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The father of 2016 Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz told a Florida Tea Party audience that Jews are “Democrats first and Jews second.”

Rafael Cruz made the explosive comments, along with similar remarks about Catholics, on Saturday, in front of the Palm Beach County Tea Party.

“This is what has happened to a great many in the Catholic Church,” “They are Democrats first and Catholics second.”

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Rafael Cruz is not officially part of his sons’ campaign team, but appears at his sons’ events. He is an evangelical preacher and director of the religious group, Purifying Fire International ministry.

“Hitler was very smart,” Cruz began. “Hitler went to the pastors and pat them on the back and said, ‘look, you take care of their souls, I’ll take care of all the rest of it. In other words, you keep locked inside your church and leave the rest to me’… and as a result of that, six million Jews were massacred.”

According to Cruz, the Church had a responsibility to monitor the government, and failed, so that was the reason for the Holocaust.

“We need to put principle above tradition,” he said. “There are people voting Democrat because, ‘My grandfather or my father voted Democrat.’ Let me tell you something. The Democratic party today is not the Democratic party of John Kennedy. John Kennedy would be a Republican today.”

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