Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) is coming under fire from opponents for his comparison on Tuesday of Richard Grenell, who just left his position as U.S. Ambassador to Germany and for a brief time served as acting director of national intelligence, to Nazi propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels.
On Twitter, Grenell defended U.S. President Donald Trump’s actions against protesters near the White House this week and criticized journalists for their reporting of Monday’s incident near the White House, when protesters were pushed backed and allegedly tear-gassed so Trump could walk to St. John’s Church, which was partially burned during riots a day earlier over the death of George Floyd.
The U.S. National Park Service denied that tear gas was used.
“Facts matter & we should demand journalism. @cnn, @jaketapper, @RyanLizza, @abbydphillip & @JFKucinich should all correct their previous & erroneous reporting with this Park Police statement. They all watched something on TV & then claimed everyone was peaceful. They were wrong,” tweeted Grenell.
Politico chief Washington correspondent Ryan Lizza retweeted Grenell’s post and replied, “I was at the protest, genius, not watching it on TV. Please correct your erroneous reporting.”
In response to Lizza’s post, Swalwell tweeted, “Don’t waste your time, @RyanLizza. @RichardGrenell is Goebbels with a Twitter account.”
Don’t waste your time, @RyanLizza. @RichardGrenell is Goebbels with a Twitter account.
— Rep. Eric Swalwell (@RepSwalwell) June 3, 2020
The Republican Jewish Coalition slammed Swalwell for the comparison.
“Ric has been one of the most strident and effective defenders of the Jewish people and the State of Israel,” said RJC national chairman and former Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) in a statement. “While political rhetoric can get heated, there is no excuse for ugly comparisons to one of the worst monsters in human history.”
“It demeans the important work that Ric has done—getting Germany to designate Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, starving the terrorist regime in Iran of funds that would be used to finance terror against Israel and the Jewish people, and speaking out in defense of German Jews who were targets of anti-Semitic attacks.”
Coleman went on to state that Swalwell “owes a genuine apology to Mr. Grenell, to his constituents whom he has embarrassed, and to the victims of Goebbels whose suffering he minimized by this comparison.”
