Israeli diplomat ‘appalled’ by Marjorie Taylor Greene comparing Biden to Hitler
Jewish groups also blast Republican lawmaker after she calls US president ‘Nazi Joe’ and shares doctored video of him surrounded by swastikas
JTA — An Israeli diplomat on Friday said he was “appalled” by US House Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene comparing US President Joe Biden to Adolf Hitler, warning that such rhetoric fuels violence.
“I am appalled by this cynical use of Nazi imagery and Hitler comparisons by a member of the United States Congress,” the diplomat said.
“As we face a rise in antisemitic incidents, in the US and around the world, rhetoric like this only fuels the persistent threat of hatred, extremism, and violence,” he said.
The diplomat spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the criticism. It is highly unusual for an Israeli diplomat to speak out against an individual American lawmaker, especially on an issue not directly related to Israel.
Greene, a Georgia Republican with a history of inflammatory rhetoric and antisemitic comments, was reacting in a series of tweets to a speech Biden delivered Thursday in Philadelphia.
Biden warned of the threat to democracy from what he called “Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans.” Greene strongly identifies with the “Make America Great Again” wing of the party associated with the former president.
“Joe Biden is Hitler,” she said in one tweet. “#NaziJoe has got to go.”
In another post, she shared a doctored video of the speech in which Biden is surrounded by swastikas and sporting a Hitler mustache, and audio of Hitler speaking is playing. Greene has over 1 million followers on Twitter.
What we all saw tonight from Biden.
I guess when President Butterbeans is frail, weak, and dementia ridden, the Hitler imagery was their attempt to make him look “tough” while he declares war on half of America as enemies of the state.
Or it’s real..
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene???????? (@RepMTG) September 2, 2022
The Anti-Defamation League and American Jewish Committee also called her out.
“That a member of Congress would consider this funny, let alone acceptable is disgraceful,” ADL executive director Jonathan Greenblatt said.
“With one post and a doctored video, [Taylor Greene] managed to trivialize Hitler and the Nazis’ sheer evil and belittle the serious threat that extremism poses to this country. Absolutely shameful,” he said.
“This doctored video is vile, offensive, and completely unbecoming for a member of Congress,” the American Jewish Committee said. “House Republican leaders must condemn her conduct.”
Greene has repeatedly ignited firestorms of controversy — including among others members of Congress — for likening various things she doesn’t like to the Holocaust, associating with white supremacists, touting dangerous conspiracy theories and embracing antisemitic tropes.
She has made explicitly antisemitic comments about the Jewish Rothschild family and shared the antisemitic Great Replacement Theory, a conspiracy that falsely says Jews are replacing white populations with immigrants.
The Republican Jewish Coalition has repeatedly condemned her rhetoric and has backed primary opponents seeking to unseat her.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
