News · Press Release

🚨Peter Oberacker, Who Saluted Nazi Grandpa, Calls His Basement Bar “The Chamber”

Oberacker on grandfather who served under Adolf Hitler: “I salute all who served”
Just days after Republican candidate Peter Oberacker was exposed for saluting his Nazi grandfather in a since-deleted social media post, new reporting reveals that Oberacker named the bar in his own basement “The Chamber.”

Last week, Oberacker doubled down and defended his grandfather’s military record, stating “you got drafted and you served your country, and that was really basically it.” Now, his campaign is refusing to say if Oberacker is “aware of the term’s connotations.”

The report also reveals that while Oberacker and his campaign have repeatedly claimed his Nazi grandfather Ludwig Oberacker was “killed in action” at the Battle of the Bulge, records show he died nearly a month after the Battle ended. But Oberacker’s campaign refused to provide any evidence for the claim or respond to follow-up questions.

And this isn’t the only Nazi newscycle to haunt Oberacker’s bid for congress…

Earlier this cycle, a bombshell Politico investigation revealed that Oberacker’s former communications director and would be-campaign manager, Bobby Walker, was a central figure in an antisemitic GOP group chat where leaders of the state party “fantasiz[ed] about putting their opponents in gas chambers, burning their enemies and joking about their love of Hitler.”

DCCC Spokesperson Riya Vashi:
“The hits just keep getting worse. Saluting a Nazi on social media. A hate-chat ringleader on payroll. A basement bar called ‘The Chamber.’ And now Oberacker’s own story about his grandfather doesn’t even hold up. Upstate voters have seen more than enough — that’s why they’ll re-elect Josh Riley in November.”

Read more from Judge Street Journal:

  • The Republican congressional candidate who praised his Nazi grandfather in a since-deleted Facebook post appears to have named his home bar “The Chamber,” according to a photo he posted on social media that was reviewed by the Judge Street Journal.
  • Earlier this year, State Senator Peter Oberacker, who’s running to unseat freshman Rep. Josh Riley, posted a selfie on Super Bowl Sunday with his wife at their home bar.
  • The unassuming photo shows the couple in front of a neon sign that says “The Chamber.”
  • The revelation comes less than a week after Politico’s Madison Fernandez reported that Oberacker honored his Nazi grandfather on Veterans Day in 2015.
  • “I debated on whether to post this picture, my Grandfather Ludwig Oberacker who gave his life for his country. I salute all who served,” Oberacker wrote in November 2015.
  • [A spokesperson for Oberacker] would not say if his boss is aware of the term’s connotations.
  • Though he deleted the post praising his grandfather, Oberacker defended it in an interview with Politico last week.
  • “I have a lot of friends that were World War II veterans, and so when I did that, I just wanted to say that, you know, there were veterans of all conflicts,” he told Politico in an interview.
  • Oberacker told Politico that his grandfather was “killed in action” during the Battle of the Bulge. His team told the same to a reporter for the New York Post.
  • “[He] didn’t have a choice, you got drafted and you served your country, and that was really basically it,” Oberacker said.
  • Ludwig Oberacker died on February 23, 1945, according to war records—weeks after the final day of fighting during the Battle of the Bulge.
  • “[T]housands of deaths are attributed to the Battle of the Bulge from February and later months of that year,” Pascocello told the Journal. He did not provide any evidence for his claim or respond to multiple follow-up questions.
  • It’s not clear how Oberacker knows his grandfather was killed in action—his team would not say—and his campaign manager refused to provide evidence supporting the assertion.

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