Fox News host Bill O'Reilly devoted the first segment of his show Thursday night to blasting Democratic National Committee chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz for her ugly attempt to smear a supporter of presidential candidate Marco Rubio (R., Fla.) as a Nazi sympathizer.
The O'Reilly Factor host minced no words for Schultz trying to paint wealthy Dallas real estate developer and historical art collector Harlan Crow that way, suggesting she should resign for a "vicious, utterly false attack" that was a "new low" in political attack discourse.
"What is truly astounding is the woman's ignorance," O'Reilly said. "I’ve been to Harlan Crow's home and I have seen his collection of history. It's amazing. Any museum would be proud to display what he has ... There are documents and letters from crucial moments in American history as well as world history. They include items from villains such as Hitler, Stalin, Tojo and Saddam Hussein. If you follow Wasserman Schultz's reasoning, no one could hold an event in, say, the Imperial War Museum in London, for example. Her take is truly insane."
Rubio held a fundraiser at Crow's home on the eve of Yom Kippur this week. Schultz's attempt to castigate Crow as a Nazi sympathizer was predicated on his ownership of "two paintings by Adolf Hitler, a signed copy of Hitler’s autobiography, Mein Kampf, and a cabinet full of place settings and linens used by the Nazi leader."
Schultz's statement called on Rubio to cancel the fundraiser, citing the sizable number of Jews he represents as a Florida senator:
An event at a home with items like these is appalling at any time of the year. Adding insult to injury, Rubio is holding this event on the eve of the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, Yom Kippur. Holding an event in a house featuring the artwork and signed autobiography of a man who dedicated his life to extinguishing the Jewish people is the height of insensitivity and indifference. There’s really no excuse for such a gross act of disrespect. Mr. Rubio, who by the way, represents a sizable Jewish population in our home state of Florida, should cancel this tasteless fundraiser.
The Free Beacon reported, however, that Schultz was woefully misinformed, seeing as Crow's mother nearly died in an attack by the Germans:
Making the notion that Crow has any ties to Hitler even more absurd is the fact that his mother, Margaret Crow, was nearly killed by the Nazis.
She survived the sinking of the British SS Athenia, which was the first British ship attacked by the Nazi U-boats. Crow owns multiple artifacts from the SS Athenia, as well.
"By attacking Rubio using the Holocaust, the head of the DNC has shamed herself and her party," O'Reilly said. "She should immediately resign. There comes a point when politics gets so dirty it corrupts the nation."
Critics have suggested Schultz's attack was designed to distract Jewish Floridians from her vote for the Iran nuclear deal, which she came around to supporting despite heavy opposition from the public who view it as a threat to the security of both the United States and Israel.