AMERICAN IDIOT
‘Deeply Offensive’: US Senate Candidate Slammed for Using Nazi Rhetoric and ‘Inciting Violence’ Over Biden Vaccine Policy
Josh Mandel, currently the likely leading GOP candidate in Ohio’s race to replace retiring Republican U.S. Senator Rob Portman, is under fire for what some are calling the use of Nazi rhetoric and inciting violence in a video he posted in response to President Joe Biden’s new vaccine policies.
Standing on the side of the road in front of a Trump sign, as he wass “driving through a corn field,” his car lights flashing, and after declaring that President Joe Biden is not the President of the United States, Mandel said of Biden’s vaccine mandate, “I call on my fellow Americans do not comply, do not comply with the tyranny. And when the Gestapo show up at your front door, you know what to do.”
“My blood is boiling,” Mandel said, “in rage at what I’ve seen from the White House today, trampling on our freedom, trampling on our liberty, trampling on what I took an oath to defend when I joined the Marine Corps.”
Mandel was referring to President Biden’s executive order requiring the Dept. of Labor to direct employers with 100 or more employees to ensure their workforce is fully vaccinated or submit negative coronavirus test results weekly. The Marine Corps. requires more than a dozen vaccines when new recruits join.
“Joe Biden, I’m not even going to call him ‘President Biden,’ he is not. Joe Biden is creating a constitutional crisis, because I was driving through this cornfield. I literally came across this sign, this Trump sign, he is my president,” Mandel said.
Do NOT comply with the tyranny.
When the gestapo show up at your front door, you know what to do. pic.twitter.com/hLJbcx4ace
— Josh Mandel (@JoshMandelOhio) September 10, 2021
Many, including one of the nation’s oldest civil rights organizations, the American Jewish Committee, blasted Mandel, who is Jewish.
“It’s disgraceful,” the AJC said on Twitter, that Josh Mandel, “whose own people were murdered by Nazis, would use this hateful rhetoric to score political points.”
“This statement is deeply offensive and trivializes the horrors of the Holocaust. Mandel should know better.”
U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, the leading Democratic candidate for Senator Portman’s seat, also blasted Mandel:
Josh, even you know this is BS. Stop with the calls to violence. Stop putting Ohioans at risk. We all see right through it — that’s why you’re going to lose. Again. https://t.co/FTUDQA7StH
— Tim Ryan (@TimRyan) September 10, 2021
MSNBC’s Chris Hayes served up a sarcastic rebuke:
whether you agree or not, this is once in a generation political talent. the charisma almost cracks your screen. https://t.co/xFFhHXH5e6
— Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) September 10, 2021
Here’s how others are responding:
“Gestapo” does not mean what you think it means, sport.
Also, your production values suck ass. https://t.co/V49FY408Z0
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) September 10, 2021
Send ’em to your house, I guess. https://t.co/ptWn8VNhUi
— Gary Legum (@GaryLegum) September 10, 2021
Inciting violence and invoking a Nazi organization in the same tweet. What a disgrace.
— Andrew Weinstein (@Weinsteinlaw) September 10, 2021
No, @JoshMandelOhio, the COVID vaccine is not the gestapo.
Here were my great aunts who were killed in the Holocaust.#GetVaccinated pic.twitter.com/7Okh7NZNvk
— Nancy Levine (@nancylevine) September 10, 2021
The Gestapo’s best-known tactic was requiring that people get tested for a contagious disease once a week as a condition of employment. https://t.co/PZYDLEebN6
— James Surowiecki (@JamesSurowiecki) September 10, 2021
Grow up. You know how many government rules & mandates there are for you to legally drive through that cornfield, Scooter? Emissions standards, seatbelts, speed limits, licensing, insurance, fuel efficiency, safety standards, exams, vehicle registration, etc. Gestapo things. 🙄 https://t.co/uWhOCcdNEG
— Bob Cesca (@bobcesca_go) September 10, 2021
The gestapo wanted to kill you & millions of others when they showed up on your door, Josh.
A vaccine mandate, OTOH, is trying to SAVE yours & millions of others’ lives.
This isn’t hard.
— Melissa Jo Peltier (@MelissaJPeltier) September 10, 2021
Armed violence against the government is a helluva platform. https://t.co/xQV9f85t5c
— Corey Rayburn Yung (@CoreyRYung) September 10, 2021
Uhh pic.twitter.com/jS8uHpttCq
— Heather (@featherty) September 10, 2021
wow sounds very dangerous, please stay safe Josh! let us all know if there is anything we all can do to protect you from the gestapo. https://t.co/Rf1pAPxrO0
— Tim Murphy (@timothypmurphy) September 10, 2021
In times of national emergency, such as a natural disaster, deadly pandemic, or mass insurrection, the Executive necessarily may take certain extraordinary actions to protect and promote the general welfare of the United States. see: last 300 years of constitutional jurisprudence
— PostSurgeOperative (@PostSurgeOp) September 10, 2021
“you know what to do” = have a meltdown in a corn field https://t.co/BE99Nv79qQ
— John DeVore (@JohnDeVore) September 10, 2021
Hang it up, man! There’s no hope for you, ya lousy little Don Jr kakistocrat wannabe.
— 🏝 Kim (@kim) September 10, 2021
the gestapo famously knocked on peoples doors to advise them of ways to improve public health https://t.co/zLhcP4FC26
— Cole (@ItsColOutside) September 10, 2021
You are one sick twist.
— Dave Zirin (@EdgeofSports) September 10, 2021
Enjoy this piece?
… then let us make a small request. The New Civil Rights Movement depends on readers like you to meet our ongoing expenses and continue producing quality progressive journalism. Three Silicon Valley giants consume 70 percent of all online advertising dollars, so we need your help to continue doing what we do.
NCRM is independent. You won’t find mainstream media bias here. From unflinching coverage of religious extremism, to spotlighting efforts to roll back our rights, NCRM continues to speak truth to power. America needs independent voices like NCRM to be sure no one is forgotten.
Every reader contribution, whatever the amount, makes a tremendous difference. Help ensure NCRM remains independent long into the future. Support progressive journalism with a one-time contribution to NCRM, or click here to become a subscriber. Thank you. Click here to donate by check.