As a Democrat, I am perfectly capable of recognizing when voters in the other party do the right thing. Florida Republicans were given the opportunity to nominate two openly antisemitic, racist pieces of human garbage. They rejected them.

James Fishback lost the Republican primary for governor. Dan Bilzerian lost his congressional primary against Rep. Randy Fine. Both men attracted national attention, dominated far-right corners of the internet and tried to turn hatred of Jews into a political brand. Neither came close to winning.

Their defeats are a reassuring sign that Groyperism, the online far-right movement built around Nick Fuentes, remains more powerful on social media than it is at the ballot box. These creeps can rack up views, likes and podcast appearances. They can convince themselves that their collection of angry incels represents a mass political awakening. But when actual voters showed up, Fishback and Bilzerian got their asses kicked.

That deserves to be acknowledged.

However, these were not merely unconventional conservatives questioning American aid to Israel. They were not thoughtful foreign-policy critics. They were not brave outsiders challenging the establishment. They were antisemites, full stop.

Fishback embraced Fuentes and the Groyper movement while trafficking in antisemitic conspiracy theories and running a viciously racist campaign against Byron Donalds. He repeatedly called Donalds, who is Black, a “slave” and reportedly told a Black Floridian that the person should be lynched. This is not conservatism. It is not populism. It is the diseased politics of the white nationalist gutter........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)