Ohio Republican sparks condemnation for comparing DC vaccine mandate to Nazi Germany

Rep. Warren Davidson (R-Ohio) sparked criticism for comparing Washington, D.C.’s vaccine mandate and COVID-19 requirements to Nazi Germany.

“This has been done before. #DoNotComply,” Davidson tweeted along with an image of a Nazi-era identifying document that depicted a swastika.

“Let’s recall that the Nazis dehumanized Jewish people before segregating them, segregated them before imprisoning them, imprisoned them before enslaving them, and enslaved them before massacring them,” Davidson said.

He also posted a photo of a column from the Los Angeles Times about mocking those who are anti-vaccine and said, “Dehumanizing and segregation are underway — and wrong.”

Davidson’s posts, which were first reported by The Washington Post, were in response to another tweet from D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) reminding residents about COVID-19 requirements including proof of vaccination for ages 12 and up, proof of vaccination and a photo ID for ages 18 and up as well as masks in order to enter certain indoor venues. 

His remarks were met with criticism from the American Jewish Committee.

“In what is becoming a disturbing trend, @WarrenDavidson is the latest elected official to exploit the Holocaust by making immoral and offensive comparisons between vaccine mandates and this dark period of history,” the group said in a tweet. “Congressman, you must remove this shameful post and apologize.”

The Hill has reached out to Davidson for comment.

The Ohio lawmaker is not the first member of the GOP to compare the pandemic to the genocide of millions of Jewish people during the Holocaust. 

Last year, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) compared mask mandates to the Nazi requirement that Jews to wear the Star of David. 

Greene later visited the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and apologized for those comments, though she maintained her stance that mask requirements were discriminatory.

“I believe that forced masks and forced vaccines or vaccine passports are types of discrimination. And I’m very much against that type of discrimination. What I would like to say is I’m removing that statement completely away from what I had said before,” Greene said at the time.