Mediaboss Marketing

MIGOP receives national condemnation after tweet comparing gun bills to Holocaust

A tweet from the Michigan GOP is getting some criticism from both Republicans and Democrats in Michigan, relating to guns and the history of the second amendment. March 22, 2023. (Courtesy: Twitter/@MIGOP)

Michigan's Republican Party is receiving widespread condemnation, including by many within the party, after a tweet Wednesday morning that compared the collection of wedding rings during the Holocaust to gun control bills currently making progress in the state's legislature.

The Michigan Republican Party's officialTwitter account shared a statement Wednesday morning just before 8:30 a.m. reading "#History has shown us that the first thing a government does when it wants total control over its people is to disarm them. President Reagan once stated, 'if we lose #freedom here, there is nowhere else to escape to. This is the last stand on Earth.'"

Attached to the tweet is a picture of hand reaching into a box of rings, with a caption reading: "Before they collected all these wedding rings... they collected all the guns."

The photograph of the wedding rings is a snapshot from May 1945, when the rings were found near Buchenwald concentration camp in Germany, according to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Nazis would remove valuable pieces of jewelry or metals from their victims for salvage, according to the Holocaust Encyclopedia.

The tweet quickly received pushback on social media, with users demanding it be removed over its insensitivity.

During a Wednesday evening press conference in Macomb Co. to address the tweet, MIGOP Chair Kristina Karamo stood by the tweet, which she said was posted by a "social media team," saying she would not take the message offline.

Karamo was selected to become chair of the Michigan Republican Party by Republican precinct delegates in mid-February. Previously a community college educator, Karamo joined the political sphere for the first time formally when she ran against Democrat Jocelyn Benson in the 2022 race for Secretary of State. Karamo, who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump in that election, lost to Benson by nearly 13 points but never conceded.

The Michigan Democratic Twitter account responded by saying: "This vile rhetoric should have no place in our politics. The @MIGOP must apologize and take down this disgusting tweet."

The Allegan County Democratic Twitter account disagreed with the MIGOP's tweet by mirroring the Michigan Democratic response and adding "This vile rhetoric from @MIGOP and their Chair @KristinaKaramo has no place in our politics. Shame on the Michigan GOP for sinking to another all-time low. #DoBetter"

Chairwoman of the Michigan Republican Party, Kristina Karamo, stands by the tweet by saying "We will not be silent as the Democratic Party, the party who fought to enslave Black Americans, and currently fights to murder unborn children, attempt to disarm us."

"Our 2nd Amendment was put in place to protect us from aspiring tyrants. MIGOP stands by our statement," Karamo adds.

The rest of the tweet can be found here.

These responses by the Michigan Republican Party come almost a week after the Michigan Senate passed an 11-bill gun safety package whichwould put in place a number of gun restrictions aimed at reducing gun violence, including safe gun storage requirements, and universal background checks.

Continue reading here:
MIGOP receives national condemnation after tweet comparing gun bills to Holocaust - WWMT-TV