Culp Continues Nazi Comments and Comparisons
Yet again, GOP gubernatorial candidate Loren Culp has made wildly inappropriate comparisons between voter approved gun safety legislation and the Nazi Party
For Immediate Release | October 13, 2020
SEATTLE — In an interview with Chris Daniels of King 5 news, Republican gubernatorial candidate Loren Culp yet again compared the voter approved gun safety initiative I-1639 to the Nazi Party and the Holocaust, the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War Two, and the arrest of Rosa Parks. These repeated comments have come under heavy scrutiny and have been denounced as offensive by the Jewish Federation, the Anti-Defamation League, the Tacoma Pierce County Black Collective, and others.
The exchange between Daniels and Culp in the interview goes as follows:
Daniels – “What about the argument though that it was approved by voters, it’s been proven to be constitutional.”
Culp – “And you can look back at our history, you know, in World War Two 120,000 Japanese-Americans were put in internment camps because that’s what the Democrat president at the time said needed to be done for our safety. The same thing happened to Rosa Parks. That’s the same thing that happened in Nazi Germany.”
Last week, Culp also compared the enforcement of gun safety laws to the actions of Nazi soldiers during the Holocaust in an interview with the Columbian’s editorial board. Culp’s campaign website still has language making the Holocaust comparison. In August, Culp made Nazi comparisons to the Seattle Times and the Spokesman-Review.
Mr. Culp seems to not appreciate that voters overwhelmingly approved this measure and the courts have upheld them as constitutional. Mr. Culp continues to believe he is above the law, Washington voters, and our court system.
Culp is not the only Washington state Republican to bring up the Nazi Party in recent weeks. In an interview with the editorial board of the Columbian newspaper, GOP Representative Vicki Kraft of Clark County compared Gov. Jay Inslee to Hitler because of his response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“These repeated comments about Nazis and the Holocaust from Washington state Republicans are completely inappropriate and offensive,” said Tina Podlodowski, Chair of the Washington State Democratic Party. “Not only is it a false comparison but more importantly it undermines the history of this atrocity. Washington state Republicans need to look at themselves in the mirror and decide what kind of party they want to be, because operating under the leadership of this Mini-Trump is taking them down a dark road to an ugly place.”
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