GOP official praises self-described “actual literal Nazi” as “such a cool guy”

Franklin, Tennessee Alderman and mayoral candidate Gabrielle Hanson (R) continues to defend Nazis and white supremacists who support her campaign.

And as the election almost comes to a close – voting ends today at 7 p.m. – Hanson is making sure voters know she is on the side of Nazis.

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George Santos calls gay congressman “girly” in rant blaming him for death threats

Not many people agreed with Santos.

“I’m just going to tell you, from what I’ve seen, I do not see white supremacists, and I do not see Nazi,” Hanson reportedly said during a recent appearance on the conservative podcast Patriot Punkcast.

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And yet, one of the people she was referring to, Brad Lewis, has said of himself: “I’m not a cuckservative, I’m an actual literal Nazi.” Lewis is a self-described friend of Hanson and a leader of the white supremacist group Tennessee Active Club, which accompanied Hanson to a candidate forum earlier this month.

Hanson invited the group to the event to provide security, and afterward she refused to apologize. “I’m not going to denounce anybody their right to be whatever it is that they want to be, whether I agree with what they do in their personal life or not,” Hanson said at the time. “We don’t discriminate in this community against anyone.”

According to local Nashville news outlet NewsChannel5, Hanson also called Lewis “such a cool guy” since “he doesn’t care about what people think.”

The outlet also reported that voter turnout so far is more than five times that of the mayoral race four years ago, with almost 17% of voters already having cast a ballot.

Hanson was voted onto the Franklin City Council two years ago with the backing of the Williamson County chapter of Moms for Liberty.

Now, she’s challenging 12-year incumbent Republican Mayor Dr. Ken Moore for the small town’s top job.

The candidate’s campaign has been mired in controversy and scandal for months.

Early last month, a Hanson campaign aide went on a tear-filled tirade at a council meeting claiming LGBTQ+ people are giving children buttplugs in her hometown and training them on how they’re used.

In April, Hanson claimed to have “full knowledge” from an inside source that the mass shooting at a Nashville Christian school in March involved a scandalous “love triangle.” The unsubstantiated claim led to an investigation by the Franklin Ethics Commission.

Another investigation ensued after Hanson, in her official capacity, urged Nashville International Airport to withdraw its donation to a Juneteenth celebration. The city’s Ethics Commission recommended that the Board of Mayor and Aldermen censure her.

In September, it was revealed Hanson had pleaded no contest to promoting prostitution while she was a college student in Dallas and that she had used photos of strangers culled from social media to falsely portray them as members of an “executive committee” in support of her candidacy.

Hanson was also confronted with evidence her husband, a one-time Congressional candidate, campaigned in an American flag Speedo at Chicago Pride in 2008, with her encouragement. This is despite her anti-LGBTQ+ claims of “protecting children” from “sexualizing” behavior while opposing Pride in Franklin.

In another brewing scandal, a persistent critic of Hanson is charging the candidate has been complicit in death threats leveled at her by Hanson’s white supremacist supporters.