Congressman Clay Higgins, a Louisiana State Republican, posted a self-recorded video message of himself inside a gas chamber in Auschwitz Museum last Saturday. In the 5-minute video, the politician used his surroundings to draw parallels between what happened then to the current security situation in the US.
“The world’s a smaller place now than it was in World War II”, remarked Higgins before continuing, “The United States is more accessible to terror like this, horror like this.”
Being a member of the U.S House Homeland Security Committee, Higgins went on to plug the importance of Homeland and the military, “This is why homeland security must be squared away, why our military must be invincible.”
Higgins compared gas chambers to the situation in America saying “It’s hard to walk away from the gas chambers and ovens without a very sober feeling of commitment — unwavering commitment — to make damn sure that the United States of America is protected from the evils of the world.”
As expected, the video message was not well received. People did not appreciate the Congressman’s misguided attempt to use a tragedy of such epic proportions for his benefit, leading to the Auschwitz Museum tweeting, “Everyone has the right to personal reflections. However, inside a former gas chamber, there should be mournful silence. It’s not a stage.”
Everyone has the right to personal reflections. However, inside a former gas chamber, there should be mournful silence. It's not a stage. https://t.co/AN5aA1bYEU
— Auschwitz Memorial (@AuschwitzMuseum) July 4, 2017
In another tweet, “We just remind that it compared summer work as worse than Auschwitz.”
Since original tweet was deleted, we just remind that it compared summer work as worse than Auschwitz.
— Auschwitz Memorial (@AuschwitzMuseum) July 4, 2017
On Wednesday, the 5th of July, Higgins, having publicly lost face, released an equally dramatic apology and removed the video from his facebook page. Contrary to what was contained in the video message, Higgins states that his only intention was to pay homage to the victims in Auschwitz.
He goes on to say, “The atrocities that happened at Auschwitz were truly despicable, and we must never let history repeat itself in such a way. I have always stood with Israel and all Jewish people, and I always will. We live in a dangerous world, and massive forces of evil do indeed yet exist. We must all stand united against those evils. My Auschwitz video has been removed, and my sincere apology for any unintended pain is extended.”
The video may have been retracted by Higgins but not before it was copied and uploaded by others on Youtube.
