For immediate release
September 20, 2018
KENNEY MUST REMOVE CANDIDATE EMBROILED IN NAZI MEME SCANDAL
Jason Kenney must remove his candidate Philip Schuman from an upcoming party nomination, after Schuman has been caught trying to fund the audience of social media posts that spread anti-Semitism, Nazi propaganda and Hitler memes.
Philip Schuman admitted he offered to fund the hateful posts. He also admitted the account is, in his words, a “platform for hate speech,” and that he’s offered to fund other right-wing accounts to spread their hateful messages. He also claimed he has access to funds from “older, wealthier people that would be interested’ in paying for their operations.[1] “Jason Kenney has allowed candidates to run for his party that are spreading hateful and racist content online, and now he has someone on his team who wants to fund them,” said NDP MLA Irfan Sabir. “Kenney must remove Philip Schuman as a candidate immediately.”
Schuman denied any knowledge of the account’s content - but in a leaked message, Schuman bragged about using the account's images on his campaign for the UCP candidacy in Calgary-Glenmore. Members of the University of Calgary campus Conservative club created much of the content, according to Schuman.[2]
Schuman is a UCP insider, having worked as campaign manager for UCP MLA Richard Gotfried and for Calgary city councilor Jeromy Farkas. Schuman also served as media coordinator for Derek Fildebrandt’s “United Liberty” Political Action Committee in 2017. Having served as Gotfried’s constituency president, Gotfried endorsed Schuman’s candidacy and still supports him even after news of the scandal broke.The UCP has allowed a string of extreme candidates to run for their party. Previous candidates successfully approved by the UCP have made racist, homophobic and Islamophobic comments. Only last week, Richard Gotfried won a nomination over Cindy Ross, after she compared Alberta Muslims to criminals.
Kenney has only one option with Philip Schuman's candidacy: immediately remove him from the nomination race.
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