CPAC: Hyatt Hotels says stage design resembling
Nazi rune is 'abhorrent'
A photo of the stage went viral, with thousands of
Twitter users comparing its distinctive design to an odal rune
The stage at the Conservative Political Action
Conference (CPAC) 2021 has been compared to a Norse rune used by Nazis
Joanna
Walters in New York and agency
@Joannawalters13
Mon 1 Mar
2021 00.40 GMT
The Hyatt
Hotels Corporation called symbols of hate “abhorrent” on Sunday after the
design of a stage at the right-wing Conservative Political Action Conference
(CPAC) at one of its hotels drew comparisons to a Norse rune used by Nazis
during the second world war
High-profile
Republicans including former president Donald Trump were attending the four-day
event in Orlando, Florida, as conflict raged between Trump allies and
establishment politicians trying to distance the party from him.
A photo of
the CPAC stage went viral on social media on Saturday, with thousands of
Twitter users sharing posts comparing its distinctive design to an othala rune,
also known as an odal rune, one of many ancient European symbols that Nazis
adopted to “reconstruct a mythic ‘Aryan’ past”, according to the
Anti-Defamation League.
The ceiling
of the conference room featured a lighting display in the same shape as the
stage, according to Reuters photographs.
Hyatt said
all aspects of conference logistics, including the stage design, were managed
by the American Conservative Union, which organized the conference.
The
comparisons were “outrageous and slanderous”, Matt Schlapp, chair of the
American Conservative Union, said on Saturday. He added the organization had a
“long standing commitment to the Jewish community” and that the conference
featured several Jewish speakers.
In its
statement on Sunday, Hyatt said: “We take the concern raised about the prospect
of symbols of hate being included in the stage design at CPAC 2021 very seriously
as all such symbols are abhorrent and unequivocally counter to our values as a
company.”
Some Trump
supporters who launched a deadly insurrection against the US Capitol on 6
January carried Confederate flags, which many Americans see as a symbol of oppression
and slavery. Extremism experts said some of the rioters were members of white
nationalist groups.
The rune
was seen at the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017
that saw violent fights with counter-protesters and one civil rights activist
killed when a neo-fascist drove his car into the crowd.
Joe Biden
cited that event and Trump’s assessment at the time that there were “very fine
people on both sides” as a factor in his motivation for running for the
Democratic nomination, winning the presidency in November 2020.
Trump’s
presence has dominated this year’s CPAC, with his supporters parading a
larger-than-life golden statue of him through the lobby of the hotel.
With Reuters
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário