The Albany Times-Union reports:
Scott Presler, a political operative identified as a former top strategist for an anti-Muslim group, canceled an appearance Wednesday at Gavin Park that was touted by U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik and the local Republican Party.
Saratoga County Chairman Carl Zeilman said that a case of COVID in RISE PAC, of which Presler is a member, forced the cancellation.
On Wednesday, Stefanik, the GOP congressional conference leader, enthusiastically tweeted what she described as “massive news” – the upcoming Wednesday evening, Aug. 25, appearance of Presler, whom Stefanik described in the tweet as an “American Patriot. Stefanik appears to have deleted the tweet.
The Daily Beast reports:
Virginia native Scott Presler, has a years-long history of extremist activism, including serving as a top strategist for an organization that the Anti-Defamation League and Southern Poverty Law Center deemed the largest anti-Muslim hate group in the United States.
Presler, who in 2017 stunted for disgraced Alabama U.S. Senate candidate Judge Roy Moore, also helped organize multiple “Stop the Steal” protests leading up to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. He later attended the riot, describing it as the “largest civil rights protest in American history” in a tweet with video of the crowd.
Media Matters reports:
Stefanik’s partnership with Presler is yet another example of Republicans embracing the violence-linked QAnon conspiracy theory and its promoters. Presler works for the Republican group Rise PAC. Right-wing media outlets like Fox News, Newsmax, and One America News have celebrated his work for Republicans in recent years. In his role at ACT, Presler took the lead in organizing a nationwide series of “March Against Sharia” rallies in mid-2017.
As the group’s Facebook administrator, he oversaw what SPLC characterized as a “plentiful” outpouring of “racist and violent content,” collaborated with avowed neo-Nazi Billy Roper, and co-organized a rally with Patriot Prayer founder Joey Gibson in Portland, Oregon, which the city eventually canceled. Presler used the hashtag “QAnon” in at least 54 Instagram posts, according to a Media Matters search of the data analytics tool Crowdtangle.
Nobody is buying the COVID excuse.
So Rep. Elise Stefanik deleted her tweet promoting the Scott Presler event “about 1 hour ago,” according to @propublica‘s Politwoops: https://t.co/uGTgApjT6W pic.twitter.com/3cB0B8qZd4
— Eric Hananoki (@ehananoki) August 23, 2021
The Daily Beast’s @SollenbergerRC reported on Presler’s history of extremism last week: https://t.co/qqrpkdRLDU
— Eric Hananoki (@ehananoki) August 23, 2021
It is unconscionable that Elise Stefanik, an elected official sworn to protect our county, would team up with Scott Presler and his traitorous, bigoted, radical agenda under the guise of voter registration.https://t.co/y2UTjTTYsX
— Matt Putorti (@MattPutorti) August 24, 2021
Number 3 Republican Elise Stefanik is Partnering With Crazed QAnon Conspiracy Theorist Scott Presler https://t.co/3X3eQ4zgxi via @politicususa
— Carla Van Zandt (@carlavanzandt) August 24, 2021
I’m proud of the work we’ve done to register new voters.
Yes, we’re harvesting voter registration applications.
Game on, Stacey Abrams. pic.twitter.com/lPc1rgFeYK
— #ThePersistence (@ScottPresler) August 23, 2021