The campaign of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has responded to the controversy surrounding a boat that displayed swastika and Trump flags during a parade in Jupiter, Florida.
Photographs and videos posted on social media showed a group of people bearing neo-Nazi insignia and chanting racist slogans at the boat parade on Sunday. The Anti-Defamation League and StopAntisemitism have said the group members were neo-Nazis.
However, Trump’s campaign has dismissed the display as a false flag attempt by “liberal activists.”
In a statement to Newsweek, Karoline Leavitt, Trump’s campaign spokesperson, said: “Kamala’s supporters are reaching all-time lows. Social media posts show that genuine Trump supporters identified these idiots as liberal activists trying to create fake news. They clearly responded accordingly.”
The posts Leavitt referenced included a widely circulated video that showed another group of Trump supporters using their boat’s engine to douse the alleged fascists with water. The Trump campaign did not provide evidence of a false flag operation organized by the political left.
A Donald Trump boat parade in Jupiter, Florida, on September 7. Trump’s campaign has responded to the controversy surrounding a boat displaying swastika and Trump flags during a separate parade on Sunday.
Joe Raedle/Getty Images
The Florida chapter of the Anti-Defamation League said the individuals on the boat were members of the Order of the Black Sun.
In a statement to Newsweek, the Anti-Defamation League said: “OBS is a small neo-Nazi network primarily based in Florida that distributes propaganda and holds in-person demonstrations to spread their white supremacist ideology. OBS was formed in early 2023 by long time affiliates of Florida’s overlapping white supremacist network.”
The advocacy group StopAntisemitism wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that one of the people on the boat was “known antisemite Jon Minadeo II.” It added that other people present were “his cronies from the GDL (Goyim Defense League),” which the Southern Poverty Law Center classified as a neo-Nazi group.
Minadeo has a history of neo-Nazi-related stunts, including being arrested in Poland after sharing far-right propaganda at the gates of Auschwitz.
Newsweek has contacted the Florida Democratic Party via online form and Vice President Kamala Harris‘ campaign via email for comment.
Leavitt said Trump himself “abhors the hatred implied in these images.” She called such behavior “unacceptable” and “against everything President Trump stands for.”
She also said Trump had worked to expand the Civil Rights Act to protect Americans from antisemitism, referencing a 2019 executive order.
“President Trump is steadfast in the fight against bigotry,” Leavitt said, adding that Trump would “restore our nation’s greatness.”
The event in Palm Beach County, where Trump maintains a residence, was initially described by attendees as a celebratory gathering of Trump supporters. Ahead of the event, Trump ally Roger Stone wrote on X that it was going to be “the mother of all TRUMP boat parades.”
Echoing the statement from the former president’s campaign, other Trump supporters denied any association with the group.
User @majorTrulz32, a self-described follower of the MAGA movement, wrote on X that the individuals were “antifa scumbag imposters” and posted the video of Trump supporters dousing the boat.
Carlos Gavidia, who organized the parade, posted the video on Facebook, saying the people on the boat flying swastika flags had been sent by the left.
“The left tried to send in some agitators to create a false narrative!” Gavidia wrote. “After our patriots propped wash them, PB police detain them so they could not be part of the ultimate Trump boat parade.”
Newsweek has contacted the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office via phone for comment and the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles via email for information about who owns the boat.
