Jewish Senate candidate compares Biden’s vaccine mandate to the Gestapo
Josh Mandel, who is running to represent Ohio, caused controversy by comparing the latest vaccination efforts to Nazi Germany
The latest politician to compare government vaccination efforts to Nazi Germany is Josh Mandel, a Jewish Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Ohio.
In a video Thursday protesting President Joe Biden’s upcoming requirement that a large portion of private sector employees either get vaccinated against COVID or get tested weekly, Mandel instructed his social media viewers not to comply with the requirement. In doing so, he compared Biden to the Gestapo, the Nazi secret police force that played a major role in carrying out the Holocaust.
“I call on my fellow Americans: Do not comply,” he said. “Do not comply with the tyranny, and when the Gestapo show up at your front door, you know what to do.”
Mandel is among the latest in a lengthening list of public figures, including Republican lawmakers, who have compared vaccine mandates and other public health regulations to the Holocaust and Nazi Germany. Holocaust scholars are united in categorically opposing such statements, explaining that there’s no comparison between public health measures and the genocide of six million Jews.
Mandel, Ohio’s former state treasurer and an outspoken supporter of former President Donald Trump, has crafted an inflammatory presence on Twitter during his Senate campaign. His video drew outrage from other Jewish activists and organisations. The American Jewish Committee tweeted that Mandel’s statement was “disgraceful” and “hateful.”
“This statement is deeply offensive and trivialises the horrors of the Holocaust,” the group said. “Mandel should know better.”
Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, a former pro-Israel activist who later founded the disability advocacy group RespectAbility, also tweeted that she had once seen Mandel as a “thoughtful young leader” and urged him to delete the video.
“Seriously @JoshMandelOhio the Nazis DID show up at my fathers house, and they also killed most of his family,” she wrote. “This analogy is deeply offensive and I hope you take it down.”
On Friday afternoon, the Anti-Defamation League called on Mandel to apologise. Mandel responded on Twitter by calling ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt a “kapo,” a term denoting Jews who were coerced into working with the Nazis during the Holocaust. In the tweet, Mandel also praised Mike Cernovich and Jack Posobiec, two far-right conspiracy theorists.
Mandel also raised eyebrows on Twitter last week, when he began sparring with Alexander Vindman, the former national security official who testified against Trump during his first impeachment hearings in 2019.
Mandel called Vindman, a Soviet Jewish refugee and retired U.S. Army officer, a “commie” in addition to a “liar and traitor.” Vindman had criticised Mandel for opposing Afghan refugee resettlement.
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
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
