Republican Rep. Warren Davidson of Ohio is drawing condemnation from his House colleagues for his comparison of Washington, DC’s vaccine and Covid-19 protocols to Nazi Germany.
Responding to a tweet from DC Mayor Muriel Bowser reminding residents that proof of vaccination will be required to enter many business in the city beginning on Saturday, Davidson tweeted an image of a Nazi document with the comment, “This has been done before. #DoNotComply.”
Davidson separately tweeted Wednesday, “Let’s recall that the Nazis dehumanized Jewish people before segregating them, segregated them before imprisoning them, imprisoned them before enslaving them, and enslaved them before massacring them.”
Democratic Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota, who is Jewish, told CNN’s Jake Tapper that he confronted Davidson about the tweet.
“I told him that the use of such imagery wasn’t just a repugnant and dangerous false equivalency, but deeply offensive and painful for Jewish people,” Phillips said. “I said I’d debate mandates and tyranny whenever he wishes, but there’s no debate on the offense of his post. He could have cared less.”
Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois also responded to Tapper, saying, “This is the new politics. It’s not about leading anymore. It’s about how can we out-outrage the other person.”
“It’s insane,” Kinzinger added. “Every Republican leader needs to be condemning that kind of B.S. right now.”
Davidson’s office did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment on the criticism.
The Anti-Defamation League also tweeted a response to Davidson, writing, “It’s never appropriate to compare requirements for public health with the tactics of Nazi Germany. As we’ve said too many times to count, minimizing the Holocaust in this way is deeply offensive and harmful.”
