Oklahoma GOP Congressional candidate John Bennett calls for execution of Dr. Anthony Fauci

While campaigning for Oklahoma's 2nd Congressional District seat, John Bennett recently called for Dr. Anthony Fauci to be placed in front of a firing squad.

During a campaign event in Tulsa on Saturday, Bennett decried mask and vaccine mandates, along with the political establishment, as he emphasized the need to hold bureaucrats accountable.

In a video of the event released on Twitter via Right Wing Watch, Bennett harped on fighting against "communist Democrats," RINOs (Republicans in Name Only) and an establishment that "stole the election in 2020" before turning his rhetoric to Fauci.

"And by the way, we should try Anthony Fauci and put him in front of a firing squad," Bennett said.

Bennett told The Oklahoman via text on Thursday, "Fauci and his cohorts are responsible for one of the greatest crimes in world history."

He cited a need for charges of treason and crimes against humanity to be brought against the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and chief medical adviser to the president.

The accusations from Bennett stem from claims loudly echoed in conservative discourse throughout the pandemic that Fauci is connected to a lab in Wuhan, China, that lockdowns and mail-in voting efforts resulted in voter fraud and that pandemic lockdowns have been unconstitutional.

Neither Fauci or the NIAID responded to a request for comment on Bennett's remarks.

The Oklahoma Republican Party, which Bennett led before stepping away in April to run for eastern Oklahoma's open congressional seat, also declined to comment.

Bennett has a history of inflammatory language, including railing against the Muslim community while in the state House and comparing COVID-19 mandates to the persecution of the Jewish people in Nazi Germany during his stint as chairman of the state's GOP.

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He qualified his comments about Fauci during the stump speech, joking the execution take place only after a proper judicial process.

"For the Secret Service, if they're listening, I'm not advocating we kill Anthony Fauci until he's been convicted of his crimes through a court," Bennett said in the video released on Tuesday.

Fauci has been a mainstay throughout the country's COVID-19 pandemic response and a recurring guest in the national media.

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Wednesday, Fauci acknowledged that the pandemic has entered a "transitional phase," while walking back comments made on Tuesday that were understood by some to mean the pandemic is over.

"We're not over the pandemic. Don't let anybody get the misinterpretation that the pandemic is over, but what we are in is a different phase of the pandemic," he said.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma Congress candidate John Bennett calls for Fauci firing squad