What the heil? Swastika found in House Republican's office.

Republican lawmakers have been screaming for weeks that anyone who calls their party fascist is responsible for political violence across the country.

And yet, on Wednesday, a GOP lawmaker from Ohio was caught with a swastika in his office—a symbol appropriated by Adolf Hitler’s’ Nazi Party and one that white supremacists continue to use as a sign of their hatred today.

Republican Rep. Dave Taylor of Ohio denounced the swastika, which was spotted on Wednesday on a wall in the background of a videoconferencing call that a constituent had with one of Taylor's congressional aides. The swastika appeared as part of an altered American flag, with the flag’s red stripes forming a swastika in the middle. 

In a press release, Taylor called the symbol "vandalism.”

“I am aware of an image that appears to depict a vile and deeply inappropriate symbol near an employee in my office. The content of that image does not reflect the values or standards of this office, my staff, or myself, and I condemn it in the strongest terms," Taylor said in a statement. "Upon learning of this matter, I immediately directed a thorough investigation alongside Capitol Police, which remains ongoing. No further comment will be provided until it has been completed.”

No sugar-coating it: Daily Kos needs your help. Can you chip in $5 today?

This is just the latest instance in which Republicans have been shown to traffic in Nazi symbols and rhetoric.

On Tuesday, Politico published a report on a group chat between GOP operatives in which they fantasized about putting their opponents in gas chambers, like Hitler did during the Holocaust, and spewed racist and antisemitic rhetoric, among other despicable comments.

Rather than condemn the chat, Republicans like Vice President JD Vance wrote it off as a conversation between “college” students, even though many of the group chat’s members were in their 20s and 30s and worked in Republican politics, in the White House, and even as elected officials.

At the end of the day, the Trump administration is unequivocally fascist. 

Just look at the Merriam-Webster definition of fascism:

A populist political philosophy, movement, or regime (such as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual, that is associated with a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, and that is characterized by severe economic and social regimentation and by forcible suppression of opposition.

No billionaire backers, no paywalls. Daily Kos news exists because of YOU, our donor community. Now, we need your help. Please donate today.

That is exactly what President Donald Trump is doing.

He is seeking to rid the country of immigrants of color, sending in his masked goons to violently abduct people they suspect are undocumented based on their complexion. 

Trump is also moving to amend the refugee policy to favor white people who claim, without evidence, to be persecuted in their countries for espousing racist opposition to immigration, The New York Times reported on Wednesday.

In fact, the Department of Homeland Security on Tuesday posted on X the word “Remigrate,” a term used by global far-right groups that calls for the mass deportation of migrants in order to preserve a white society.

Trump is also forcibly suppressing opposition by using the Department of Justice and other levers of government to hamstring and prosecute Democrats and Democratic groups, without credible evidence of wrongdoing.

The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday night reported that Trump is planning on having the Internal Revenue Service investigate progressive nonprofit groups, an effort to keep them from being able to oppose his agenda. 

Fascism is here in America—both in Republican policies and even apparently on the walls of Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

Lord help us.

Click here to check out this story on DailyKos.com.

We're not asking for much

The average donation to Daily Kos has been just $9.44. These donations may seem small, but they're a big deal to us. In fact, they are our largest source of income. We literally couldn't do the work we do without them. Can you join thousands of other Daily Kos readers and help us with a donation of $9.44 right now?