan crowd was out in farce, waving flags and holding signs (back then, it was some visual support of the truckers' protest), but little else in the way of messaging. I had approached them at that time, imploring them to explain just what it was they were protesting, either for or against. Those on the fringe remained taciturn, looking to their handler for assistance, only to be waved over and away from prying questions. For a group demanding attention, they are not adept at being heard.
By all appearances, there is a desperate attempt to have this embarrassing assemblage associated with DeSantis, except for the realities of the issue. Back in January, these Nazis acted up in Orlando, and Governor DeSantis was lambasted in the press for not condemning these idiots in an appropriately expedient fashion.
Those accusations had to avoid the fact that DeSantis had delivered words of support for Jews and honored the Holocaust while condemning antisemitism. He did this not as a reaction for political convenience; his words were spoken just days before the Nazi incursion that had the press so hot and bothered. Somehow, in the estimation of the press, his avowed support for the Jewish faith and condemnation of anti-semites managed to evaporate in a matter of days.
This underscores the position of the press and how vacant these charges of GOP sympathy for Nazis have become. There is a need in the media to inflate the import of these impotent protests and then conflate their lack of a clear message with the governor whom they are targeting. Look at the insistence that a wave of Nazism is sweeping the state, all while never materializing.
Instead of stadiums filled with attendees absorbing white supremacist dogma, you have a U-Haul truck carting around the same dozen dunces who failed the Wal-Mart door greeter job interview. The bias at play in the press is exposed by their desperation.