Aspiring Republican candidates must disavow the latest instance of hateful statements and rhetoric from the Berks GOP
PENNSYLVANIA — Earlier this week, the Berks County GOP hosted their spring dinner, attended by a long list of would-be statewide Republican candidates. In addition to a life-size cutout of former President Donald Trump, a chorus of boos for Republican Senator Pat Toomey, and calls to impeach Governor Wolf, the maskless affair was highlighted by hateful comments from Berks County GOP Chairman Clay Breece that “Democrats’ vision was clouded by the same evil that infected Germany’s Adolf Hitler and Japan’s Prime Minister Hideki Tojo during World War II.”
Even worse, the aspiring GOP statewide candidates, including PA Sen. Doug Mastriano, Congressman Dan Meuser, Jeff Bartos, Kathy Barnette, Charlie Gerow and Bill McSwain failed to denounce this outrageous statement and went right along with the evening’s “Super MAGA Trump” furor.
“Comparing the Democratic agenda of shots in arms and money in the pockets of working families to the murderous genocide of Adolf Hitler is outrageous — and is the same kind of dangerous rhetoric and misinformation that led to the January 6 insurrection,” said Pennsylvania Democratic Party spokesman Brendan Welch. “Pennsylvania Republicans continue to focus all of their energy on ridiculous MAGA litmus tests and conspiracy theories instead of the issues that impact Pennsylvania families. Every single aspiring Republican candidate who attended this event must publicly and unequivocally disavow these comments.”
This is not the first time the Berks GOP has leaned into hateful rhetoric. Last year, the Berks County GOP Facebook page shared white supremacist memes that civil rights groups including the Anti-Defamation League called anti-Semitic — and labeled Governor Wolf a Nazi for implementing COVID-19 safety measures to protect Pennsylvania families from the pandemic. Chairman Breece refused to apologize and responded with complaints about the “globalist society we live in.” Instead of condemning his dangerous and anti-Semitic rhetoric, over a half dozen GOP hopefuls returned to his annual fundraiser this year to listen to him spew more hatred.
###