Clay County Republicans criticized for post comparing Bernie Sanders to Hitler
Updated: Feb. 27, 11 a.m. | Posted: Feb. 26, 5 p.m.
A northwestern Minnesota Republican group is under fire for alleged anti-Semitism after sharing a post on Facebook comparing Bernie Sanders to Adolf Hitler.
The Clay County Republican Party of Minnesota apparently shared an image from a right-wing Instagram account that attempts to compare the Nazi leader to Sanders, the U.S. senator from Vermont. Sanders, a 2020 presidential contender for the Democratic nomination, lost relatives in the Holocaust.
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Minnesota Republican Party chair Jennifer Carnahan slammed the post, which was deleted by Tuesday afternoon.
"The recent Facebook comment posted by a volunteer with the Clay County Republican Party is not appropriate and the MNGOP does not condone these actions or their sentiment," Carnahan said in a statement. "We have called on the local Republican unit to remove this post and hold themselves to a higher standard in the future. We must, Republicans and Democrats alike, do better to dispel hate and come together as Americans."
Jewish Community Action of Minnesota also posted a lengthy statement criticizing the post.
"This post was absurd. It was disgusting. And it was unquestionably, unapologetically, anti-Semitic," the group said.
The post shared by Clay County Republicans appeared to be from an Instagram page, @conservative_of_washington, which has about 1,000 followers and is littered with offensive content.
The post bore a caption, "Those who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat its mistakes," according to a screenshot of the post. The image attached suggests Hitler and Sanders are alike because of their views on gun control and socialism, among other topics.
Jewish Community Action also criticized Carnahan for saying Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar should leave leadership posts earlier this month following tweets from Omar that Carnahan and some others viewed as anti-Semitic.
On Tuesday night, after this and other stories on the post published, the Clay County Republicans issued an apology on its Facebook page.
"Whether it's the Democrats comparing Donald Trump to Hitler or Republicans comparing Bernie Sanders to Hitler, it is wrong, stupid, and inappropriate," the party wrote in a statement to MPR News. "We sincerely apologize."