Candidate TJ Roberts referenced 'white genocide.' Here's what the GOP candidate says now
A Kentucky House candidate is accused of sending an antisemitic Facebook message and possibly having ties with neo-Nazi Richard Spencer.
Northern Kentucky Republican T.J. Roberts disputes those allegations and what he calls a "smear campaign" against him as he runs in a GOP primary for an open Kentucky House seat.
At the heart of the controversy: Roberts' meeting with a prominent white nationalist and his use of the phrase "white genocide," a conspiracy theory that holds Jewish people and other groups are plotting to erase the white culture and race.
Roberts, of Burlington, is running for office in a Republican-leaning district that includes most of northern Boone County, along the Ohio River near Cincinnati.
Despite having a supermajority in Kentucky, a Republican party schism has pitted GOP candidates against each other – the establishment Republicans against new political hopefuls who sprung up after Donald Trump's presidential loss in 2020.
Roberts, a 26-year-old first-time candidate, is running against Ed Massey, who was elected state representative in 2018 and lost in 2022 with just over 30% of the vote in the Republican primary.
He lost to Steve Rawlings, R-Burlington, who was a political newcomer with more conservative views. Rawlings is running for an open state Senate seat in a contested primary instead of seeking reelection in the House.
'White Genocide' Facebook message
About seven years ago, when Roberts was around 19 years old, he moderated a libertarian Facebook group and removed a post he said included "blatantly horrific statements." Then, someone messaged him a post and Roberts said he doubled down on not promoting antisemitism
"I remember him getting mad at me over it," Roberts recalled in an interview with The Enquirer.
That person recently provided a screenshot of part of that message to an investigative reporter at the Southern Poverty Law Center, which first reported the incident.
The nonprofit legal organization focuses on civil rights and racism. It keeps track of hate groups, has a news site called Hatewatch, and has a staff of more than 100 lawyers and advocates.
In it, Roberts used internet slang to say he is not on the side of Jewish people.
"I'm a religious Christian and quite frankly I'm sick of them promoting white genocide," he wrote.
Roberts told The Enquirer was not referencing Jewish people and said some of his ancestors were Jewish. As far as not being "on the side" of Jewish people, he said he was mocking someone online who was making antisemitic comments.
"Obviously, I wish I had worded this better in order to have conveyed my sarcasm better for third-party readers. I stand by my statement that this conversation is entirely out of context and is being used to convey beliefs that I do not hold now, nor have I ever held," he said.
Handshake with 'repugnant' Richard Spencer
Roberts admits he shook hands with well-known neo-Nazi Richard Spencer and sat at a table with him at a bar during a conference about six years ago. Roberts said he often shakes hands with people he meets, regardless of whether he agrees with them about issues.
In the case of Spencer, Roberts said he used the opportunity to disagree with Spencer's views.
He said, "I think he's a repugnant human being. I also believe that just being violent toward another person is not the way to do it. … Do I agree with him? No."
A video of the conversation shows the introduction. The audio is difficult to hear.
Spencer event recorded by The Liberty Conservative from Liberty Antifa on Vimeo.
Spencer is an open white nationalist speaker and leader who espouses neo-Nazi ideology and racism. He's said white people need an "ethno-state," a territory just for themselves. He told The Washington Post in 2016 that the creation of it might be "horribly bloody and terrible."
The Southern Poverty Law Center reported Spencer was invited to the conference by the Hoppe Caucus, a far-right libertarian group.
What do Roberts' supporters say?
Boone County Commissioner Chet Hand, who chairs the Boone County Republican Party, publicly endorsed Roberts for office earlier this week. His support for Roberts remains firm amid the accusations.
"Unlike a lot of folks in his age group, T.J. is very aware of what's going on in the political environment in the world, and in Frankfort and in Boone County. ... He has been vocally in support of limited government, constitutional freedoms for the American people and for the people of Kentucky," Hand said.
He said people like to accuse Republicans of white nationalism or racism but he's never met a GOP member with those views in Northern Kentucky.
"I think that a lot bigger deal was made out of these concepts of white nationalism and white supremacy than it actually exists," he told The Enquirer.
He said the Southern Poverty Law Center article about Roberts was done by an organization that's one of the most "hate-filled, hate-oriented organizations in the world" and should not be deemed credible.
The center defended its reporting, saying in a statement, "We are proud of our work at the SPLC to relentlessly expose those who try to make hateful and harmful extremist ideologies mainstream."
Online, Roberts has received both support and ridicule about the accusations.
The Republican Party of Kentucky declined an interview request but said in an emailed comment, "The Republican Party of Kentucky unequivocally condemns white nationalism and antisemitism in all its forms. Neither has a place in the Republican Party."
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Kentucky election: GOP candidate explains 'white genocide' comment
