AJC demands US lawmaker who compared stay-at-home order to Nazis apologize

"Scott's comparison of stay-at-home orders during the pandemic to Nazi death camps is unfathomably offensive," the AJC tweeted.

APRIL 21, 2020 16:32

The Idaho House of Representatives Room in Idaho State Capitol Building (photo credit: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS/RICKMOUSER45) — The Idaho House of Representatives Room in Idaho State Capitol Building

(photo credit: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS/RICKMOUSER45)

WASHINGTON – The American Jewish Committee (AJC) on Monday called on a Republican Idaho state representative, Heather Scott, to apologize for comparing closure of non-essential businesses, due to coronavirus, to Nazi Germany.

"Scott's comparison of stay-at-home orders during the pandemic to Nazi death camps is unfathomably offensive and an unforgivable affront to victims of the Holocaust. She should apologize immediately," AJC tweeted.

Idaho State Rep. Heather Scott's comparison of stay-at-home orders during the pandemic to Nazi death camps is unfathomably offensive and an unforgivable affront to victims of the Holocaust. She should apologize immediately.https://t.co/Dl88DDp3DZ
— American Jewish Committee (@AJCGlobal) April 20, 2020

During a Zoom interview with Jess Fields, a podcast host, the lawmaker said: "When you have the government telling you that your business is essential or non-essential, yours is non-essential, and someone else's is essential, we have a problem there."

“That’s no different than Nazi Germany where you had government telling people either you were an essential worker or a non-essential worker, and non-essential workers got put on a train,” she continued. The Idaho state representative also called Governor Brad Little, “Little Hitler.”

“This extreme display of ignorance and lack of respect in Rep. Scott's recent comments regarding Idaho's stay-at-order cannot be overstated,” the Idaho Democratic Party tweeted in response.

Scott did not back off from her remarks. Following a request for comment from The Spokesman Review, who first reported her controversial interview, the Idaho lawmaker released a Facebook post, in which she blamed the paper in writing a “hit piece.”

“It’s unfortunate, disingenuous and a real disservice to the public that biased local and national media continue to twist and turn facts away from their original intent and into their ongoing war of hate towards conservatives and Americans in general,” she wrote in her post.

“My videos and interviews are generating a lot of positive responses, and people are waking up. My recent analogies are poignant and relative to our times,” she added. “While human lives are certainly more valuable than a business, we cannot underestimate nor ignore that our businesses are the life blood of the citizens who own them, the communities they are in and to the customers they serve. Losing the former destroys the latter.”