The Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) called on Rep. Eric Swalwell (D., Calif.) to apologize for comparing Richard Grenell, the former U.S. ambassador to Germany, to Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels.
After Grenell tweeted about the National Park Service's denial of using tear gas against protesters in front of the White House, Swalwell wrote on Twitter that Grenell "is Goebbels with a Twitter account."
Don’t waste your time, @RyanLizza. @RichardGrenell is Goebbels with a Twitter account.
— Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) June 3, 2020
RJC called on Swalwell to make a "genuine apology" to Grenell, to Swalwell's constituents, and to the victims of the Nazi regime "whose suffering he minimized by this comparison."
Swalwell took to Twitter Wednesday to tell RJC he is not sorry, claiming that one day his children would ask him, "Dad, what did you do when Trump gassed peaceful protestors for a photo-op at a church?"
In a few years, my children will be old enough to ask, 'Dad, what did you do when Trump gassed peaceful protestors for a photo-op at a church?" The only thing I’ll be sorry for is if I’m not able to say, 'everything I could to help save our country." https://t.co/vpmMWeLgJL
— Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) June 3, 2020
Grenell, the former acting director of national intelligence and the first openly gay man to occupy a cabinet position, resigned his position as ambassador to Germany on June 1 after serving there since 2018.
"While political rhetoric can get heated, there is no excuse for ugly comparisons to one of the worst monsters in human history," RJC said in its statement.
"It demeans the important work that Ric has done — getting Germany to designate Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, starving the terrorist regime in Iran of funds that would be used to finance terror against Israel and the Jewish people, and speaking out in defense of German Jews who were targets of antisemitic attacks."
Swalwell's office did not reply to a request for comment.
Goebbels, the minister of propaganda for Adolf Hitler's Third Reich, helped perpetuate Nazi genocide by fabricating a positive image for the regime in Germany.