Florida Rejected the Groypers… But…

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.

Good.

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 dressed up for a generation raised on livestreams.

Bilzerian was somehow even more blatant. He targeted Fine specifically as a Jew, promoted claims about Jewish control, questioned the Holocaust and used Hitler imagery in campaign propaganda. He reportedly referred to the architect of the October 7 massacre as a hero and repeatedly attacked Fine with an antisemitic slur.

There was no ambiguity. No missing context. No reasonable alternative interpretation.

Dan Bilzerian ran for Congress as an antisemite. Anyone who supported him knew, or should have known, exactly what they were supporting.

Florida Republicans rejected him, but nearly 19 percent of voters in that congressional primary still chose him. Bilzerian received almost 17,000 votes and finished second in a five-person field. Fishback received roughly 10 percent of the statewide gubernatorial vote. These were not a few dozen neo-Nazis screaming into the void. Tens of thousands of people looked at two candidates openly marinating in antisemitism and racism and decided, “Yes, that is my guy.”

That is scary as hell.

I am originally from Florida. It been my home more than once. I have many friends and family there. I understand that Florida politics have always included more than their fair share of crooks, cranks and shameless attention seekers, but there is a difference between voting for an embarrassing candidate and voting for someone who openly targets an ethnic and religious minority.

These voters were not tricked by a hidden recording released the night before the election. Fishback and Bilzerian advertised their ugliness. Hatred was the product they were selling.

The results also tell us something important about the current political moment. Large numbers of Americans have soured on Israel and its government. Candidates who call for an end to military aid, condemn Israel’s actions in Gaza or support a Palestinian state are winning elections. As a Democrat, I believe we must preserve the distinction between legitimate criticism of Israel and antisemitism. Criticizing Benjamin Netanyahu does not make someone an antisemite. Opposing a particular Israeli policy does not mean someone hates Jews.

Blaming Jews for controlling America is antisemitism. Questioning the Holocaust is antisemitism. Calling for “Zionists” to be imprisoned while claiming Jews control Hollywood and the media is antisemitism. Targeting a candidate because he is Jewish is antisemitism.

These are not difficult distinctions unless someone is deliberately trying to blur them.

Earlier this year, Democratic congressional candidate Maureen Galindo lost a Texas runoff after spreading grotesque anti-Jewish conspiracies and calling for “American Zionists” to be imprisoned. Leading Democrats condemned her, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Hakeem Jeffries and Texas Senate nominee James Talarico. Galindo lost with about 40 percent of the vote.

That result was also disturbing, and Democrats should not minimize it. Antisemitism is not acceptable when it comes wrapped in progressive language any more than it is acceptable when it comes wearing a MAGA hat. If someone uses “Zionist” as a transparent substitute for “Jew,” Democrats have a responsibility to call it what it is. We cannot demand that Republicans confront Fuentes while making excuses for hatred in our own coalition.

There is, however, a serious difference in how the two parties currently approach political guardrails. Democrats broadly united against Galindo. Prominent Republicans condemned Bilzerian, but much of the conservative movement continues treating Fuentes and his Groyper followers as edgy young rebels who should be debated, courted or quietly tolerated.

They should not be courted. They should be politically destroyed.

Nick Fuentes is not offering a fresh direction for conservatism. He is reheating some of the oldest and most murderous lies in Western history for lonely young men with broadband connections. His movement takes personal failure, economic anxiety and social isolation, then tells its followers that Jews, women, immigrants and Black Americans are responsible for everything wrong with their lives.

It is pathetic. It is dangerous. And it is spreading.

Republicans should be celebrating the defeat of Fishback and Bilzerian, but they should not pretend the problem has been solved. Nearly one in five Republican voters in Florida’s 6th District chose an open antisemite. Around one in ten Republican gubernatorial voters backed a candidate associated with Fuentes.

Those numbers are not a victory lap. They are a fire alarm.

The good news is that the antisemites lost.

The terrifying news is that tens of thousands of Floridians knew exactly what these men represented and voted for them anyway.

A lot has to change before the next group of antisemitic assholes gets more than attention.

Next time, they might get power.