Today Senator Karin Housley (R-St. Marys Point) issued a statement regarding recent comparisons made between COVID-19 restrictions and the Holocaust:

“In 2016, in a self-funded trip to Israel, I had the privilege of traveling with the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota (JCRC) and some of my colleagues. While in Israel we visited Yad Vashem, Israel’s memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. That powerful experience solidified my commitment to fighting anti-Semitism, honoring and remembering victims of the Holocaust, and contributing to creating a world where such genocide could never happen again.

“It is partially for this reason that it has been so disturbing to see candidates for the Minnesota legislature make completely reprehensible and insensitive comparisons between the Holocaust and policies recently implemented due to COVID-19. At the very least it’s an inaccurate comparison, but really, it demeans and diminishes the horror that the victims of the Holocaust experienced and the sacrifice of Minnesotans who fought and died to defeat Nazism.

“As a Senator and as a Minnesotan, I stand with my friends in the Jewish community. My expectation is that our leaders and candidates commit to respectful and thoughtful language to express their disagreement with COVID-19 policies.”