Cases, hospitalizations, and deaths from the pandemic that's killed over 600 thousand Americans are skyrocketing yet again, despite the widespread availability of free vaccines whose safety and effectiveness has been repeatedly proven to slow the spread and offer a pathway back to regular daily life.
This is in no small part due to a right-wing media ecosystem that insists vaccines aren't to be trusted, that they're a means for government control, and that any effort to convince Americans to take the shot is a federal overreach that must be resisted.
As a result, Republican elected officials and media personalities have leapt to offer the most extreme comparisons. Far-right Fox News host Tucker Carlson compared vaccine requirements for private businesses to the racist carnage that terrorized Black people in the Jim Crow south. Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk likened them to apartheid.
The Biden administration's effort to recruit volunteers to go door-to-door in their own under-vaccinated communities with basic information on how to secure a vaccine was equally slammed by the Right, with far-right Georgia Congresswoman and prominent conspiracy theorist Marjorie Taylor Greene comparing the effort to the atrocities of Nazi secret police. Fox News contributor Charlie Hurt likened the effort to Taliban rule.
And now, yet another GOP elected official has compared saving lives to arguably the most devastating atrocity in modern history.
Republican Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie deleted a tweet Wednesday night comparing vaccine mandates to the Holocaust.pic.twitter.com/QTSSH7eqpY— andrew kaczynski (@andrew kaczynski) 1629946997
Republican Congressman Thomas Massie of Kentucky posted a wildly offensive meme that likened proof of vaccination cards—which some businesses and municipal governments are requiring for certain recreational activities—to the identification numbers tattooed on Jews, Queer people, and other marginalized groups as they entered concentration camps, millions of whom were subsequently murdered by the state.
Even if Massie's meme wasn't completely atrocious, it doesn't make logical sense. To drive a car or enter a bar in the United States, proof of age is required. If Massie's party had its way, photo identification would be mandatory nationwide before exercising one's right to vote (even though in-person voter fraud is practically nonexistent in the United States).
Massie's since-deleted sentiment saw widespread backlash.
Members of Congress who continue to exploit the systematic murder of six million Jews to appease a political base have lost sight of their morals.\n\nThe comparisons between public health measures and the Holocaust must stop. @RepThomasMassie must apologize immediately.https://twitter.com/KFILE/status/1430727522963046401\u00a0\u2026— American Jewish Committee (@American Jewish Committee) 1629989400
Thomas Massie, a child of privilege and wealth, who has never been denied anything he ever wanted, is comparing getting a vaccine--which 99% of Americans have done in their lifetimes--to the Holocaust.\n\nSuch an asshttps://twitter.com/KFILE/status/1430727522963046401\u00a0\u2026— Pat Bagley (@Pat Bagley) 1629949598
I told everyone, these people are inhuman. I truly believe they would do anything to stay in power, as you are now seeing.https://twitter.com/kfile/status/1430727522963046401\u00a0\u2026— Dan \ud83c\udf0a\ud83c\udf0a\ud83c\udf0a\ud83c\udf0a\ud83c\udf0a\ud83c\udf0a\u2764\ufe0f\ud83c\udd98 (@Dan \ud83c\udf0a\ud83c\udf0a\ud83c\udf0a\ud83c\udf0a\ud83c\udf0a\ud83c\udf0a\u2764\ufe0f\ud83c\udd98) 1629990461
Sad thing is - I'm not surprised at anything Massie does/says. \nThe good people of #Kentucky have little representation. \nWhen he's in Washington, maybe just stroll over the the Holocaust Museum... and that's only a taste.https://twitter.com/KFILE/status/1430727522963046401\u00a0\u2026— Angela in KY (@Angela in KY) 1629982533
The fallacies were glaring.
But... in the US... A regular driver's license is required to enter a bar, movie, airport, purchase cigarettes or alcohol, get a mortgage or loan... https://twitter.com/KFILE/status/1430727522963046401\u00a0\u2026— David Binkowski \ud83c\uddf5\ud83c\uddf7 (@David Binkowski \ud83c\uddf5\ud83c\uddf7) 1629979749
The fact that we act like we don\u2019t require people to show ID cards to gain access to places is mind boggling. Folks are literally trying to create oppression out of thin air.https://twitter.com/kfile/status/1430727522963046401\u00a0\u2026— Too Bougie For Hennessy Grits (@Too Bougie For Hennessy Grits) 1629992188
Wait until Rep Massive reads the ID requirements to vote that his party wants to enforce.https://twitter.com/KFILE/status/1430727522963046401\u00a0\u2026— Aleksei Il\u00eddio Valent\u00edn \u2721\ufe0f\u267f\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f (@Aleksei Il\u00eddio Valent\u00edn \u2721\ufe0f\u267f\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f) 1629949057
These people also think it's fair to require ID to vote.https://twitter.com/kfile/status/1430727522963046401\u00a0\u2026— GenX Elder Estarianne, BS, MA, A.N.T.I.F.A \ud83d\udc69\ud83c\udffc (@GenX Elder Estarianne, BS, MA, A.N.T.I.F.A \ud83d\udc69\ud83c\udffc) 1629947103
The right continues to rail against lifesaving vaccination efforts.
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