Tom Tiffany wants to be the next governor of Wisconsin. To get there, he went on a podcast whose host has praised Adolf Hitler, mocked the Holocaust, and defended a "Camp Auschwitz" shirt — and then accepted that host's offer to help his campaign.

What happened

The story was first reported by The Forward, a Jewish news publication, and has since been covered widely.

Tiffany appeared on a December episode of "The Quartering," a podcast hosted by online personality Jeremy Hambly, to talk about his run for governor. This is who Hambly is, according to the reporting:

• He has said Hitler "actually done some good things."
• He joked about the Holocaust, calling it the "Hall of Cost" and saying it cost "around 6 million bucks."
• He defended the "Camp Auschwitz" T-shirt worn during the January 6 Capitol riot as "dark humor."
• In 2023, his show was sponsored by Antelope Hill Publishing, a white nationalist publisher that marked Hitler's birthday each year with discounts on books by and about the Nazi leader.

That's the show Tiffany chose to sit down with. And he didn't just do the interview and leave. When Hambly said he "will do everything" he can to elect Tiffany and offered to knock on doors for the campaign — alongside "Stop the Steal" activist Scott Presler — Tiffany accepted, and pointed listeners to his campaign website to sign up as volunteers.

The hypocrisy is the story

Here's what makes this worse than a bad booking decision. Tiffany has spent his campaign attacking his Democratic opponents over exactly this kind of association. He criticized Democrat Francesca Hong for appearing with streamer Hasan Piker — while he himself went on a show hosted by a man who praises Hitler and defends Auschwitz shirts.

You can't credibly police other people's associations while cozying up to an antisemitic podcaster and accepting his campaign help. Either it's disqualifying or it isn't. Tiffany is trying to have it both ways.

It fits a pattern

Tom Tiffany's willingness to keep bad company isn't new. His record is one of aligning himself with the extreme edge of his party, not the mainstream of Wisconsin:

• He was the only member of Wisconsin's congressional delegation to sign onto the Texas lawsuit asking the Supreme Court to throw out the 2020 election results in four states Biden won, including his own.
• Hours after the January 6 attack, he voted to reject Pennsylvania's electoral votes and later voted against impeaching Trump for inciting it.
• He was one of just 14 House Republicans — and the only Wisconsin member — to vote against making Juneteenth, which marks the end of slavery, a federal holiday.

A candidate who tried to overturn an election, voted against honoring the end of slavery, and now appears on a Hitler-praising podcast is telling you exactly who he's comfortable standing next to.

The bottom line

There's no gray area here. When a podcast host says Hitler did "some good things" and defends a Camp Auschwitz shirt, a serious candidate for governor walks the other way. Tom Tiffany didn't. He sat down, took the interview, and said yes to the man's help. Wisconsin deserves better.

Source

This post is based on reporting first published by The Forward and covered by the Milwaukee Courier and WisPolitics.