Why I Refused to Publish Doug Toomer’s Response Justifying Antisemitic Presentation
Political Potatoes Stands Up For Religious Liberty and Rejects Dehumanizing Behavior
On December 3, Stand Up For Idaho hosted Casey Whalen and presented him to an audience as an “investigative journalist.” The stated topic was the “50 States, One Israel” conference. The result was the amplification of antisemitic framing and conspiracy narratives that do not belong in Idaho political discourse.
That result followed directly from the choice of speaker.
Casey Whalen’s public record is not subtle or difficult to find. His online content includes Holocaust denial tropes, antisemitic narratives centered on Jewish power and influence, and repeated engagement with white supremacist ideology historically associated with Aryan Nations. He monetizes this content through affiliate links tied to extremist literature and grievance-based propaganda. Presenting Whalen as an “investigative journalist” did not add legitimacy to his claims. It assigned credibility to content built on dehumanization.
Doug Toomer was not a passive participant. He selected the speaker, framed the event, and reinforced the narrative during the discussion. Hosting Whalen predictably shifted the conversation away from ethics and toward suspicion and scapegoating.
An event host has a responsibility to research those they invite to speak at their events and make an informed decision about whether to platform their message.
After Political Potatoes published an opinion piece by Steve Taggart criticizing the event, Toomer emailed me and requested that I publish his response. I reviewed the submission carefully and declined. I have ethical and moral standards. One of those is refusing to publish content I know contains misinformation or that relies on dehumanization, gaslighting, or intellectual sleight-of-hand to excuse harmful behavior. My platform is not a place for laundering justification for bad decisions.
Rather than use this as an opportunity to reject anti-semitism, Toomer’s response attempted to shield Whalen from scrutiny by redefining credibility as a matter of self-identification.
He wrote, “If Mr. Whalen chooses to identify as an ‘investigative journalist’, is it appropriate… to dispute how Mr. Whalen identifies himself?”
Journalism is not an identity claim. It is a professional practice defined by evidence, methodology, and accountability. Treating it as self-declared status eliminates any meaningful standard for credibility and reframes legitimate scrutiny as intolerance. That maneuver protects misinformation rather than addressing it.
He later tried to frame the controversy as a misunderstanding of intent, stating that the purpose of the event was to “try to understand… if there are any potential concerns for Idaho.” Intent does not determine outcome. Hosting a speaker whose body of work centers on antisemitic narratives predictably produces antisemitic framing. That result follows from the choice of speaker, not from how the event is later described.
Toomer also relies on insinuation disguised as inquiry. He writes, “Actually, I asked ‘How is it not a bribe?’” That phrasing embeds an accusation without evidence. It invites the audience to accept suspicion while allowing the speaker to deny having made a claim. This tactic shifts the burden to the listener and preserves plausible deniability for the host. It is a common propaganda technique, not an investigative one.
When challenged for singling out Israel, Toomer attempts to neutralize the criticism by claiming equivalence: “Substitute the name ‘Israel’ with the name of any other country.” That substitution did not occur. The event focused on Israel and was delivered by a speaker whose broader content fixates on Whalen’s open hatred for Jews and Jewish influence. Context determines meaning. Removing context after the fact does not change what the audience actually experienced.
One troubling passage collapses moral boundaries entirely. After citing Ben Shapiro’s warning that you do not invite a neo-Nazi into your home, Toomer responds that Shapiro’s comment could be rephrased as not inviting a “Democrat/Republican/Jew/Christian/etc.” Antisemitism is not a political disagreement. Holocaust denial is not a viewpoint deserving of balance. White supremacist ideology is not a category alongside ordinary religious or political identity. Treating them as equivalent normalizes abuse and erodes moral clarity.
Toomer further claims that truth emerges when “all sides have a chance to speak.” That assertion ignores how extremist propaganda functions. These narratives are engineered to feel revelatory, to reward listeners with a sense of insider knowledge, and to activate fear. Giving them a platform does not expose them. It spreads them. Some say the solution to hate speech is more speech. While functionally true, the issue remains problematic when more speech includes more information, laundering of dangerous ideology, and normalization of dehumanization.
It’s always better to walk away from someone spewing hate than choose to give them a soapbox so you can get more social media engagement. The other option is to call it out, fact-check it, and make it clear that this is unacceptable.
Rep. Barbara Ehardt deserves credit for attempting to correct the record by sharing a flyer documenting Casey Whalen’s public history and associations. The flyer noted that Whalen and his close associate Dave Reilly have appeared on national podcasts centered on hostility toward Jewish people and that both have expressed favorable views of Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin. Those facts directly undermine any claim that Whalen should be treated as a credible or neutral speaker on Israel or constitutional ethics.
Ehardt went on the Israel trip herself, a trip many Christians value as an opportunity to see the Holy Land and follow the physical history of Christ’s life and ministry. That experience informed her response. She attempted to introduce relevant context so the audience could evaluate Whalen’s claims with full information. When that context was disregarded, Whalen’s framing remained intact. That outcome resulted from the decision to minimize documented evidence rather than engage with it.
The ideology that once found refuge in the shadows of the former Aryan Nations compound in North Idaho does not reflect the values of Idaho Falls or the surrounding communities. This region overwhelmingly rejects antisemitism. Churches here do not traffic in hatred, and religious freedom is broadly respected. In an area with a large Latter-day Saint population, that commitment runs deep. Many members are keenly aware of their own history and understand how quickly fear and religious intolerance can be turned into tools of exclusion and harm.
Hosting Whalen imported an ideology that most Idahoans reject and attempted to normalize fear so a grifter could monetize outrage.
Political Potatoes refused to publish Toomer’s response because publishing it would have required endorsing gaslighting, false equivalence, and dehumanization by proxy. That is not something I will do. Editorial responsibility requires discernment, not false balance.
There remains a clear path forward.
Doug Toomer can publicly and unequivocally denounce antisemitism, denounce white supremacist ideology, and reject the practice of elevating extremists under the banner of dialogue. Telling the truth does not require giving abusive people a microphone. Standing up for Idaho means standing for all Idahoans and meeting the community where they are at.
I provided Toomer the opportunity to reject anti-semitism and dehumanization. In our email exchange, he offered me this quote instead: “With so much deceit and deception in the world, it is hard to know what is the ‘Truth’. At Stand Up For Idaho we invite people to come and speak to us as adults. We believe we need to have to have healthy dialogue, even on really controversial topics, in order to bring things to light and expose agendas. It can get really uncomfortable at times but we truly believe that if all sides have a chance to speak then things will be exposed and truth will become obvious. We invite Mr. Graf, and anyone else that would like to, to come to our town hall and present to us whatever they like. We livestream and record our meetings and they can be viewed on our Rumble channel (https://rumble.com/c/StandUpForIdaho).
Stand Up For Idaho (www.standupforidaho.org) is not an ‘echo chamber’ for any one line of thought and we are not going to tell you what to believe. We will try to present you with varying views on a topic so you can make your own decisions. We encourage you to get your information from a variety of sources. And then, by setting your biases aside and evaluating with an open mind, consider all the information you have received and let your logical mind ‘connect the dots’, like detectives do in movies. If you truly do this, you may just come to the realization that things might not be as you originally believed.”
About the Author
Gregory Graf is the creator of Political Potatoes and a lifelong conservative Republican residing in Star, Idaho. Graf is the CEO of Snake River Strategies, a strategic communications and political consulting firm.
Disclaimer
The following is intended to convey an opinion on newsworthy events of public concern regarding public figures and/or public officials in exercising their official duties. No implications or inferences—beyond those explicitly stated in the preceding— are intended to be conveyed or endorsed by the Author. Wherever available, hyperlinks have been provided to allow readers to directly access any underlying assertions of fact upon which this opinion is based.
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100% the right call, Greg. When news/media or organizations platform white nationalists, antisemites, nazis, pedophiles (I’m looking at you, KCRCC, Brent Regan, and Tucker Carlson) etc… It legitimizes them.
This is so well stated and I support your efforts to dispel these conspiracy theories in an intelligent manner. My family is Jewish. While we have not experienced anti-semitism here in North Idaho we know it exists. I hope that people that really need to hear you have a chance to do so. Thank you for all that you do.