 The "anti-cancel culture" crusaders at Breitbart released a giant hit piece attempting to cancel conservative writer Pedro Gonzales on Tuesday for "racist and antisemitic messages" he allegedly made in a private group chat in 2019-2020.
Breitbart poured over "months' worth of his [leaked] private messages" to find the most controversial quotes they could find to paint Gonzales as a Nazi.
From Breitbart, "Exclusive -- Rising Conservative Influencer Pedro Gonzalez Regularly Espoused Racist and Anti-Semitic Sentiments in Private Messages" (Archive):
Pedro Gonzalez, a rising conservative influencer and politics editor of Chronicles magazine, regularly in 2019 and 2020 sent racist and antisemitic messages, Breitbart News can reveal after reviewing months' worth of his private messages.
More recently, Gonzalez has become perhaps most well-known as one of the most active and strident pro-Florida Gov. Ron Desantis influencers on Twitter.
"Yeah like not every Jew is problematic, but the sad fact is that most are," Gonzalez wrote in one group chat in 2019, for instance.
"The only tactical considertation [sic] of Jews is screening them for movements," Gonzalez wrote in another group chat message. "But that is not something for open discussion."
"I am at the point where I can respect Jews as individuals and like them as individuals, but as a group I see them as problematic," Gonzalez said in another.
In yet another message, Gonzalez shared a clearly antisemitic cartoon of a man wearing a "Pepe" shirt grabbing the large nose of the Jewish editor-in-chief of a newspaper--"Mr. Heebawitz, Editor-in-Chief" appears on the nameplate on the desk below him--while the man declares: "Getting real tired of this shit." Gonzalez, when sharing that cartoon, wrote: "LMAO."
"Minorities like me see America for what it is--a country built by whites, that can only survive if whites survive," Gonzalez wrote in another message. "And it is my job to make whites wake up. Because if they don't we are all fucked. Especially people like me."
"Tfw [that feeling when] when you realize whites are the only hope non-whites have of living civilized lives, but whites themselves are too cucked to preserve their own civilizations," Gonzalez said in another message. They go on for page after page with this stuff.
Notably, they bragged about pressing Trump to condemn conservative commentator Nick Fuentes and pressed the DeSantis campaign to cancel Gonzales:
When former President Donald Trump came under fire for dining with [Nicholas] Fuentes last year, a few weeks later in an interview at his Doral golf club in Miami, Breitbart News pressed Trump on the matter and he made clear he believes that "nobody" who has "the wrong and ill will about people" has a place in the America First movement or the modern GOP -- which Trump seeks to again lead in 2024. Trump specified too that he does not believe Fuentes, specifically, has a place in the movement or the party.
The DeSantis campaign has not replied to a request for comment from Breitbart News. Pushaw has not replied to a specific comment request, either. Gonzalez has also not replied to a request for comment on these matters.
A spokesperson for Never Back Down, however, said that the PAC has no relationship with Gonzalez and said the statements were "inexcusable" while touting DeSantis's broader record fighting antisemitism. The statement also aimed to flip the criticism on Trump. They also bashed Gonzales for criticizing Ben Shapiro:
In one example, on July 18, 2019, the day that Trump held a rally at which people chanted "Send Her Back" regarding Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN)--a Somali-American Democrat with a deep history of antisemitic comments--the Daily Wire's Shapiro criticized the chant. Shapiro said it was "vile" and, while "Omar is awful" and is a "radical anti-Semite with terrible views," he thinks "chanting for her deportation based on her exercise of the First Amendment," since she is "an American citizen," is "disgusting."
Gonzalez was particularly perturbed by Shapiro's comments, sharing in the group chat a now-deleted Tweet he sent in response to Shapiro, in which Gonzalez argues that "denaturalizing and deporting subversives is an American tradition" and in which he attacks Shapiro for calling the chants to do so "disgusting." Gonzalez said in the tweet that in his view the real thing that is "disgusting" is how a "nasally little chickenhawk"--Shapiro--"always shills for the far-left when it counts."
But Gonzalez saved what he really thought of Shapiro for his closest friends on this group chat on Telegram. He went much, much further privately, including using antisemitic tropes to attack Shapiro to his friends. He said Shapiro was "being subversive," then explained his philosophy about "subversive Jews."
"Notice that subversive Jews will defend Omar, because they know that if we start targeting people with foreign allegiances, people who don't assimilate, they'll be next," Gonzalez wrote. "There are, of course, exceptions, but as a general rule, this is true."
A few messages later, Gonzalez further explained his view. "I know it's counterintuitive, but trust me on this," he wrote. "Basically, it's safety in numbers. Like Shapiro would rather have Omar in the same country as him, rather than have angry white Christians single him out. After they single out Omar." They also explicitly cited the Anti-Defamation League as a credible source in their bid to have Gonzales canceled:
RATIONALIZING HOLOCAUST DENIAL: NOT ‘PARTICULARLY HORRIFYING'
In another one-on-one message, Gonzalez downplayed the significance of the Holocaust. "All I'm saying is, and maybe it's because I'm a history guy, I don't see the holocaust as particularly horrifying, when compared to everything else," he wrote.
That aforementioned Shakespeare message came amid a broader discussion of the Shakespeare play The Merchant of Venice. The play, which contains a Jewish protagonist named Shylock, has been the wellspring of much antisemitism, including some by then-Vice President Joe Biden in 2014. Biden, as Breitbart News' John Nolte reported at the time, referred to Jews as "Shylocks," something the Anti-Defamation League considers an antisemitic slur. Biden was forced to apologize for his comments. But during these 2019 group chat messages, Gonzalez complained one of his classmates in school was concerned about the Shakespeare play.
"The other day, a student complained that the Merchant of Venice is antisemitic," Gonzalez complained to his friends.... "The bad guy, if you haven't read it, is a Jew named Shylock."
"My response to his deep concern was: What does it matter?" Gonzalez continued... "Why are we hanging the Mercent [sic] of Venice on whether Shakespeare portrayed Jews unfavorably?"
Gonzalez then explained that he believes the stereotypes about Jews as portrayed by Shakespeare's Shylock in The Merchant of Venice are in fact true.
"First, some of those stereotypes are true," Gonzalez wrote. "Sorry, but Jews aren't perfect. They have not exactly been good neighbors to Christians. Second, I refuse to weigh the value of Shakespeare on what Jews think about Shylock." Breitbart's own commenters were unimpressed with their "thought crime" policing:
Breitbart's followers on Twitter also condemned their embrace of Media Matters-style tactics:
Breitbart has been going downhill for years.
They should really change the name of their site to Joel Pollak's Blog.
UPDATE: Gonzales addressed the controversy in a statement on Twitter:
I am blown away by the amount of support I’ve received from every corner amid this smear campaign by Trump’s camp. I cannot express in words how much it means that so many are standing with me—even those who have vehemently disagreed with me in the past.
The only reason my private messages—messages I exchanged with *Trump supporters* from a different, dumb season of my life—are being used against me is that I’ve become the most effective critic of Trump since jumping off the Trump train.
I'm going to address the smear at length, but I’m not going to let the Trump campaign silence me.
Thanks again so much to everyone who is defending me and offering grace.
I also appreciate my friends who still support Trump but are defending me against this. It means a lot to me.
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