Jun 19, 2012
Does Congressman Benishek Stand By Joe the Plumber & Believe that Gun Control Caused the Holocaust?
Ohio Tea Party candidate Samuel Wurzelbacher, better known as “Joe The Plumber,” just released an inflammatory web video claiming that gun control caused the Holocaust. Congressman Dan Benishek (MI-01) welcomed Joe the Plumber to campaign with him across Northern Michigan in 2010 and just gave him $500 in March. Is Congressman Benishek going to continue to stand with Joe the Plumber and his extreme, inflammatory claims or will he condemn the remark and get his money back?
“It is deeply disturbing that Congressman Dan Benishek would recklessly throw his support behind a fellow Tea Party candidate who has no regard for victims of the Holocaust,” said Haley Morris of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. “Michigan families deserve to know whether Congressman Dan Benishek will condemn this inflammatory and irresponsible rhetoric or if Benishek stands by Joe the Plumber and believes that gun control caused the Holocaust.”
Background
Joe the Plumber blamed gun control for the Holocaust. In a June 2012 web video, Joe the Plumber blamed gun control laws for the Holocaust and the Armenian genocide. “In 1911, Turkey established gun control. From 1915 to 1917 one-point-five million Armenians, unable to defend themselves were exterminated,” Wurzelbacher says in the clip. “In 1939, Germany established gun control. From 1939 to 1945, six million Jews and seven million others unable to defend themselves were exterminated.” [Politicker, 6/19/12]
Congressman Dan Benishek donated $500 to Joe the Plumber. In March 2012, Benishek donated $500 to Joe the Plumber’s campaign. [Joe for Congress 2012 FEC Report, filed 4/15/12]
Congressman Dan Benishek campaigned with Joe the Plumber. During the 2010 election cycle, Joe the Plumber campaigned with Benishek throughout Michigan’s 1st District. [TV6, 7/31/10]
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