COVID-19 Safety Measures Aren't Similar to Nazi Rule

Misbar's investigation shows that after hearing about the requirement for lawmakers to wear health screening stickers before going to the Alaska Capitol, Republican Representative Ben Carpenter compared it to Nazi rule. In a message copied to all members of the Alaska House, he wrote, “How about an arm band that won’t fall off like a sticker will? If my sticker falls off, do I get a new one or do I get public shaming too? Are the stickers available as a yellow Star of David?”

Representative Carpenter doubled down in an interview with the Anchorage Daily News, saying, “People want to say Hitler was a white supremacist. No. He was fearful of the Jewish nation, and that drove him into some unfathomable atrocities.” 

However, following extensive backlash on social media, Representative Carpenter apologized for his comments in an opinion piece for Must Read Alaska published on May 17, 2020. In the article, he wrote, “It was not my intent to be offensive; quite the opposite… I know that white supremacists like Adolf Hitler are fearful bullies who must be exterminated from the face of the earth.”

The Council on American-Islamic Relations called for Representative Carpenter’s resignation on May 17, 2020. CAIR’s National Communications Directer Ibrahim Hopper said, “Anyone who holds such abhorrent anti-Semitic views should not be formulating policy for any state in our nation. Representative Carpenter should resign and make way for someone who will seek to unify our nation at a time of crisis, not attempt to politicize a pandemic that is targeting all Americans, regardless of political beliefs.” CAIR further noted the increase in hate incidents targeting American Muslims following the rise of white supremacist dialogue about the pandemic.

Misbar's investigation shows that the social distancing measures are not at all similar to Nazi rule, which was notoriously cruel, inhumane, and devalued human life.