Steve West, who has uttered numerous anti-Semitic statements, including praise for Adolf Hitler, won a GOP primary in Missouri state House race on August 7.
West has issued his anti-Semitic statements through his radio and YouTube channel persona “Jack Justice,” where he wears a curly-black wig and faux facial hair. During his radio broadcast on January 23, 2017, West said, “Unfortunately, Hitler was right about what was taking place in Germany. And who was behind it.”
When confronted by the Kansas City-Star about his Hitler comment, West initially denied that he made the statement at all, but when the Star provided proof to him, West claimed that the full context of his remarks show otherwise:
He said Islam is a political movement masquerading as a religion and that it’s trying to create an autocratic theocracy in the U.S., and that it should be stripped of all benefits religions receive.
“Jewish people can be beautiful people, but there’s ideologies associated with that that I don’t agree with,” he went on. “Jews today are a remnant of the tribe of Judah that rejected Christ.”
West again asked to speak about issues related to the job of a state representative. When asked about Jewish people in Missouri, he said, “Well, maybe they shouldn’t vote for me.”
West has made several other anti-Semitic comments under his Jack Justice persona, most notably that “Jewish cabals” are behind Planned Parenthood’s practice of “harvesting baby parts.” He has also promulgated the classic conspiracy theories that “Jews control the media…Jews control the legal system” and that Jews are “compromised” to Israel because of their Jewish faith. West has also claimed that “Jews who are involved in Republican politics are grooming America, just as a pedophile grooms his victim and grooms his victim’s family as they are preparing the way for them to violate those children.”
West’s campaign website also alleges that there is some sort of conspiracy to use sodium fluoride to poison water and argues that getting vaccinated should be optional.
He won the GOP primary for the House with nearly 50 percent of the vote, easily defeating three other candidates in the primary. The Missouri Republican Party has denounced him.
“Steve West’s shocking and vile comments do not reflect the position of the Missouri Republican Party or indeed of any decent individual,” the party said in a statement. “West’s abhorrent rhetoric has absolutely no place in the Missouri Republican Party or anywhere. We wholeheartedly condemn his comments.”
West’s opponent, incumbent state Democrat Rep. Jon Carpenter, told The Pitch, “This is anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, homophobia, and racism to a degree that truly shocks the conscience. It is my hope that folks who voted for [West] in the Republican primary weren’t aware of any of this stuff. I sincerely hope that’s true.”
Karen Aroesty, who is the Anti-Defamation League (ADL)’s regional director in St. Louis, had a similar reaction.
“I’m trying to get sense of why he flew under the radar, and I’m not sure I have a great answer,” Aroesty told the Star.
