The company that designed the stage for the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Florida told The Forward that they didn’t know that the stage design looked like a Nazi symbol.
The stage went viral on social media after some noticed that it resembled a Nazi rune symbol. The company, Design Foundry, told The Forward that they “had no idea that the design resembled any symbol, nor was there any intention to create something that did.” They added that they were simply trying “to provide the best use of space, given the constraints of the ballroom and social distancing requirements” and were “horrified” at the allegations that they intentionally used a Nazi symbol for the stage.
“Design Foundry denounces all hate speech and acts of racism, prejudice, or bigotry in all forms,” the company said.
Ian Walter, communications director for the American Conservative Union (ACU), which heads CPAC, also told The Forward that they will not be retaining the Design Foundry for stage designs going forward.
“ACU and CPAC have no interest in promoting antisemitism from our stage, whether it’s what happens on the stage or the design of the stage itself,” Walters said. “It’s clear that the company we retained designed a stage that has become an unwelcome distraction.”
It was subsequently reported that Design Foundry has also worked for the Biden Cancer Summit and MSNBC.
https://twitter.com/Breaking911/status/1367121725952057350
Journalist Yashar Ali tweeted that he knows that the owner of Design Foundry “is very liberal and was so excited for Biden’s victory” and that a lot of their employees are liberal.
“Now an event company, which is a liberal owned and run small business, is associated with a horrific allegation that is based on conspiracies and no evidence,” he added.
2. Also worth noting that many of her employees are liberal
So many of you decided to go after something without any reporting or knowledge about who was responsible for the design
And before you ding her for working for CPAC, you try having an events business during a pandemic
— Yashar Ali 🐘 یاشار (@yashar) March 3, 2021
4. And none of you will admit you got it wrong or apologize because in your minds it means you’re caving into Trump.
Now an event company, which is a liberal owned and run small business, is associated with a horrific allegation that is based on conspiracies and no evidence.
— Yashar Ali 🐘 یاشار (@yashar) March 3, 2021
Mike Rothschild, an avowed liberal Jew who writes about conspiracy theories, similarly tweeted, “It’s clear that Design Foundry designed the stage, the ACU approved it, and it wasn’t meant to look like a Nazi rune. Now can we please go back to hating CPAC for its ideas, not its stage design?”
Nobody's going to admit they were wrong because, hey, it's Twitter. But it's clear that Design Foundry designed the stage, the ACU approved it, and it wasn't meant to look like a Nazi rune. Now can we please go back to hating CPAC for its ideas, not its stage design?
— Mike Rothschild (no relation) (@rothschildmd) March 3, 2021
According to The Forward, under the terms of the ACU’s contract with Design Foundry, the ACU approved the design as one of several options, but couldn’t alter the state designs themselves.
The Hyatt Regency Orlando, where CPAC was held, also issued a statement saying that they had told CPAC about the Nazi symbolism and were told that the comparison wasn’t intentional. They added that it “became clear to us only after the event kicked off” and that any attempt to form a new stage during the conference would have been “disruptive.” CPAC’s attorney responded with a letter to Hyatt accusing them of making defamatory statements toward CPAC and asserted that Hyatt “approved and worked collaboratively to build this stage.”
