Eric Pratt’s congressional campaign staffer resigns over white nationalist social media posts

In March, from a now-deleted account, Austin Brown posted on an X thread:

“You hate Trump because you think he’s Hitler
I hate Trump because he’s not Hitler.
We are not the same.”

Just two months later, Brown was on the payroll for Republican state Sen. Eric Pratt’s campaign for the 2nd Congressional District, according to public campaign spending filings. Brown said he was Pratt’s field director, according to a now-deleted post, which was released by the campaign of Matt Little, Pratt’s Democratic-Farmer-Labor opponent.

Little’s campaign released screenshots of several other of Brown’s antisemitic, anti-Muslim, racist and homophobic social media posts. In other posts, Brown describes himself as a white nationalist and a “groyper,” a term referring to far-right supporters of the far-right, antisemitic commentator Nick Fuentes.

Little’s campaign held a press conference on Brown on Thursday and within hours Pratt announced Brown’s resignation.

“The central theme of my campaign has been stability over chaos,” Pratt said in a statement. “Throughout my career, I have prided myself on the ability to lead with compassion, accountability and focus. I have always been clear that antisemitism, racism, and discrimination of any kind have no place in our politics or our communities.”

Brown did not respond to an Instagram message for comment. His other social media accounts appear deleted or were otherwise inaccessible. Pratt’s campaign also did not respond to emailed questions.

Republican politics have been roiled in recent years by the injection of far-right extremism into its professional political class. Politico reported last year, for instance, on Telegram chats among Young Republican leaders in New York, Kansas, Arizona and Vermont that were openly racist and antisemitic. The conservative writer Ron Dreher said he’s been told that as many as 30 or 40% of Gen Z congressional and administration staffers are so-called groypers.

The south metro 2nd Congressional District, currently held by U.S. Rep. Angie Craig, is Minnesota’s most competitive. In 2024, over $13.3 million was spent on the race, most of which supported Craig’s campaign, down from over $31 million in 2022, according to campaign spending tracker OpenSecrets. Craig turned the district blue in 2018 and has won close races ever since, widening her victory in 2024 despite the Republicans’ victory nationwide.

Craig announced last year she was not running for reelection. She lost a Democratic primary for U.S. Senate last month to Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan.

According to campaign spending filings, Pratt’s campaign paid $10,500 to Austin Brown from May to July.

Little is the former two-term mayor of Lakeville who represented the area in the state Senate from 2016 to 2020, when he lost to a Republican. Little positioned himself as the progressive candidate in his party’s three-way primary election.