When Character Doesn't Matter: How Government Overlooks Extremism in the Name of Party
A Trump administration hire of a DeSantis campaign staffer fired over Nazi imagery raises urgent questions about who holds power over your government and whether character still counts.
By Common Good Policy Team · September 7, 2026 · Responding to New York Times (September 6, 2026)
Here's what we know: Nate Hochman lost his job on the DeSantis campaign after a video emerged containing a Nazi symbol. Then the Trump administration brought him into the State Department. The New York Times reports this signals the administration's willingness to overlook what used to be disqualifying conduct.
This isn't a small thing. It's a window into how power actually works when checks on it fail.
Why This Matters to You
Government employees take an oath to serve all Americans. Not one party. Not one ideology. All of us. When someone with a documented history of extremism gets hired anyway, it signals that the oath doesn't mean much anymore, and that party loyalty matters more than fitness for office.
The State Department represents America to the world. It negotiates treaties, manages immigration policy, oversees international aid, and speaks for American values abroad. If the people staffing it don't share a basic commitment to constitutional values and equal dignity for all citizens, that matters. It matters to how we're seen globally. It matters to the integrity of policy. And it matters to whether your government actually serves you or just serves the party in power.
This is a symptom of a much larger disease: a political system where loyalty to a faction has replaced commitment to the common good. Money has flowed out of politics and into the hands of corporate donors and ideological networks. The machinery of democracy itself has bent. And now we're seeing what happens when there's no real accountability left.
What CGP Policy Says
The Common Good Party's commitment to Separation of Church and State starts from a simple principle: government officials work for all citizens. We're not against religion or ideology. We're against government power being used to promote one worldview at the expense of others. That same logic extends to extremism of any kind.
When someone with ties to Nazi imagery, which represents genocide and the rejection of human equality, is placed in a position of power, it sends a message: your government doesn't actually stand for the constitutional values it claims to protect. It stands for whoever wins the election and can appoint their loyalists.
This also connects to our Common Ground pillar: fixing the machinery of democracy itself. Part of that is real accountability. It means transparency about who gets hired and why. It means standards that apply equally, not double standards based on party affiliation. And it means the vetting process actually means something.