Georgia Senator Kelly Loeffler has issued a statement after taking a picture with a Neo-Nazi. On Friday, Loeffler posed for a photo with Chester Doles, a well known white supremacist in the southeast. However, members of the Loeffler campaign said that she did not know of Doles background prior to taking the photo.
“Kelly had no idea who that was, and if she had she would have kicked him out immediately because we condemn in the most vociferous terms everything that he stands for,” campaign spokesman Stephen Lawson said.
Doles has a well-documented past as a bigot and racist. He is a former member of the Ku Klux Klan and the Neo-Nazi National Alliance. Furthermore, he was associated with a skinhead group called the Hammerskins and participated in 2017's Unite The Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Not to mention, he was convicted in 1993 for beating a Black man.
Despite his past, Doles says that he has “publicly renounced racism on several occasions in the past couple of years.” He adds that he attended a "redemption service in front of an all-Black congregation and told [his] story and renounced all racism and asked for God’s forgiveness.” However, his recent actions have contradicted those statements.
Doles has been an avid supporter of President Donald Trump and congresswoman Marjorie Taylor-Greene. Last year, he started a pro-Trump organization called American Patriots USA that has ties to the far-right militia movement. His ties to far-right groups and Neo-Nazi organizations have led politicians like Taylor-Greene to distance themselves from him.
"Yes, I asked him to be removed. He is not welcome at any events that I attend. Period," Taylor-Greene said.
"I don't know him and have no relationship with him. He's not a donor and has never worked for the campaign."
At this time, it is unclear if Loeffler has banned Doles from all upcoming events. She is scheduled to face off against Rev. Raphael Warnock on January 5 in a run-off Senate election.
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