An ex-Liberal staffer who was sacked over a series of ‘racist’ social media posts has been spotted smiling alongside key figures in the party at two different elections.
Barclay McGain, 23, was fired from his role as an electorate officer for former Federal MP Andrew Laming in 2020 after a social media post came to light showing him grinning with a racially offensive figurine.
He returned to work for Mr Laming six months later, but was publicly blasted the following year when he dressed up as acquitted US shooter Kyle Rittenhouse for a Halloween party – with the hashtag #NotGuilty.
Rittenhouse shot three people, killing two, with an AR-15 during Black Lives Matter riots in Kenosha, Wisconsin in August 2020 after a white police officer shot a black man.
The Prime Minister’s office condemned the costume at the time as ‘completely inappropriate’.
Despite the backlash, Mr McGain has managed to retain his position within the Coalition and has flown interstate twice within the past two weeks to support the Liberal Party in two elections, both of which were lost to Labor.
He was pictured alongside former NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet last week, and holding a drink beside federal Opposition leader Peter Dutton on Saturday.
Barclay McGain is pictured holding a beer while standing next to federal opposition leader Peter Dutton, centre, at a Liberal Party by-election function in Melbourne on Saturday
Barclay McGain is pictured centre, watching a fellow Liberal campaigner shake hands with former NSW premier Dominic Perrotter, who lost the state election last weekend
Mr McGain was photographed handing out how to vote cards in Riverstone before the Liberals lost the seat in the NSW state election on March 25.
He was also seen greeting Mr Perrottet in the hours before the then-premier was forced to concede to Labor’s Chris Minns.
The controversial former staffer then travelled to Melbourne to support the Liberal party in the Aston by-election on Saturday, and was pictured handing out flyers.
According to a Facebook post, he was trying to ‘save the quiet Australians of Aston from Anthony Albanese’s brand of rabid socialism’.
Hours later, the Liberal Party suffered a historic defeat. It was the first time in more than 100 years that an opposition party has lost a seat to the government in a by-election.
Later that evening, he was pictured standing alongside federal opposition leader Peter Dutton at a Liberal function in Melbourne – sporting a blue campaign shirt and holding a drink.
Daily Mail Australia is not suggesting Mr Perrottet and Mr Dutton are closely affiliated with Mr McGain in any way, or that they share his views.
Daily Mail Australia contacted Mr McGain and the Liberal Party for comment.
Barclay McGain (pictured) dressed as US shooter Kyle Rittenhouse for a Halloween party
Kyle Rittenhouse is pictured minutes before he shot three people, killing two, during Black Lives Matter protests in the U.S. city of Kenosha, Wisconsin in August 2020
Mr McGain first made headlines during Schoolies in 2019 when he uploaded a video in which he interviewed school leavers on the Gold Coast about whether the Australian flag and the national anthem should be kept or altered to better recognise First Nations people.
He laughed when one person responded: ‘We’ve got to stop celebrating a culture that couldn’t even invent the bloody wheel… We’ve got to start enjoying and living in western culture’.
He was then fired in June 2020 when two offensive social media posts were unearthed.
One was a Snapchat which he sent to friends and family showing him holding a money box featuring a picture of an Indigenous person with exaggerated features.
The other was a Facebook post in which he called suspended student Drew Pavlou ‘Mein Fuhrer’ – German for my leader – alongside an altered video of a scene showing Adolf Hitler in the movie Downfall.
Mr Laming’s office confirmed they had rehired him in March 2021.
‘(His) impressive knowledge and young networks is something very important for politicians to have,’ Mr Laming told Sky News at the time.
In November of 2021 he was slammed for dressing up as acquitted US shooter, Kyle Rittenhouse.
Barclay McGain is still involved with the Liberal Party. He is pictured handing out ‘how to vote’ cards in Melbourne on the weekend
Barclay McGain is pictured second from the left, in Sydney for the NSW state election – which the Liberal party lost
Rittenhouse armed himself with an AR-15 style rifle and roamed the streets as part of a ‘militia’ who claimed they were protecting businesses after far-right groups called on people to break curfew and take to the streets.
He shot Joseph Rosenbaum who had earlier been filmed taunting armed men.
A crowd of a dozen people then gave chase and after tripping and falling to the ground he shot and killed Anthony Huber and shot and wounded Gaige Grosskreautz who were pursuing him.
A jury found he acted in self-defence when he shot the protesters in a verdict which has deeply divided America. He was acquitted of five felony charges, including first-degree intentional homicide.
At the time, Mr McGain said he was ‘not particularly worried’ that the costume would affect his employment because it was outside of work hours, on a private balcony, and Rittenhouse had been found not guilty.
‘I thought it was topical. He had just been found not guilty, and you know, like any Halloween costume, I guess you’re trying to excite people, entertain people,’ he said.
The costume was ‘not necessarily an endorsement or condemnation,’ the former political staffer added.
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