Sen. Eric Schmitt employs staffer linked to campaign video with Nazi imagery
It feels like a distant memory now, but back in 2023, then-presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis faced widespread condemnation and ultimately fired a campaign staffer who circulated a video that featured Nazi imagery.
Backlash to the video at the time came from liberals and MAGA types alike, as you can see in the replies and other posts addressed to Republican strategist Luke Thompson, who first highlighted the video. As NBC News noted, the fired staffer, Nathan Hochman, had been seen as something of a thought leader in the MAGA movement and had previously praised neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes' influence on young men (in 2022, Hochman distanced himself from those remarks and from Fuentes, saying he thought Fuentes' 'politics are both wrong on the merits and profoundly immoral').
At the time of his firing, the campaign declined to specify to NBC News why Hochman had been let go, and Hochman would not comment on the video to Semafor. In 2024, Hochman suggested to political blog Florida Politics that he was unaware the imagery was connected to Nazis when he promoted it.
But it appears that since his departure from Team DeSantis, Hochman has gone up in the world — from staffing a failed presidential campaign to a position with a sitting senator. The newsletter Liberal Currents and The Guardian both report that Hochman now works for Sen. Eric Schmitt of Missouri. And the public affairs website LegiStorm, which maintains a database of congressional employees, lists Hochman as a policy adviser in Schmitt's office. (Schmitt's office didn't immediately respond to MSNBC's request for comment.)
And at the same time the senator employs this man who promoted Nazi iconography, Schmitt is aiding the Trump administration's authoritarian assault on campuses and universities. Schmitt has promoted — both online and from the Senate floor — the bogus claim that diversity measures fuel antisemitism. The hypocrisy is glaring: If only the senator were as dogged in rooting out bigotry in his own office, perhaps Hochman would not be working there.
This all speaks to a point Democratic Rep. Greg Casar highlighted during a recent House hearing: The conservative movement has a pattern of platforming people known for antisemitic statements.
Given recent news headlines, you'd be forgiven for thinking Republicans are running some sort of affirmative action program for racists. You may remember Marko Elez, the employee in Trump's dubiously named Department of Government Efficiency who was rehired with an even broader remit over federal agencies after being dismissed for unearthed social media posts such as 'Just for the record, I was racist before it was cool.' My colleague Steve Benen has written about Pentagon spokesperson Kingsley Wilson, a pro-extremist influencer with a history of promoting racist and antisemitic claims. There's also Darren Beattie, a current high-ranking official at the State Department who has a history of promoting racist extremism and associating with white nationalists known for antisemitic views.
Which makes Hochman just the latest right-wing extremist to find himself with an influential job in government.
This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
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