UPDATE: Rep. Cindy Crawford responded to criticism of her Holocaust statements, saying her words were misconstrued. From Crawford:
My statement was not antisemitism. I stand fully with my beliefs.
Below is what I actually said.
We are learning more about the virus. We are learning of therapeutics that will heal before you are sick enough to enter a hospital. We are learning the vaccine is not full proof against the virus. We are learning that in some cases the shot is causing adverse effects in people. It seems no one wants to tell us what is in the vaccine. People have a right to know what is being injected in their bodies. The last time this was done on such a large scale was when Jewish people were used a guinea pigs.
(Editor’s note: You can find the ingredients of all currently available COVID-19 vaccines on the CDC website here.)
Rep. Cindy Crawford (R-Fort Smith) equated shot-shy Arkansans with Holocaust victims on the House floor yesterday, eliciting outrage from many quarters.
Close watchers of this extended legislative session called Crawford out immediately.
Comparing racial genocide to the #CovidVaccine is unforgivable.
Let Rep. Crawford know how you feel about her comments: cindy.crawford@arkansashouse.org https://t.co/oI3pH5Vwtq pic.twitter.com/fiZDnEm8ZD
— On AR Watch (@OnARWatch1) October 5, 2021
Today, the Anti-Defamation League chimed in, calling Crawford’s comments an exploitation of Jewish suffering for political gain. Her comments trivialize and belittle the torture and murder of Holocaust victims, they said.
Aaron Ahlquist, the Southern division policy director for the ADL, offered this statement:
“Comparing lifesaving vaccines and vaccination policies to the dehumanization and genocide of Jewish people at the hands of the Nazis is despicable and deeply offensive — and it’s become an all-to-common and callous tool for political gain. Those linking the atrocities committed by the Nazis to modern day public health policies, and other public and political issues, must retract their shameless words, take responsibility, and cease their exploitation of Jewish trauma and suffering as a political tactic.
“Arkansas State Representative Cindy Crawford should be ashamed of her rhetoric that undermines science and denigrates the horrific suffering of millions murdered during the Holocaust.”