A Republican lawmaker is facing complaints over invoking Nazis on a Facebook page where he criticizes Democratic-backed legislation. But he says he wasn’t trying to call Democrats Nazis.
Rep. Nate Bell of Mena on Tuesday defended comments he made on his Facebook page. Bell wrote on Monday that comparing Democrats to Nazis is “easy” and referred to bills such as legislation banning private ownership of monkeys and regulating hamburger temperature as examples.
The state Democratic Party on Tuesday called for Bell to apologize for the post. Bell said that the post and the quote were meant to be a warning of what “elected officials should avoid becoming” and that he does not believe Democrats are Nazis.
Arkansas Democratic Party Communications Director Candace Martina also called on caucus leader Rep. John Burris and Party Leader Doyle Webb ti join in condemning the remarks by Bell.
“This kind of hate speech and hyper-partisanship is the kind of Washington political nonsense that we don’t need here in Arkansas,” Martin said. “Nate Bell owes an apology to the people of our state for resorting to this base level of rhetoric and to our World War II veterans who fought on the battlefield against the Nazis."
Bells rants began with a post to his Facebook page Saturday at 10:57 p.m.:
“As long as the government is perceived as working for the benefit of the children, the people will happily endure almost any curtailment of liberty and almost any deprivation.-- Mein Kampf, Adolf Hitler.”
On Monday afternoon, Bell explained his post:
“Comparing Dems to Nazis is wayyyy to easy. Let's start with banning cell phone use while parked in a school zone,” Bell wrote.
That legislation passed in the most recent general assembly.
Information for this article was contributed by The Associated Press.