Josh Mandel, a Jewish Republican who is set to run against Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) in 2018, is facing criticism for his decision to publicly condemn the Anti-Defamation League and to stand up for notorious conspiracy theorist Mike Cernovich.
In a tweet posted on Thursday, Mandel linked to an article written by Cernovich attacking the ADL, and added his own supportive message.
"Sad to see ADL become a partisan witchhunt group targeting people for political beliefs," wrote Mandel. "I stand with Cernovich & Jack Posobiec."
Reporter Yair Rosenberg of Tablet Magazine quickly pounced on Mandel's praise of Cernovich and confronted him with some of Cernovich's past controversial statements.
"Do you stand with Cernovich's claim that the Pizzagate conspiracy was real?" he asked the Republican candidate. "Cernovich has also claimed 'date rape does not exist.' Do you stand with him on that? Cernovich promoted conspiracy theory that Jewish DNC staffer Seth Rich was murdered in a Democratic conspiracy. Do you stand with that?"
In the past, Cernovich has also voiced support for the "white genocide" conspiracy theory that posits wealthy Jews are plotting to import people of other races into the United States in an attempt to wipe out white culture once and for all.
"I went from libertarian to alt-right after realizing tolerance only went one way and diversity is code for white genocide," Cernovich wrote in a 2015 tweet that he has since deleted.
Cernovich has also expressed a belief that male sperm has magical super powers to make women loyal to their partners.
"Semen is a man's life force," he wrote in 2014. "If she cheats, this means you life force is weak, needs rebuilt. When you have super serum, they never leave."
