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The Texas GOP voted against a ban on associating with Nazi sympathizers.
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The proposed ban came after a top state conservative met with Nick Fuentes, a white nationalist who praises Hitler.
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Members who voted against the ban said it was too vague.
The Texas GOP executive committee voted against a measure that would ban Republicans from associating with Holocaust deniers and Nazi sympathizers.
The committee, by a vote of 32 to 29, removed the clause from a pro-Israel resolution, according to The Texas Tribune. The resolution would have banned members of the party from associating with people who “espouse or tolerate antisemitism, pro-Nazi sympathies or Holocaust denial,” according to the outlet.
Members of the executive committee who disagreed with the inclusion of the language said that words like “tolerate” and “antisemitism” are too vague, according to The Texas Tribune. Some committee members said the ban was akin to “leftist” tactics and would be problematic for the party, according to the outlet.
“It could put you on a slippery slope,” committee member Dan Tully said.
The measure came just two months after former Republican Texas state representative Jonathan Stickland met with white nationalist Nick Fuentes. Fuentes is an avowed Hitler admirer who has called for a “holy war” against Jews.
The Texas Tribune took photos of Fuentes entering Pale Horse Strategies, a conservative consulting agency owned by Stickland, in October. Following the meeting, nearly half of the executive committee called for the party to stop associating with Defend Texas Liberty, a political action committee headed by Stickland, the outlet reported.
The language in the pro-Israel resolution was proposed as an alternative to cutting ties with Defense Texas Liberty, according to the report.
The committee ultimately passed the resolution without the provision, according to the Rome News-Tribune, a local newspaper.
Rolando Garcia, a committee member who drafted the language, said its removal “sends a disturbing message.”
“We’re not specifying any individual or association,” Garcia said, according to The Tribune. “This is simply a statement of principle.”
The Texas GOP did not immediately return a request for comment from Business Insider.
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