MADISON, Wis. (AP) _ Wisconsin Republicans are distancing themselves from Paul Nehlen, a Republican challenger to House Speaker Paul Ryan who has been suspended from Twitter after a series of posts criticized as being racist or anti-Semitic.
Wisconsin Republican Party spokesman Alec Zimmerman said Tuesday that membership dues Nehlen paid to county parties in Kenosha, Walworth and Racine counties have been refunded to Nehlen or donated to charity.
Zimmerman says Nehlen ``is not a member of the Republican Party of Wisconsin.''Nehlen was banned from Twitter on Sunday after tweeting an image that replaced the mixed-race fiancé of Prince Harry with a dark-skinned prehistoric Briton known as ``Cheddar Man.'' Nehlen had previously posted a list of his critics and said most were Jewish.
Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos says ``it looks to me like he's a racist bigot.''