A board member of a county Republican Party in Minnesota has resigned after posting a since-deleted meme on Facebook over the weekend that compared the newly instituted state mandate to wear a face mask during the coronavirus pandemic to Jews being forced to wear a yellow Star of David during the Holocaust.
The Republican Party of Wabasha County told the state Republican Party that it had been hacked.
However, that was not the case, according to Minnesota GOP chairperson Jennifer Carnahan.
“Upon further investigation, the @mngop learned the Wabasha County FB page was not hacked last night ... . The offensive picture was posted by a board member who has resigned effective immediately at our request,” tweeted Carnahan on Tuesday. “We are saddened by the vitriolic post and hope as we move forward that Republicans and Democrats alike will maintain the highest level of integrity, respect and sensitivity. The Wabasha County Board and MN GOP apologizes for this disappointing post.”
The county board member was not identified.
The meme shows an elderly prisoner being told by a Nazi officer to wear the yellow Star of David.
“Just put on the star and quit complaining, it’s really not that hard,” read the meme’s caption. “Just put on the mask and stop complaining.”
Minnesota Jewish groups lambasted the Republican Party of Wabasha County for the meme.
The statewide face-mask requirement took effect on July 25.
That day, a couple donned Nazi swastika-flag face masks at a Walmart in Marshall, Minn. The pair has since been ordered not to enter the store for the next year.
