If the Republican party's covert appeals to far-right fascist circles weren't already enough, some are speculating that organizers of the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Florida this past weekend literally set the stage as a welcome mat to neo-Nazis.
As speakers glorified violence against protesters, mocked transgender people, and praised the antics of former President Donald Trump, eagle-eyed viewers noticed the ground on which they stood had quite a distinct shape.
The CPAC stage's shape was identical to an Odal rune, which was a Nazi symbol that, according to the Anti-Defamation League, Nazis adopted to glorify an Aryan past.
People pointed out that the Odal rune on the stage had serifs—a variation on the rune uniquely belonging to the SS.
Given the right's history of employing dog whistles and subliminal messages to those who know to look for them, CPAC faced immediate pushback, as did the Hyatt hotel chain, whose Orlando location hosted the event.
Soon, the chain put out a statement condemning the symbol—a day after the event had ended and the custom-built stage deconstructed.
"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."
Though CPAC chair and devout Trump supporter Matt Schlapp dismissed the concerns as "outrageous and slanderous," the controversy comes only weeks after the deadly siege of the United States Capitol, where Nazi iconography and sympathy was on display.
As for Hyatt Hotels, many thought the condemnation was too little, too late.
Critics said the hotel chain was warned of the ideologies it as welcoming with its embrace of CPAC.
People continue to announce their boycotts of the chain on Twitter.
