Texas Republican Rep. Randy Weber apologized Tuesday for a tweet he sent Monday night that mocked President Obama for failing to go to Paris for Sunday’s march of solidarity by comparing him to Adolf Hitler.
The tweet: “Even Adolph Hitler thought it more important than Obama to get to Paris. (For all the wrong reasons.) Obama couldn't do it for right reasons.”
Hitler, the German dictator whose first name was misspelled by Weber, visited Paris in 1940 after Germany invaded France.
The tweet enraged Democrats, especially Jewish lawmakers. Rep. Steve Israel, D-N.Y. tweeted: “I disagree w Potus absence in Paris but Rep Randy Weber tweet is vile, desecrates holocaust victims. Cong leaders must condemn!”
Obama did not go to Sunday’s march or send a high level emissary honoring the 17 victims of last week’s shootings in Paris at the satiric magazine Charlie Hebdo and a kosher market. There were 40 world leaders who participated in the march of over 1 million free-speech supporters and the White House Monday apologized for not sending a “higher profile” representative than the U.S. ambassador.
Weber, who is on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, at first did not back down on his tweet, telling the Dallas Morning News that Obama “doesn’t have good policy, doesn’t understand that America is at risk.”
“He’s more interested in being politically correct…than having a show of solidarity and going over to Paris. It’s just appalling to me,” Weber told the paper.
However, by this afternoon, Weber had decided to issue a lengthy apology and explanation of his tweet:
“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.
“The terrorist attacks in Paris should remind us of the evil that still exists. Hitler was the face of evil, perpetrating genocide against six million Jews and millions of other victims. Today, we are facing the evil of Islamic extremists who are attempting to instill fear and murdering the lives of innocent people from Paris to Nigeria to Jerusalem and all over the world. The President’s actions or lack thereof is my point of contention. Islamic extremists have shown they are not going away, and instead are hungry for more blood.
“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.”
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