This will be mentioned in the media for the next couple months. Not exactly the best way for a party to go into the new year.
Via Townhall:
So, this isn’t the best news coming from the House Republican leadership. Rep. Steve Scalise “likely spoke” at a white nationalist gathering in 2002. Scalise, who’s the former chairman for the conservative House Republican Study Committee and current House Majority Whip, was a member of the Louisiana State House of Representatives at the time, touring the state “touting efforts of budget,” according to Washington Post reporter Robert Costa, who was formerly with National Review.
Costa noted that the House GOP leadership is aware of the situation, and that Scalise aides are looking into the details of his “run-of-the-mill appearance” at the event. Here’s what Scalise’s spokesperson Moira Bagley had to say about the matter (via WaPo):
In a statement, Scalise’s spokesperson Moira Bagley emphasized that the then-state lawmaker was unaware at the time of the group’s ideology and its association with racists and neo-Nazi activists.
Other Scalise allies, who requested anonymity to speak candidly, argued that Scalise was poorly staffed during the period, when he was busy touring the state promoting his efforts to curb state spending.