Kyle Langford, a Republican candidate in the 2026 California gubernatorial election, doubled down on saying that Auschwitz presents a model for eliminating unemployment after drawing a rebuke from the official Auschwitz memorial.
“My 0% unemployment plan,” he wrote on July 25.
The Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum said that “the instrumentalization of the tragedy of all those imprisoned and murdered in the German Nazi concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz for political messaging is a profound moral failure.”
“Auschwitz is not a prop,” it added. “Kyle Langford, your post is an affront to the dignity of the victims and a disturbing display of insensitivity and disregard to horrifying human history.”
Langford has said that “Jews need to become Catholic, worship Jesus Christ and abandon the State of Israel,” and that “Jews should use U.S. Customs and Border Protection home app and self-deport to Israel today.”
He has also said that “the United States should perform regime change in Israel for a more favorable government, while also dismantling their intelligence agencies.”
In response to a social-media user, Langford said of his Auschwitz unemployment statement: “I wasn’t joking. I think it is exactly what is needed to stabilize California and keep people safe.”
He also wrote back to the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum.
“My German ancestors smile upon me, and my most sincere of thank you’s for the massive shoutout, Auschwitz Museum,” he wrote.
Polling released earlier this month suggests he is trailing well behind the other gubernatorial candidates—some 22 percentage points behind former Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris. Even among Republican voters, the poll only projects he would beat Harris (3%) by two percentage points (5%).
