Ben Carson Claims Rabbis Back his Holocaust Imagery in Gun Control Debate
Image by Getty Images
Republican presidential hopeful Ben Carson defended his use of Holocaust imagery in the gun control debate, saying even some rabbis backed his assertions.
Appearing Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Carson reiterated his claim that gun control in Germany that began in the late 1930s was a factor enabling the Nazis to perpetrate genocide against the Jews.
“(I)n the last several weeks, I’ve heard from many people in the Jewish community, including rabbis, who said, ‘You’re spot on. You are exactly right,’” Carson said on the news program after host Chuck Todd observed that “the minute you talk about the Holocaust, people stop listening.”
“And I think, you know, some of the people in your business quite frankly who like to try to stir things up and try to make this into a big, horrible thing,” Carson told Todd.
Carson said it is “generally agreed that it’s much more difficult to dominate people who are armed than people who are not armed. You know, some people will try to take that and, you know, make it into an anti-Jewish thing, which is foolishness.”
He had made his previous remarks in an interview on CNN.
“I think the likelihood of Hitler being able to accomplish his goals would have been greatly diminished if the people had been armed,” Carson said on Oct. 8, echoing his claims in his latest book that gun control has historically been a predicate for tyranny.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
