Whitman County Republicans boot out far right, white nationalist Allsup

Spokane County Republican Chairman Cecily Wright has resigned after giving a platform to and appearing to praise the controversial James Allsup, who formerly headed Washington State University College Republicans, shown here in a screenshot from his YouTube page. less Spokane County Republican Chairman Cecily Wright has resigned after giving a platform to and appearing to praise the controversial James Allsup, who formerly headed Washington State University College ... more Photo: YouTube/Screenshot Photo: YouTube/Screenshot Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Whitman County Republicans boot out far right, white nationalist Allsup 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

The Whitman County Republican Central Committee has unanimously expelled James Allsup, one of the state's best known extreme right nationalists, from the voting ranks of its precinct committee officers.

The booting of Allsup was done at a meeting that included a state representative, the county sheriff and all three Whitman County commissioners, the Moscow-Pullman Daily News reported.

Allsup is best known for marching with the white nationalist group Identity Evropa at the 2017 Charlottesville demonstration and riot in which one counter demonstrator was killed. He was at the time president of Washington State University College Republicans, but resigned soon afterward.

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Allsup was part the effort to build a "Trump Wall" on the University of Washington campus in May of 2016, a plywood structure decorated with the slogans "White Lives Matter" and "Make America Great Again." The event drew about 100 counter protesters.

Spokane County Republican Chair Cecile Wright resigned last year after giving a platform to Allsup and appearing to praise his views. Allsup spoke in defense of the Charlottesville march, claiming it was "totally misrepresented by the media."

In December of 2018, with Allsup long gone, the WSU College Republicans took up plans to erect another mock-up of a border wall.

Despite Wright's kind words, the GOP establishment in Eastern Washington have said they want no part of Allsup or white nationalist politics.

"I don't have a relationship with him (Allsup), but I know what he stands for," U.S. Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., said in a Facebook post last year, adding: "White supremacy, racism and bigotry are never acceptable and have no place in America or Eastern Washington."

Allsup shot back at McMorris Rodgers, writing: "I'm disappointed to see spineless Republicans cover in fear of leftists all because they're afraid of mean comments from the journalists that hate them anyway."

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Allsup was elected unopposed as a precinct committee officer. The party cannot undo his election, but it could deny him a vote in the central committee.

Whitman County Prosecutor Denis Tracy has been Allsup's most vociferous adversary, writing in a Daily News piece: "Allsup can try to put a nice new dress on his old, despicable Nazi ideas, but I recognize them for what they are. They aren't Republican. They aren't American. They aren't me."

A prominent alt-right activist, Joey Gibson of the Patriot Prayer movement, did seek the Republicans' U.S. Senate nomination last year. He took only 2.27 percent of the primary vote.