Marjorie Taylor Greene employed a graphic designer with close ties to white nationalist Nick Fuentes, according to a new report.
The Georgia lawmaker’s congressional campaign paid $55,020 to Lance W. Smith between June 2022 and May 2023, while he was managing websites for Mr Fuentes, according to Federal Election Commission records reviewed by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).
Mr Smith, 23, of Melissa, Texas, purchased or managed multiple websites and gaming servers connected to Mr Fuentes’ “America First” movement, according to the SPLC.
His ties to America First go back to at least 2020, when he allegedly registered the website domain genzgop.com and made it redirect to a website associated with Mr Fuentes, according to the SPLC investigation.
Gen Z GOP, a youth Republican group, “unequivocally” distanced itself from the America First movement.
“In 2020, Fuentes and his cronies attacked our organisation, and the domain’s ownership was likely purchased in an attempt to subvert our efforts to create a more inclusive Republican Party,” the group said in a statement to the SPLC.
Mr Smith also claimed to have managed “multiple digital assets” for Donald Trump’s 2024 reelection bid.
Ms Taylor Greene’s congressional press office did not immediately reply to a request for comment by The Independent.
Ms Taylor Greene has faced heavy criticism for her past ties to white supremacists.
In February 2022, Ms Taylor Greene addressed a group of far-right figures at an America First Political Action Conference organised by Mr Fuentes.
Nick Fuentes heads the America First white nationalist movement— ( Associated Press)
After a backlash, she claimed not to know who Mr Fuentes was despite him being one of the US’s most well-known white nationalists.
She later denounced Mr Fuentes “and his racist anti-semitic ideology”.
Mr Fuentes has been named by the Anti-Defamation League and Justice Department as a white supremacist, and was banned from most major social media platforms, including YouTube and Twitter, for inciting violence and breaching hate speech rules.
The 24-year-old is a vocal supporter of Donald Trump, and dined with the former president and Kanye West at Mar-a-Lago in late 2022.
Ms Taylor Greene also hired far-right provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos as a congressional intern, who briefly worked for West’s presidential campaign.
