NJDC Slams OH House Candidate “Joe the Plumber” for Blaming Holocaust on Gun Control **UPDATE**

NJDC — June 19, 2012 – 2:11 pm | Abusive Holocaust Rhetoric | Domestic Policy | Election 2012 | Republicans Comments (0) Add a comment

The National Jewish Democratic Council (NJDC) today slammed Ohio Republican House candidate Samuel “Joe the Plumber” Wurzelbacher for his campaign video that inappropriately and offensively blamed the Holocaust on gun control. NJDC President and CEO David A. Harris said:

“Using the memories of the six million Jews killed in the Holocaust to make a political point is never appropriate, under any circumstances. For Ohio Republican House candidate Samuel Wurzelbacher to imply that these innocent lives were taken because of gun control laws is simply beyond the pale. Wurzelbacher—who is just the latest in a long line of Republicans who seem to think it is acceptable to use the Holocaust for political gain—must apologize and remove this offensive video immediately.”

With this video, Wurzelbacher joins the ranks of other Republicans such as presidential candidate Newt Gingrich, Governor Rick Scott (R-FL), Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), Representatives Allen West (R-FL), Michele Bachmann (R-MN), and Trent Franks (R-AZ), WV Senate candidate John Raese and FL House candidate Adam Hasner who have shamefully abused the Holocaust to make political points.

Hunter Walker of the New York Observer reported today:

Samuel ‘Joe The Plumber’ Wurzelbacher, the 2008 campaign microcelebrity and Ohio congressional candidate, has an interesting theory about the Holocaust. Yesterday, Mr. Wurzelbacher released a campaign web video in which he blamed the Holocaust and the Armenian genocide on gun control laws.

‘In 1911, Turkey established gun control. From 1915 to 1917 one-point-five million Armenians, unable to defend themselves were exterminated,’ Mr. Wurzelbacher says in the clip. ‘In 1939, Germany established gun control. From 1939 to 1945, six million Jews and seven million others unable to defend themselves were exterminated.’

Mr. Wurzelbacher’s video features footage of him on a shooting rage blasting fruits and vegetables with a shotgun. As the clip draws to a close, Mr. Wurzelbacher, gun in hand, proclaims, ‘I love America.’

The description of the video describes gun ownership as ‘our last line of defense’ from tyranny and poses a rather existential question about Mr. Wurzelbacher’s produce shooting hobby.

‘If you hunt or just like shooting guns, the 2nd Amendment will always be a good thing. History also tells us it’s our last line of defense in the face of an out-of-control government,’ the description says. ‘And killing fruits and vegetables is… what?’ [New York Observer, June 19, 2012]

** Update **

Wurzelbacher refused to apologize when he spoke with Politico, and called those who were offended “whiners”:

‘I’m just stating the fact that history is very important - people need to understand what happened. Different countries around the world have tried to disarm their citizens, and then have tried to exterminate their own now-unarmed citizens,’ Wurzelbacher told POLITICO, citing Turkey, Russia and Germany as examples….

Wurzelbacher told POLITICO he has no sympathy for those who might be offended by his message.

‘If people are looking to be offended by this video, they are probably serving a political agenda. Unfortunately there are a lot of whiners out there,’ the Ohio Republican said in an interview. ‘The Second Amendment essentially allows us Americans to make sure that we keep our rights. It’s very important to make sure we sustain it.’

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