Daily Caller Publishes Neo-Fascist as Objective 'Journalist'

The Daily Caller was caught running coverage of the removal of Confederate monuments in the South written by an open white supremacist sympathizer who is against their removal.

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On May 14, the Daily Caller, the online news site founded by libertarian conservative Tucker Carlson, ran an article titled, “Richard Spencer Leads White Nationalist Demonstration In Front Of Virginia Robert E. Lee Monument," which was supposed to be "objective" news coverage of “an ongoing dispute” over Confederate monuments in Charlottesville, Virginia.

As it turns out, the story's author, Jason Kessler is a prominent neo-fascist activist and blogger in the state of Virginia. Kessler's Twitter feed is typical “alt-right” material, with openly racist tweets aimed at Black people, Muslims and immigrants, as well as posts expressing his admiration for far-right leaders.

According to the investigative reporting group ProPublica, which reviewed videos posted to YouTube, Kessler himself spoke at the event, declaring the start of a cultural “civil war.” Kessler was even prominently featured in a photo carried by Virginia Public Radio a day after his Daily Caller article was published, and was arrested for disorderly conduct that evening. Earlier this month, he was sentenced to 50 hours of community service for the crime of misdemeanor assault, which was related to his far-right activism against Charlottesville's vice mayor.

When interviewed by ProPublica, Kessler was unapologetic, referring to extremists as “the bravest people … who are willing to take a stand for white civil rights.” He also stated that he wants an exclusivist “ethno-state” for U.S. residents of European descent while remarking that his skinhead friends are hardly dangerous, at least in comparison to Islamic State group who kill “little white girls.”

The Daily Caller, however, severed ties with Kessler when informed by ProPublica that they had discovered his open racist agitation around the issue. The site, however, defended his article as “factually accurate” coverage that “plainly states what happened at the event.”

The outing of the Daily Caller writer comes mere days after 35-year-old Jeremy Christian — who killed two men in Portland during an anti-Muslim rant — was discovered to have also been a member of the “alt-right” online subculture.