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An Arizona Republican politician has come under fire after comparing vaccinated people to Nazis and vaccine mandates to the oppression of the Holocaust.
In a tweet posted earlier this week, Arizona Republican State Senator Kelly Townsend also shared an image of a swastika made of vaccine syringes, absurdly claiming that vaccinated people's insistence upon increased vaccination uptake means the vaccine must not work.
The Arizona branch of the Anti-Defamation League—one of the country's oldest and most prominent Jewish organizations—pushed back against her rhetoric.
@AZKellyT should delete this outrageous and offensive tweet. There is never a valid time to share this flag which represents oppression and genocide for so many. Comparing health mandates to Nazism is highly insensitive and escalates tensions around efforts to fight #COVID19.pic.twitter.com/R3MJpBavib— ADL Arizona (@ADL Arizona) 1631565768
In response to her swastika post, the ADL tweeted:
"[Townsend] should delete this outrageous and offensive tweet. There is never a valid time to share this flag which represents oppression and genocide for so many."
"Comparing health mandates to Nazism is highly insensitive and escalates tensions around efforts to fight [the virus]."
Arizona Republican state Senator Townsend admonished the Jewish organization to "Learn your history."
Learn your history.— Senator Kelly Townsend (@Senator Kelly Townsend) 1631566712
The GOP politician's suggestion members of the ADL would not know the history of the Holocaust left many shocked.
Townsend, who represents the Phoenix suburbs of Mesa and Apache Junction, received blowback from the Jewish community within her district as well.
The Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Phoenix called her post "shameful, offensive and insensitive."
There is no place for Nazi imagery in regards to issues of vaccination. Period. \n\nThis is shameful, offensive and insensitive. Do better, @AZKellyThttps://twitter.com/AZKellyT/status/1437200407353184256\u00a0\u2026— JCRC of Greater Phoenix (@JCRC of Greater Phoenix) 1631552057
Townsend advised them to also "learn [Holocaust] history."
Here is an early propaganda piece re justification of forced medical procedures for greater good. Today- how much are the 'unvaccinated' costing society? My vaccine swastika evoked anger, but Nazi atrocities began with similar propaganda. Learn history or you end up repeating it.pic.twitter.com/HntJIYWO4I— Senator Kelly Townsend (@Senator Kelly Townsend) 1631624044
Townsend went on to like and share several tweets from other Republicans comparing the personal inconveniences anti-vaxxers and anti-maskers create by refusing to follow public health mandates during a global pandemic to Nazis and the Holocaust.
One of those tweets featured Arizona Republican Senator TJ Shope's face photoshopped onto a Nazi officer of the Ordnungspolizei. They were the police force responsible for clearing Polish Jewish neighborhoods and sending their residents to ghettos then on to work and death camps like Auschwitz, Treblinka and Dachau.
The comparison between Shope and Nazis who committed atrocities like burning Jews alive inside a synagogue was made because Shope voted against legislation that forbade Arizona businesses from denying entry to unvaccinated customers. For many such businesses, drive-thrus and curbside pickup were options offered to customers.
On Twitter, many people lambasted Townsend for her shocking rhetoric.
Kelly Townsend\u2019s combination of moral bankruptcy and rank stupidity is one toxic stew. Imagine telling the ADL to \u201clearn [its] history? https://twitter.com/jeremyduda/status/1437571412890324996\u00a0\u2026— Modernista64 (@Modernista64) 1631579376
If you don\u2019t want Kelly Townsend shaping public policy next year then vote for Democrats for the AZ Legislature— Nathan Davis (@Nathan Davis) 1631546467
How it started, how it's going: Kelly Townsend Holocaust edition.pic.twitter.com/IpD1Yt7b4P— Dillon Rosenblatt (@Dillon Rosenblatt) 1631503940
I\u2019m getting sick and tired of people talking so cavalier about the Holocaust,not to mention all of these examples they are comparing to it !! These were peoples lives sadly taken and there cannot be compared with anything ,have respect !!!— darlene macklem \ud83c\udde8\ud83c\udde6 (@darlene macklem \ud83c\udde8\ud83c\udde6) 1631623477
She really is just the worsthttps://www.azmirror.com/2021/09/13/kelly-townsend-gop-senator-likened-covid-vaccines-to-the-holocaust-tweeted-a-swastika-and-told-a-jewish-group-who-complained-to-learn-your-history/\u00a0\u2026— Nathan Davis (@Nathan Davis) 1631653553
"Learn your history," Townsend tells the Anti-Defamation League because obviously Townsend (who is not Jewish) knows more about Jewish history & Nazi Germany than anyone else. #godcomplexhttps://www.azmirror.com/2021/09/13/kelly-townsend-gop-senator-likened-covid-vaccines-to-the-holocaust-tweeted-a-swastika-and-told-a-jewish-group-who-complained-to-learn-your-history/?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=3ee1411b-3737-48d3-b46d-39717e7260f1\u00a0\u2026— Julie Erfle (@Julie Erfle) 1631635968
Do u understand the difference between being born with a hereditary disease and choosing to not get a free vaccine— DEAgo (@DEAgo) 1631637766
Please educate us. I must\u2019ve missed the Bill proposing that the unvaccinated be gassed to death. When\u2019s the vote?\n\n\u2026or could it be that you\u2019re making this disgusting comparison simply to rile up your base & score some votes?— TruthShinesEventually (@TruthShinesEventually) 1631731548
Kelly you tolerate violence against marginalized groups far too often to pretend to be upset that someone is facing consequences for choosing to be inconsiderate of others.— Eclectic Human (@Eclectic Human) 1631631378
Vaccines are 96% effective at saving lives and preventing death. The NAZIs were 99% effective at ending jewish lives and spreading genocide across Europe.— AppeaseThis (@AppeaseThis) 1631628330
Comparing minor inconveniences caused by willful refusals to follow basic public health mandates during a global pandemic to the atrocities of Nazi Germany—as well as slavery and Jim Crow-era laws—has become a common refrain among Republican officials since the first mask mandates.
When Democratic President Joe Biden announced a requirement employers with more than 100 employees mandate vaccination or weekly testing, the rhetoric of anti-vaxxer victimhood was ready for GOP officials to redeploy.