The US presidential campaign of Ron DeSantis has fired an aide who shared online a clip featuring a symbol that was adopted by the Nazis.
Nate Hochman, a speechwriter, posted the 68-second video from a pro-DeSantis account on social media over the weekend before quickly deleting it.
The clip shows Mr DeSantis superimposed on a sonnenrad, or sun-wheel.
US media reports say Mr Hochman, 25, created the video.
The BBC has contacted him for comment.
It comes as the Florida governor’s 2024 campaign shaved more than a third of staff from its payroll on Tuesday.
A campaign spokesman confirmed Mr Hochman’s sacking, but declined to elaborate.
“Nate Hochman is no longer with the campaign,” the official told the BBC’s US partner CBS News. “And we will not be commenting on him further.”
The video was posted on Saturday by an anonymously run account followed by several DeSantis staffers on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The clip ends with the seal of Florida turning into a spinning sonnenrad, superimposed with Mr DeSantis’ face and with rifle-bearing soldiers marching on either side.
According to the Anti-Defamation League, an anti-hate monitor, the sonnenrad is an ancient European symbol that was “appropriated by the Nazis in their attempt to invent an idealised ‘Aryan/Norse’ heritage”.
Modern-day white supremacists have adopted versions of the sonnenrad. Other variations include the swastika.
The now-deleted video is the second online clip to spark criticism of Mr DeSantis.
Last month, another since-deleted production promoted by the campaign marked the end of Pride month by accusing Donald Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican nomination, of being too friendly with the LGBT community. (BBC)
