Minnesota DFL blasts Scott County GOP for comparing Biden to Hitler and Stalin

The Minnesota DFL Party on Tuesday condemned the Scott County chapter of the Republican Party of Minnesota for a Facebook post comparing President Joe Biden to Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin.

The Scott County GOP's post included images of Hitler, Stalin, Mao Zedong and Biden, labeling all of them as "leaders who have their political opponents arrested." DFL Party chair Ken Martin noted in a statement that former President Donald Trump wasn't indicted by Biden, but "by a jury of his peers for jeopardizing our national security, stealing classified documents, and storing them at unsecured locations in a resort."

"Using that indictment to compare President Biden to some of the worst mass murderers in human history is as baseless as it is disturbing and offensive," Martin said. He called on Minnesota GOP chair David Hann to condemn the county chapter's rhetoric.

The Scott County GOP declined to comment to the Star Tribune, saying it may release a statement on social media instead in the next week.

Just last week, the state GOP Party similarly blasted the chair of the Minneapolis DFL for mocking Ronald Reagan's death on the anniversary of his passing. Hann called on Martin to denounce the Minneapolis DFL chair's post, and Martin did, calling the post "beyond the pale" and not reflective of the state party's values.

In a statement Tuesday, Minnesota GOP spokesman Mike Lonergan said "there's no question the [Scott County] post was uncalled for."

"Such rhetoric has no place in our political discourse. We have asked the Scott County party unit to remove the post in question," Lonergan said.

The recent posts from the Scott County GOP and Minneapolis DFL join a long and ever-growing list of inflammatory statements made by politicians and political operatives. Both parties are often eager to point out their opponents' missteps, especially during election years.

During this year's legislative session, the Minnesota GOP criticized a DFL state representative for her comments about white Christians who adopt Native American babies, and accused another Democratic lawmaker of using "sexist rhetoric" when he told a female GOP colleague that refinery jobs are "extremely dangerous" and not like going to "get your nails done."

In last year's midterm elections, the DFL blasted gubernatorial candidate Scott Jensen for comparing COVID policies to Nazi Germany measures, and other GOP candidates for refusing to publicly accept the results of the 2020 presidential election.