Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen compared President Trump’s Wednesday night rally to the “beginnings of the Hitler regime” during an interview on MSNBC Thursday morning.
The Trump rally was widely condemned after rally-goers chanted “send her back” when the president spoke negatively about Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota. Omar is one of four prominent progressive freshmen congresswomen that the president has repeatedly attacked in recent days, including when he suggested that she and fellow Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, and Ayanna Pressley should “go back” to their native countries if they’re unhappy in the United States.
“It was more reminiscent of Germany during the beginnings of the Hitler regime. People yelling send her back. That was un-American. I fear for the [congresswoman’s] safety. I fear for the safety of other Congress people, hers in particular, the other three ladies,” Cohen stated.
MSNBC’s Hallie Jackson questioned the comparison by pointing out that “there are those who will say” that “invoking the specter of Hitler” means “you are just as responsible for the heated rhetoric as anybody else.”
“It’s just what it is. That’s where we saw crowds get behind a xenophobic nationalistic leader who took a minority and made them scapegoats, used them as a foil for his political rise to do some of the most awful things that ever happened in this world. I had relatives that were killed in the Holocaust,” Cohen responded. “I don’t like it being used. I see the same tactics being used and to bring those tactics up and to remind people where America could be going is important.”
“What is the responsibility of your Republican colleagues and your Democratic colleagues now today?” Jackson asked.
“Republicans should stand up and let people know they are for the security of all Americans, for all American citizens, and nobody should be sent back,” the congressman answered. “Nobody should be encouraged to be sent back. In fact, the press should have asked Senator Graham what would John McCain have done if this crowd started yelling ‘send her back.’ John McCain, who used to be Senator Graham’s hero, would have told them, ‘No, don’t do that. She’s a congressman. She’s an American citizen.'”
Cohen has a penchant for making strong claims such as the this. During a Steering and Policy Committee meeting in May, he suggested that the president is “raping the country,” according to Politico.
