Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Make a matched gift and support Jewish journalism. DONATE NOW
Fast Forward

Donald Trump Spokeswoman Doubles Down on ‘Gestapo’ Attack on Cruz

A spokeswoman for Donald Trump adamantly refused to back down from the campaign’s claim that rival Ted Cruz was using “gestapo” tactics to win the high-stakes battle for Republican delegates.

Katrina Pierson rebuffed CNN’s Wolf Blitzer when the news anchor pushed her on Monday to explain why the GOP political feud should be compared to the Nazi secret police.

“It is a word to define exactly the type of malice that is involved with going after some of these delegates in a very hostile and intimidating way,” Pierson insisted, according to Mediaite.

Pierson went on to explain that Trump would not be bullied into backing down on the slur, saying to change his tune would be bowing to “political correctness.”

The Anti-Defamation League and other anti-Semitism watchdogs have repeatedly warned political leaders and other public figures to avoid using words associated with the Holocaust as commonplace insults, saying that the practice dilutes the horror of the Nazi era.

This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.

We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news. All donations are still being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000 until April 24.

This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.

With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.

The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:

  • Credit the Forward
  • Retain our pixel
  • Preserve our canonical link in Google search
  • Add a noindex tag in Google search

See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.