GOP Senate Candidate Flips Out At Vaccine Mandates In 'Deeply Offensive' Video
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Josh Mandel, a Republican Senate candidate in Ohio, railed against President Joe Biden’s new COVID-19 vaccine mandates in a video that’s been slammed as “beyond the pale” by Jewish advocacy group the Anti-Defamation League.
Mandel said his blood was “boiling in rage” and Biden was “trampling on our freedom” with the additional measures the president announced this week in a bid to end the pandemic.
Mandel urged Americans not to comply “with the tyranny” in the clip, which was filmed next to a cornfield with a gigantic “TRUMP” sign. “And when the Gestapo turn up at your door, you know what to do,” he added, a line that critics suggested was inciting violence.
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
The ADL fiercely condemned the comments of Mandel, who is seeking the Republican nomination in the race to replace retiring Sen. Rob Portman (R).
“Being asked to wear a mask or take an FDA-approved vaccine is not equivalent to the actions of the Gestapo in Nazi-era Germany or the systemic annihilation of an entire group of people,” wrote the group.
“These comparisons are beyond the pale and need to stop,” it added.
Being asked to wear a mask or take an FDA-approved vaccine is not equivalent to the actions of the Gestapo in Nazi-era Germany or the systemic annihilation of an entire group of people. These comparisons are beyond the pale and need to stop.@JoshMandelOhio needs to apologize. https://t.co/Wj1TNc37bq
— ADL (@ADL) September 10, 2021
The American Jewish Committee said it was “disgraceful” that Mandel, who is Jewish, “would use this hateful rhetoric to score political points.”
“This statement is deeply offensive and trivializes the horrors of the Holocaust,” the committee added. “Mandel should know better.”
It's disgraceful that @JoshMandelOhio, 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. https://t.co/53BR9q5nkE— American Jewish Committee (@AJCGlobal) September 10, 2021
Others agreed, including Mandel’s possible election rival Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio).
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
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.#GetVaccinatedpic.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
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
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 know what to do" = have a meltdown in a corn field https://t.co/BE99Nv79qQ
— John DeVore (@JohnDeVore) September 10, 2021
This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.