CALGARY—Philip Schuman, a candidate for the United Conservative Party nomination in a southwest Calgary riding, has apologized after offering to introduce potential fundraisers to the administrators of an Instagram account that frequently posts anti-Semitic and racist memes.

Roughly an hour after StarMetro Calgary first contacted him about his association with the account, Rightwingism, Schuman unfollowed it and said he never would have extended the offer had he realized the sorts of images posted by the account’s administrators.

“This was disappointing, very disappointing, and I’ve cut all ties,” Schuman said Wednesday.

The private Instagram account frequently posted pictures and animated “stories” to roughly 51,000 followers. Some are innocuous conservative-leaning polls on common political topics, ranging from cannabis legalization to the inclusion of women in the military.

But many of Rightwingism’s posts are hateful. One depicts Adolf Hitler as a Black man with the fist icon of “Black Lives Matter” below it, and claims Hitler was killed “because he persecuted the false Hebrews” and led a Black-oriented political party. Another shows a political axis chart and depicts left-wingers as “getting gassed” rather than right-wingers (who are either “selling gas” or “gassing” people). Other posts mock same-sex couples choosing to adopt children, Muslims, and African refugees.

In a private Instagram message obtained by StarMetro, Schuman reached out to Rightwingism’s administrators asking if they’d “benefit from receiving some funding?”

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“I have been talking about your account a lot as a part of my political campaign and have met some older, wealthier, people that would be interested in helping you out,” Schuman’s message reads. “Your account brings hope to a lot of older baby boomers that think that the younger generation is a lost cause.”

Schuman’s message of support to the account is significant, given the anti-Semitic imagery. The riding he’s seeking nomination in — Calgary-Glenmore — is known for its large Jewish community and is home to the Calgary Jewish Community Centre.

When first contacted by StarMetro Calgary on Wednesday morning regarding the message, Schuman confirmed he’d sent it, but claimed the administrators of the account had reached out to him first for support. He also did not seem to know about the hateful imagery on Rightwingism.

“Honestly, if they have posted anything anti-Semitic, I do not support that,” Schuman said in an interview. “If they have posted Hitler or Nazi memes, I do not support that. That is completely unacceptable and frankly, beyond wrong.”

He said he began following the account about two and a half months ago because they appeared to be a group of young, vocal conservatives trying to have a “discussion about things that don’t normally get discussed in our society.”

“What I saw was young people trying to make a difference, and that’s what I thought, and I, in good faith, offered a conversation,” Schuman said.

Schuman said that some of the administrators are members of the University of Calgary’s campus conservative group. Dugald Campbell, vice-president of the University of Calgary Conservatives’ provincial affairs, said several of its members are involved with “the Conservative movement,” but refused to confirm whether any are administrators with Rightwingism.

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“However, in order to protect the privacy of our members, we’re not comfortable commenting on any specific group or individual,” Campbell told StarMetro Calgary in a message.

Schuman also said he sent similar messages offering support to other young conservative groups.

“It’s not anything exclusive to them,” he said.

In an email, the account’s manager said they had reviewed the previously cited hateful images Rightwingism had posted, and while they said some had been intended as jokes which could be seen as offensive, they agreed some “were not acceptable, and I have deleted them accordingly.”

By Wednesday evening, every post on Rightwingism appeared to have been deleted.

While Schuman has not made racist or anti-Semitic posts on his own Instagram account, several UCP candidates or nominees have come under fire in recent months for their activities on social media.

The party already makes a point of vetting candidates for personal history and links to social media profiles, according to Ryan Hastman, a podcaster who serves on a UCP board. He said would-be candidates should also have to download their entire Facebook and Twitter archives and send them to the party.

A UCP spokesperson did not respond to multiple requests for comment regarding Schuman.

Schuman said he believed the Jewish community in Calgary-Glenmore would stand behind him despite his offer to Rightwingism, citing his past employment at the Jewish Community Centre and his position as a Zionist. The nomination takes place on Saturday.

“This is my community, and it’s a community I care a lot about,” Schuman said.

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