CONNECTICUT, USA — The backlash continues to grow as a Connecticut lawmaker stands by her comments that compared Gov. Ned Lamont and his actions during the COVID-19 pandemic to Adolf Hitler.
Republican state Rep. Anne Dauphinais initially posted a comment on Facebook last Thursday night that called the Democrat “King Lamont aka Hitler.”
In response to criticism for that comment, Dauphinais posted a longer comment on her Facebook page Friday night that mentioned Nazi concentration camps, book burnings, and other actions under Hitler, interspersed with mentions of Lamont’s mandates during the pandemic.
“This Governor, with the help of the one-party rule we have in this state right now, has taken dictatorial powers for himself for what will be almost 2 full years when this latest extension expires,” Dauphinais wrote. “Hitler too was a dictator enabled by the rule of the single Nazi party.”
On Monday, the called the Jewish Federation of Eastern Connecticut called the comments offensive and inappropriate.
“It’s a health and safety issue. It’s not a political issue," said Carin Savel, Executive Director of the Jewish Federation of Eastern Connecticut. “I need to say like many other Jews I’m from a community of Holocaust survivors and any comparison to Hitler or the Nazis that trivializes the extent of their crimes against humanity and it really diminishes the suffering of our survivors.”
House Republican Leader Vincent Candelora said, "These are really outrageous comparisons to be making." He said, "Over 75 million people died in WW2 and I think that needs to be respected."
He also said the comments take away from the message and concerns some lawmakers have about the state vaccine mandate.
"The appropriateness of government mandating vaccines on individuals in exchange for their employment. That's the discussion I think we should be having," said Candelora.
Dauphinais’s district includes Plainfield and Killingly in eastern Connecticut.
Angelo Bavaro is an anchor and reporter at FOX61 News. He can be reached at abavaro@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter.
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