JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A candidate running to become the State Committeeman for the Duval Republican Party is coming under fire after the state’s lone Jewish Republican state lawmaker blasted him on social media for past antisemitic posts.
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A dozen controversial posts from Republican State Committeeman candidate Nathan Tocco caught the ire of State Representative Randy Fine (R-Palm Bay).
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Action News Jax spoke with Fine at a pro-Israel speaking engagement in Jacksonville Monday.
“Look, it’s not a situation where he made one stupid comment or two stupid comments,” said Fine.
Among the posts, Tocco retweeted a post blaming 9/11 on Israel, called for the deportation of American citizens who hold dual Israeli citizenship, told Jewish Americans to “stop drawing swastikas on their own businesses to attract attention”, and commented on a post made by South Dakota’s Governor supporting a bill aimed at combating antisemitism saying, “50 shekels have been deposited into your account”.
“He’s calling for the deportation of 100,000 American citizens. He’s calling for a new Holocaust,” said Fine.
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We reached out to Tocco via email, asking him wether he denies the Holocaust, believes Israel is responsible for 9/11, identifies as a Nazi, and whether he believes his shekel comments were inappropriate.
“This is bait. Clearly an attempt by the political establishment in FL to make a hit piece by enlisting someone from Brevard to call me a “Nazi” like a democrat,” Tocco replied in an emailed statement.
Fine, who does represent Brevard County, argued Duval Republicans should do everything in their power to reject the hateful rhetoric posted by Tocco by sending a message loud and clear on election day.
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“I think they should be considering two things. One is do they want a Nazi representing them? Cause with ‘Taco’, that’s what they’ll get. And I think the second thing I would say is we’re working very hard to make Democratic Jews comfortable in the Republican Party. They celebrate their antisemites, we need to show that we won’t tolerate them,” said Fine.
There are a total of seven candidates in the race to become Duval’s Republican State Committeeman.
Republican voters in the county will make their choice on August 20th.
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