Folks, I’m tired. I’m exhausted. Nevertheless, the universe has decided that this week should continue as scheduled, which means Republican Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas gets to go on Fox News and compare Rep. Ilhan Omar to Nazis.
Speaking with Fox News’ Harris Faulkner on Friday, Gohmert insisted for the second time in as many days that Omar’s recent critique of the pro-Israel lobby’s power and influence in Washington is basically the same thing as what lead to the wholesale slaughter of Jews during the Holocaust.
Here he is saying it on the floor of the House of Representatives:
And here he is saying the same thing to a much larger audience on Fox today.
Gohmert’s argument, if you want to call it that, is as follows:
It is critical, whether you’re a Bonhoeffer or anybody else, when you hear anti-Jewish remarks being made—and I’m not talking about criticism about somebody who just happens to be Jewish. I’m talking about slandering an entire race of people—then it’s gotta be called out. That’s how the Holocaust began. Eventually people quit calling it out, and then that lead to more and more jumping on the bandwagon, and before you knew it there were six million people killed. We just can’t let that happen again.
Wow, touching sentiment. With that in mind, then, perhaps Gohmert should watch this clip of his Dec. 2018 appearance on—you guessed it—Fox News, where he both insisted that fidelity to the state of Israel is a sin qua non for Judaism and casually tossed out a thoroughly debunked anti-Semitic conspiracy theory to smear philanthropist and liberal donor George Soros.
Per Gohmert:
George Soros is supposed to be Jewish, but you wouldn’t know it from the damage he’s inflicted on Israel, and the fact that he turned on fellow Jews and helped take the property that they owned.
Anti-Semitism for me, but not (falsely labeled) anti-Semitism for thee.