Rick Tyler: Tennessee's Racist Third Congressional District Candidate
A congressional candidate in eastern Tennessee who recently made national headlines for his 鈥淢ake America White Again鈥� billboards is hoping Donald Trump鈥檚 racially charged presidential campaign will increase his chances of winning.聽
In a recent interview with聽Winston Smith on the white nationalist radio show聽Political Cesspool,聽Rick Tyler said, 鈥淲ell I of course derived some inspiration from Donald Trump.鈥�
Trump鈥檚 advocacy of a "temporary ban" on Muslim immigration and the construction of a wall on the U.S. border with Mexico, Tyler said in one of his blog posts, has also 鈥渃reated a climate conducive to conversation about ... namely, the urgent and vital subject of race,鈥� which is what Tyler wants.
Tyler, 58, of Ocoee,聽isn鈥檛 new to politics. He ran unsuccessfully for the same congressional district in 2014, receiving only 0.4 percent of the vote, and for U.S. Senate in Florida in 2010.聽
His offensive billboards and his pseudo-intellectual AM radio advertisements, called聽鈥淚ntelligent Conversation on Race,鈥� shouldn鈥檛 come as a surprise.
Tyler has been active in the white nationalist movement for over 30 years. According to an article published in the anti-Semitic publication American Free Press (AFP), Tyler has distributed copies of AFP and the Spotlight, two publications founded by the late white nationalist Willis Carto, who also founded the first major American Holocaust-denial outfit, the Institute for Historical Review (IHR).
Tyler is also a follower of Christian Identity, an anti-Semitic religious ideology that claims Jews are the "seed of Satan鈥� and people of color are soulless "mud people."
In an interview with Eli James, a Christian Identity pastor who runs Eurofolk Radio, which is 鈥渃oncerned about all White people and their struggle to break free of the Jewish matrix of deceit,鈥� Tyler referred to Jewish temples as 鈥渟ynagogue[s] of Satan.鈥� He also claims that the 鈥渢rue Israelite descent is to be found among those of Caucasian, European ancestry,鈥� according to one of his recent blog posts.
Most recently, Tyler divulged more of his racist leanings during online radio interviews with Smith, and Matthew Heimbach, a founder of the white nationalist Traditionalist Worker Party (TWP), who was recently charged for shoving an聽African-American protester聽at a Trump rally in March.
鈥淲hat in the world could possibly be hateful about a white man advocating the return of the demographic of the mid-60s,鈥� he said in his interview with Heimbach. According to Tyler, American society 鈥渉as been stolen from鈥� white Christians.
In his interview with Smith, he describes white Americans as 鈥渙ur racial ancestors who birthed and brought forth this singularly unique great nation of Christian constitutional republic."
Tyler also has a problem with interracial relationships.
鈥淵ou know the scent of miscegenation is running rampant today and it wasn鈥檛 that long ago that miscegenation was readily recognized as an abomination in the eyes of god鈥� This is a horrific sin that needs to be repented of,鈥� Tyler also said in his interview with Smith.
Tyler openly accepts support from neo-Nazis and Klansman as well, saying, 鈥淭heir financial support and willingness to cast votes in my favor will certainly not be rejected.鈥� 聽
Heimbach鈥檚 TWP and the National Socialist Movement (NSM), a neo-Nazi group active throughout the U.S, have both publically endorsed the candidate. NSM characterizes Tyler as a 鈥淧ro-white and Pro-American Candidate鈥� who is 鈥渁gainst International Zionism.鈥� Heimbach describes him as 鈥渁 family man, small business owner,鈥� who opposes 鈥済lobalism and Zionism.鈥�
Heimbach is also helping Tyler鈥檚 campaign, creating graphics for his campaign signs.
Jeff Schoep, 鈥渃ommander鈥� of NSM, Heimbach and Matthew Johnson, a senior researcher for聽The Barnes Review,聽a Holocaust denial publication, are planning to attend Tyler鈥檚 campaign kick off聽event on Saturday at White Water Grill, a restaurant Tyler聽owns in Ocoee.
