SLO County candidate for Congress made xenophobic, antisemitic, anti-LGBTQ posts, report says
A candidate running to represent part of San Luis Obispo County in Congress called for a European “crusade” against “Muslim invaders,” posted an antisemitic symbol and used an anti-LGBTQ slur in online posts, according to a new report from Media Matters.
Thomas Cole is the Republican candidate challenging incumbent Salud Carbajal for his District 24 seat, which covers the southern portion of the county into Santa Barbara and Ventura counties.
He denied making “any such writings,” in an email to The Tribune.
“This smells like the usual Media Matters smear piece,” he said.
Media Matters describes itself as “a watchdog organization that monitors and combats right-wing misinformation in U.S. media.”
The report referenced a series of what it labeled “extremist views” in online posts allegedly made by Cole on Twitter/X in recent years.
In February, according to the report, Cole responded on X to a speech by Geert Wilders — who Media Matters called an “anti-Muslim commentator” — calling for a European “crusade” against “Muslim invaders.”
In the post, Cole referenced historic crusades “to save Europe from a Muslim dark age.”
In January 2023, he posted on Twitter in response to a quote about the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission: “They are captured, by (((globalist NYC bankers))).”
“In using triple brackets, Cole employed an infamous far-right tactic also known as triple parentheses or echoes that’s been popularized by antisemites to attack Jewish people online,” the report said.
According to the report, he responded to another post by a Republican U.S. senator in March 2023, writing, “King George and his Roths child bankers then and Soros and the globalists now.”
“Referring to supposed control by George Soros and Rothschild ‘bankers’ are common antisemitic tropes,” the Media Matters report said.
In Cole’s comments to The Tribune, he called Media Matters a “Soros-funded” group.
Lastly, in November 2022, Cole responded to a post about a home invader who attacked Paul Pelosi by using an anti-LGBTQ slur, suggesting that it was a false flag.
“Some of my best friends are Jewish, and I have many gay people in my life, as friends and associates,” Cole said in response to the report when asked by The Tribune. “My accountant is gay and others.”
Read the full report on the Media Matters website.
