Texas speaker condemns conservative PAC leader for hosting white supremacist Nick Fuentes

House Speaker Dade Phelan strongly condemned a major Republican donor and demanded that elected officials return money they received from the group, one day after The Texas Tribune reported that it had recently hosted well-known white supremacist Nick Fuentes.

“This not just a casual misstep,” Phelan said in a statement. “It’s indicative of the moral, political rot that has been festering in a certain segment of our party for far too long. Anti-Semitism, bigotry and Hitler apologists should find no sanctuary in the Republican party. Period. We cannot — and must not — tolerate the tacit endorsement of such vile ideologies.”

Phelan is the most high-profile official to respond publicly to the Tribune’s reporting that Jonathan Stickland, the leader of Defend Texas Liberty PAC and a related consulting firm, Pale Horse Strategies, hosted Fuentes in southwest Tarrant County for nearly seven hours on Friday. Fuentes is an avowed admirer of Adolf Hitler, has called for “holy war” against Jews and said that “all I want is revenge against my enemies and a total Aryan victory.” Stickland is a former state representative from Bedford.

Defend Texas Liberty is funded by two West Texas oil billionaires — Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks — who are also Attorney General Ken Paxton’s biggest donors. Earlier this year, the group made headlines after it gave $3 million in loans and donations to Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick ahead of Paxton’s impeachment trial in the Texas Senate, over which Patrick presided.

Phelan — who has long been at odds with Patrick over policy and political disagreements — directly called out Patrick in his statement, and demanded that “any elected official” who has received money from Defend Texas Liberty of its affiliated organizations “to immediately redirect every single cent of those contributions to a charitable organization of his or her choice.”

Phelan also called out Republican Party of Texas Chair Matt Rinaldi — who was also seen at the office building that hosted Fuentes but denied meeting with him or knowing he was there — to donate funds from Defend Texas Liberty even “if doing so would take the party into the red.”

“Furthermore, I call upon elected officials and candidates to state unequivocally that they will not accept further contributions, including in-kind contributions, from the Defend Texas Liberty PAC,” Phelan said. “Recently, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick took $3 million from this organization. I expect him to lead the way in redirecting these funds.”

Phelan continued, drawing a direct line between Fuentes’ visit to Texas and the violence that broke out in Israel over the weekend.

“The Republican Party, at its core, champions freedom, democracy, and shared values with nations like Israel,” he said. “...Every single elected official or candidate who has received funding from the Defend Texas Liberty PAC must publicly disavow their toxic affiliation.”

Patrick and Paxton could not be immediately reached for comment.

Since 2021, Defend Texas Liberty has given nearly $15 million to ultraconservative candidates as it tries to unseat fellow Republicans, including Phelan, who it argues are not conservative enough. The group is a key part of a network of nonprofits, media companies, campaigns and institutions that Dunn and the Wilks brothers have given more than $100 million to push their ultraconservative religious and anti-LGBTQ+ views.

Phelan meanwhile is at least the second Republican to call on others to return donations. On Sunday, Rep. Jared Patterson, R-Frisco, said his fellow conservatives should publicly donate funds from Defend Texas Liberty “or their astroturf groups” to an “Israel-supporting charity.”

“Unfortunately, this isn’t unbelievable,” he said in response to the Tribune’s reporting.