Facebook post with Nazi imagery leads to GOP resignation
Updated: 5:23 p.m.
A local Republican Party official resigned from a post Tuesday after a Facebook post that compared Minnesota’s new mask mandate to Nazi Germany.
For a time, the Facebook page of the Wabasha County Republican Party showed a black-and-white photo of a Nazi soldier talking to a man wearing a Star of David. A caption likened the star that became a Holocaust emblem to the coronavirus mask precautions.
After initially suggesting the local party page had been hacked, Minnesota Republican Party Chair Jennifer Carnahan said that a review found the post originated by a Wabasha GOP board member. The post received a number of negative comments and drew a response from the Jewish Community Relations Council.
“It’s a disgrace to the memory of WWII veterans as well as survivors of the Holocaust and anybody that fought,” said Steve Hunegs, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas.
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In a statement, Carnahan said the unidentified activist has resigned.
“We are saddened by the vitriolic post and hope as we move forward that Republicans and Democrats alike will maintain the highest level of integrity, respect, and sensitivity,” Carnahan said. “The Wabasha County Board and Minnesota GOP apologizes for this disappointing post."
State DFL Party officials said it wasn’t an isolated incident. They pointed to legislative candidates who drew similar comparisons in social media posts
“I’m calling on the Republican Party of Minnesota to renounce the use of this rhetoric and sanction candidates and local units that persist in leveling these disgraceful attacks,” DFL Party Chair Ken Martin said in a written statement. “Leaders of the Minnesota Republican Party must recognize the radicalizing effect their words are having and the real, physical harm that could cause the people of Minnesota.”
The Wabasha GOP’s post followed a weekend incident in Marshall, where a couple wore swastika masks into a Walmart to buy groceries on the first day of the state face covering mandate. Video of an encounter between that couple and other shoppers made national news.