Montana Republican says he was unaware he was taking photo with neo-Nazis

Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-Mon.) posed for an image with members of the far-right neo-Nazi motion final week, however he says he didn’t know who the people have been on the time.

A photograph taken March 1 in entrance of the Capitol reveals Rosendale posing with Ryan Sanchez, who was a part of a white supremacist group, and Greyson Arnold, a pro-Nazi podcaster and blogger who was on the Jan. 6, 2021 riot. The photograph gained traction on social media, inflicting the lawmaker to talk out.

“I completely condemn and have zero tolerance for hate teams, hate speech, and violence. I didn’t take a gathering with these people,” Rosendale mentioned in an electronic mail to The Billings Gazette. “I used to be requested for a photograph whereas strolling between hearings, accommodating as I do for all photograph requests, and was not conscious of the people’ identification or affiliation with these hate teams that stand in stark distinction to my private beliefs.”

Rosendale has confronted scrutiny previously for his connections to fringe teams on the precise.

In 2014, a photograph was taken of him talking at an Oath Keepers rally in Montana. The chief of that group, Stewart Rhodes, was convicted final yr of seditious conspiracy for his position within the Capitol riot; he has but to be sentenced. 

Rosendale voted to oppose the certification of election outcomes from a lot of states, amid strain from then-President Trump to overturn the 2020 election due to baseless claims that the competition was stolen from him.