Tennessee Senator Stacey Campfield is in hot water after comparing Obamacare to the Holocaust on his blog yesterday.
In his "Thought of the Day" post, Campfield wrote: "Democrats bragging about the number of mandatory sign ups for Obamacare is like Germans bragging about the number of mandatory [sic] sign ups for 'train rides' for Jews in the 40s."
Almost immediately, politicians from both sides of the aisle spoke out against the senator's remark.
Tennessee Republican Party Chairman Chris Devaney condemned Campfield's post and said the Republican senator should apologize.
"While Stacey Campfield routinely makes remarks that are over the top, today's comments are ignorant and repugnant," Devaney said in a statement.
"No political or policy disagreement should ever be compared to the suffering endured by an entire generation of people. Those comments have no place in our public discourse. He should offer an apology to members of the Jewish faith immediately."
Tennessee Democratic Party Chair Roy Herron called the comments an example of "Tea Party Republican extremism."
"To compare attempts to save American lives through access to healthcare with Nazis killing European Jews is outrageous, pathetic, and hateful," Herron said in a statement.
Anti-Defamation League Southeast Interim Regional Director Shelley Rose chided Campfield for trivializing the Holocaust.
"The six million Jewish victims and millions of other victims of Hitler deserve better," Rose wrote in a statement. "Their deaths should not be used for political points or sloganeering."
Despite the backlash, Campfield stood by his comments, and compared Obamacare to abortion.
"I regret that some people miss the point of my post. It was not to offend. It was to warn. To draw attention to Obamacare and the slippery slope that I see occurring in the lives of myself, my constituents, and the rest of the country with the continued taking of freedom by the federal government," he wrote.
"300 million Americans are at risk from government bureaucrats deciding who should be given life saving medications and who should be denied. Every citizen now faces the possibility of their tax dollars going to pay for a government funded abortion."
