White Nationalist Group Finds An Ally In Kelly Ayotte

White Nationalist Group Finds An Ally In Kelly Ayotte

It took Republican candidate for governor Kelly Ayotte over a week to acknowledge her endorsement from the New England White Network, a white supremacist hate group that has a lurid history of spreading hate, racism, and antisemitism.

The leader of the group, Ryan J. Murdough, cited Ayotte’s “anti-Massachusetts rhetoric” and keeping “invaders” out of New Hampshire as reasons he and his group are supporting her for governor. Only today, 8 days after the endorsement, did Ayotte release a statement in which she spent as much time complaining about the media as she did condemning her white supremacist endorser.

Last month, Ayotte’s ties to the extremist groups Moms for Liberty, which made headlines in 2021 for putting “bounties” on educators for teaching “divisive concepts,” and the Free State Project, which advocated for “a life free of government interference” with the goal of seceding from the union, were revealed. A leader of the Free State Project, Jeremy Kauffman, is known for his “incendiary rhetoric” and racist tweets. Ayotte’s campaign “did not return a request for comment” on her association with these groups.

“It took Kelly Ayotte over a week to condemn the endorsement of a well-known, dangerous white supremacist organization, and even then had more to say about the media than about her neo-Nazi backers. She’s a week late and about 100 dollars short,” said DGA Deputy Communications Director Izzi Levy. “Kelly Ayotte needs to take a step back and ask herself why a certified hate group sees her as a friend to their cause.”

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