FALCON HEIGHTS, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on Thursday criticized Republican hopeful Scott Jensen for repeated comments equating mask rules and other restrictions imposed by the governor at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic with authoritarianism in Nazi Germany. and the Holocaust.
Walz said such casual comparisons about the Holocaust, especially in today’s busy political environment, are unacceptable. A stream of Jewish network leaders also said Jensen offended and distorted history by downplaying the Holocaust.
“Being is one thing,” Walz told The Associated Press in an interview at the opening of the Minnesota State Fair, one of many canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic. “Being told through other people who know this factor that you are and then continuing, becomes a factor of character and judgment. “
Jensen, a family circle physician and former state senator, built his campaign, especially in his early days, on a platform of skepticism about vaccines and opposition to the Walz administration’s handling of the pandemic.
Jensen’s most recent comments drew attention this week when a local Jewish website, TC Jewfolk, posted a video of his speech in April at a “Mask Off Minnesota” event, in which he spoke about the slow erosion of freedom in Germany in the 1930s, and in comparison to Walz’s slow-expanding restrictions in the early months of the pandemic.
“And then the little things became something bigger. Then there was a night called Kristallnacht. La night of the damaged crystals. Then there was e-book recording, and it kept growing, and a guy named Hitler kept gaining power, and World War II broke out. “Jensen told the group.
Jensen maintained his remarks in a provocative video on social media on Tuesday.
“When I make a comparison that says I’ve noticed that government policies gradually invade American freedoms, one piece at a time, and compare it to what happened in the 1930s, I think that’s a valid comparison,” Jensen said. It may not make you want to, it’s good. But that’s how I think and you don’t my idea, police.
Jensen returned to the topic that night at a Republican Jewish Coalition event, the governor’s restrictions were only about compliance and control.
Ethan Roberts, director of affairs for the Minnesota and Dakota Council on Jewish Community Relations, said comments like Jensen’s trivialize the Holocaust.
“Generally speaking, no one compares things to the Holocaust unless we communicate about genocide. Period,” Roberts said. Such comparisons are incendiary. They are profoundly, deeply traditionally inaccurate.
The Holocaust is not a story of incrementalism, Roberts explained, it is a story of genocide. And equating it with a mask meant to protect other people is “an incredibly bad analogy,” he said.
Jensen is far from the only politician in trouble for comparisons to the Holocaust. Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado was convicted last year of accusing Gov. Jared Polis of sending “brown shirts” to close restaurants during the pandemic and accusing President Joe Biden of sending “Nazis to the needle” to force vaccines.
Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia apologized last year after comparing coronavirus protections on the ground to the way the Nazis made Jews wear stars of David and send them to fuel chambers. “appalling” comparison. Earlier this year, Republican Rep. Warren Davidson of Ohio apologized to Jewish teams after comparing mask and vaccine mandates to Nazi practices.
There has been a steady buildup in the use of analogies between the Holocaust and the Nazis across the country in recent years, said David Goldenberg, midwestern regional director of the Anti-Defamation League.
“Ultimately, there’s no logical comparison to make, and no matter how passionate they may be, they have to realize that this is a bad and deeply offensive comparison,” Goldenberg said.
Jensen was not available for an interview Thursday, as his crusade spawned a busy schedule of State Fair events. He left a crusade event early Wednesday before reporters could ask him about the controversy, but his running mate, former Minnesota Vikings midfielder Matt. Birk, disdainful.
“We know the game. I mean, I’m a victim, Scott has been for a long time. You take 10-second sound clips and then everyone, this is the age of outrage on Twitter,” Birk said. Reporters
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