Nearly 40 House Democrats are condemning recent social media posts from the U.S. Departments of Homeland Security and Labor as reflecting neo-Nazi and other extremist rhetoric.
The legislators, led by Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), sent a letter on Wednesday to Kristi Noem, the U.S. homeland security secretary, and Lori Chavez-DeRemer, the U.S. labor secretary, criticizing the posts and calling for an internal review.
The lawmakers expressed their “grave concern and unequivocal condemnation of official social media posts and communications” from the departments “that have echoed and amplified language rooted in white nationalist and extremist propaganda.”
The letter cites messages published after the fatal shooting of activist Renée Good by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in Minneapolis in January.
According to the lawmakers, Homeland Security shared an image of “a man riding a house alongside the words, ‘We’ll have our home again,’” in a post calling for individuals to join ICE. The letter states that the phrase appears in the chorus of a song associated with some far-right groups, including the Proud Boys.
The letter also includes a post shared by the Labor Department that stated, “One Homeland. One People. One Heritage. Remember who you are, American.”
That language, the letter states, “bears a striking resemblance to a notorious Nazi slogan, ‘One People, One Realm, One Leader,’ and is wholly incompatible with the responsibilities of the agencies you lead.”
The legislators wrote that “the amplification of extremist-adjacent rhetoric from official government channels corrodes public trust and undermines the constitutional and moral obligations of federal institutions.”
“Allowing this conduct to go unaddressed would signal tolerance for ideologies the United States has fought wars to defeat,” the letter states.
