Roy Moore is looking for allies in all the wrong places. Abandoned by the establishment, the beleaguered Alabama Republican touted the endorsement of IndianaFirst, a pro-Trump super PAC founded by a 24-year-old recovering white supremacist.
Not bothering to dig into the group’s background, the Moore campaign immediately trumpeted the endorsement in a press release. “IndianaFirst is committed to the success of President Trump’s America First agenda,” Moore said in a statement, “and I am honored to receive their endorsement.”
But there’s some trouble with that group, trouble that could’ve been revealed by a quick Google search.
IndianaFirst promised to mobilize a “volunteer strike force.” It was founded last month. They claimed their leadership was made up of “seasoned campaign veterans.” Their leader’s only real experience comes from his stint as chairman of the National Youth Front — not exactly qualifying credentials.
While Moore has made a habit of slamming journalists, NBC managed to do what his campaign couldn’t. They caught up with the founder of the PAC, Caleb Shumaker.
Reached by phone in Indiana, Shumaker came clean about his past ties to the National Youth Front. Videos published under his name on YouTube are full of standard racist fare — clips of minorities beating up white people, condemnation of diversity, and melodramatic “declaration of war.”
But Shumaker says he split from the group because their positions were becoming too racist. “I left due to the direction they were going with their ethnocentric views,” Shumaker explained.
Since then, the aspiring politico launched at least one super PAC. So far, Moore is the only one silly enough to fall for it.
