DeSantis Fires Staffer Who Created Anti-LGBTQ Video With Nazi Imagery

A staffer working on the Ron DeSantis presidential campaign has been fired after he allegedly created and then retweeted a pro-DeSantis video celebrating his anti-LGBTQ+ legislative accomplishments that also included Nazi imagery.

According to Axios, Nate Hochman, a speechwriter on the DeSantis campaign and a former writer for National Review, “created the video on his own and shared it through a pro-DeSantis Twitter account, according to a person familiar with the matter. Hochman then retweeted the video, but it was deleted shortly afterward.”

“Nate Hochman is no longer with the campaign. And we will not be commenting on him further,” a DeSantis campaign official told Axios.

Scoop: This staffer didn't just retweet the video.
He secretly made the video w/ the Sonnenrad, per a person familiar.

It was then shared through @desantiscams where the staffer retweeted it. The video was later deleted it but here it is.
My storyhttps://t.co/TBt0IMNQe0 https://t.co/Tutp4lM4On pic.twitter.com/DJdy71DzwD

— Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) July 25, 2023

On Saturday, @desantiscams, an anonymous pro-DeSantis account followed by several of his campaign aides, tweeted out a video attacking former President Trump for not building a border wall and for promoting the COVID-19 vaccine. The video then displays news headlines celebrating DeSantis’ anti-LGBTQ+ legislative agenda to the tune of Kate Bush’s “Running up that Hill (A Deal with God).”

The video ends with an image of DeSantis in the center of Florida’s state seal — which then morphs into a rotating Sonnenrad, an ancient European symbol used by the Nazis to stand for their belief in Aryan superiority. According to the Anti-Defamation League, the Nazi swastika is also a form of a sonnenrad.

Ron DeSantis campaign staff just shared a video with DeSantis and a Nazi symbol imposed over a flag of Florida with soldiers marching toward it. pic.twitter.com/hcD6i0QwS1

— No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen (@NoLieWithBTC) July 23, 2023

Earlier this month, the DeSantis campaign quietly deleted a pro-DeSantis ad that was widely slammed by both Democrats and Republicans for its virulent homophobia and was also mocked for its homo-erotic imagery.