The Oklahoma Republican party faced fierce criticism on Friday for a Facebook post likening Covid-19 vaccine mandates to the persecution of Jewish people in Nazi Germany.
The shameful Facebook post, featuring the yellow Star of David Jews were forced to wear in Nazi Germany is shown with the word “Unvaccinated” superimposed on top of it. Although the Star of David is a symbol of Judaism, the Nazis forced Jews to wear the emblem as a way to segregate and control them.
The post reads: “Limited access to travel within their State, Province or Territory. The bearer may not fly, cannot enter a pub, restaurant, club, or theatre. Has limited access to either work, buy and sell goods or have access to services and healthcare. Wake up people — is this sounding familiar?”
Roberta Clark, executive director of the Jewish Federation of Greater Oklahoma City, called the post “highly inappropriate” and urged party officials to apologize, reports The Guardian.
“To compare the actions taken by Nazi Germany to a public health discussion is ill-informed and inappropriate,“ Clark said. “An apology is really appropriate, and it shows leadership and sensitivity to the harmful impact this has made.”
The Hill notes that the Facebook post also urged people to contact Lt Governor Matt Pinnell (R) while Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) is out of the country and ask him to take action on private businesses requiring employees to get vaccinated.
The Oklahoman points out that the Oklahoma Republican Party is led by Chairman John Bennett, a former state lawmaker who has a history of making controversial remarks about Muslims.
In a joint statement, Gov. Kevin Stitt, Lt. Gov. Matt Pinnell, U.S. Sens. Jim Inhofe and James Lankford, U.S. Rep. Markwayne Mullin, Senate Pro Tem Greg Treat, R-Oklahoma City, and House Speaker Charles McCall, R-Atoka, criticized the social media post that was still up as of Friday evening.
“It is irresponsible and wrong to compare an effective vaccine — developed by President Trump’s Operation Warp Speed — to the horrors of the Holocaust,” the Republicans said. “People should have the liberty to choose if they take the vaccine, but we should never compare the unvaccinated to the victims of the Holocaust.”
This blatant antisemitism being used as a political weapon is not just confined to Republicans in Oklahoma. Wisconsin GOP state lawmaker Rep. Shae Sortwell attacked a children’s museum for requiring unvaccinated guests to wear masks indoors, referring to the museum staff as “the Gestapo.” Sortwell refused to apologize for his remarks, even though museum staff were harassed because of them.
And in June, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) received bipartisan condemnation when she compared mask policy to the Holocaust. She later issued an apology, saying she had made “a mistake.”
