A Texas congressman took to Twitter Monday to make an unlikely comparison between two leaders.
Rep. Randy Weber, R-Texas, compared President Obama to Adolf Hitler, criticizing the former’s failure to go to Paris over the weekend for an anti-terrorism rally attended by dozens of other world leaders.
Weber, a second-term congressman, has previously made aggressive statements about Obama on social media.
Last January, Weber called Obama “the socialist dictator” in a tweet sent just moments prior to his State of the Union Address.
According to Tom Abrahams of ABC 13 in Houston, Weber said Tuesday he was not comparing Obama to Hitler, nor was he calling him Hitler.
“I was using Hitler as example evil existed and still exists in the form of radical Islamist extremism,” Weber said, according to Abrahams. “The president doesn’t get it. Paris reminds us that evil still exists in the world.”
After coming under fire for the tweet, Weber issued a statement of apology Tuesday.
“I need to first apologize to all those offended by my tweet. It was not my intention to trivialize the Holocaust nor to compare the President to Adolf Hitler. The mention of Hitler was meant to represent the face of evil that still exists in the world today. I now realize that the use of Hitler invokes pain and emotional trauma for those affected by the atrocities of the Holocaust and victims of anti-Semitism and hate,” a statement on his website said.
“After World War II, the world made a commitment to ‘Never Again’ allow terror free reign. As demonstrated by the Paris Peace Rally, we must all –Christians, Jews, Muslims, leaders around the world and those willing to fight for freedom – unite and stand strong together against radical extremism in any form,” he added.
