The crisis of pro-Nazi sentiment coursing through the Republican Party is arguably clearest in Florida, where each week seems to bring a fresh scandal.
On the heels of a controversy involving young conservatives at Florida International University exchanging violently racist and antisemitic messages, a similar episode is unfolding at the University of Florida.
On Monday, UF’s College Republicans chapter sued the university after it announced plans to deactivate the chapter as a registered student organization until new leadership is in place, and said it “remains committed to preventing and addressing antisemitism and other forms of discrimination and harassment.”
The university said its decision came after the Florida Federation of College Republicans moved to disband the UF chapter after some of its members “engaged in a pattern of conduct that violated its rules and values, including a recent antisemitic gesture.”
According to multiple reports, the gesture in question appears to have been a Nazi salute.
Sloan Rachmuth, a conservative activist, also flagge someone she identified as a member of the College Republicans chapter in a photo with podcaster Myron Gaines, who has espoused avowedly racist and antisemitic rhetoric.
The University of Florida declined MS NOW’s request for comment, citing the pending litigation.
In a post on X replying to UF’s announcement, the school’s College Republicans chapter didn’t deny the claims of antisemitism and suggested that its deactivation was actually due to the group hosting an event with Florida gubernatorial candidate James Fishback, who has launched brazenly racist attacks during his campaign.
The chapter also contended that the Florida Federation of College Republicans had no authority to disband the group since it’s a member of the College Republicans of America. That’s the same organization that recently hired Kai Schwemmer, a far-right influencer and close associate of Hitler fanboy Nick Fuentes, as its political director. The chapter is being represented by Anthony Sabatini, a right-wing, QAnon-linked lawyer, who wrote on X that UF’s decision came “in response to alleged viewpoints expressed by a member” of the school’s College Republicans chapter and “in an effort to silence the club and chill its future speech.” Sabatini also said that he has requested a preliminary injunction preventing the university from deactivating the chapter.
Ja’han Jones is an MS NOW opinion blogger. He previously wrote The ReidOut Blog. 
