Faced with criticism of past comments comparing abortion to the Holocaust, the Republican nominee for governor in Illinois refuses to apologize — claiming a group of rabbis supported the comparison.
“The Jewish community itself has told me I’m right,” Darren Bailey, a GOP state senator trying to oust Illinois governor JB Pritzker, said in a radio interview over the weekend. “All the people at the Chabads that we met and the Jewish rabbis said, ‘No, you’re actually right.'”
In a 2017 Facebook video that surfaced earlier this month, Bailey said that “the attempted extermination of the Jews in World War II cannot even be compared to a shadow of the life lost to abortion since its legalization. ”
Pritzer, who is Jewish, condemned the comparison.
“Darren Bailey’s disgusting claim that a woman who determines her own reproductive future is worse than the Nazi genocide of 6 million Jews is offensive to the people of Illinois everywhere,” Eliza Glezer, press secretary for Pritzer’s campaign, said in a statement. declaration. “With violent anti-Semitism on the rise and in the wake of a massacre against a predominantly Jewish Highland Park, Bailey must answer for his hateful comments.”
Pritzker’s campaign too released a TV ad highlighting Bailey’s comments.
Bailey said the ad was released a day after his meeting with the rabbis.
“Pritzker knew that,” he said. “So the timeliness was not a mistake.”
It is unclear which group of rabbis he was referring to.
Rabbi Avraham Kagan, the director of government affairs for Lubavitch Chabad of Illinois, told the Forward, “We do not know who he met and his comments do not reflect our position.”
A Bailey representative did not immediately return a request for comment.
Bailey said he is “pro-life” but admitted that “nothing will change” the law in Illinois, where abortion is legal and protected.
“My goal is to make abortion obsolete,” he said. “We work with everyone and come to real solutions that we don’t have right now.”
Bailey’s comparison of abortion to the Holocaust has led to widespread condemnation.
“The Holocaust and abortion are not the same,” the Midwest Division of the Anti-Defamation League said in a statement. “Remarks like this have no place in the public debate. They are deeply insulting and do an incredible disservice to the millions of Jews and other innocent victims murdered by the Nazis.”
“It is unacceptable to compare the extreme horror of the Holocaust and its immeasurable loss to a woman’s right to choose,” Senator Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., said in a statement. “Point.”
It’s not the first time Bailey has caused controversy. Shortly after the July 4 mass shooting in Highland Park, Illinois, he found himself in nearby Skokie, Illinois, one of several surrounding communities forced to cancel their Independence Day parades in the wake of the massacre.
“The gunman is still free, so let’s pray that justice prevails,” Bailey said as he led a group prayer broadcast live on his Facebook page. “Then let’s move on and celebrate the independence of this nation.”
He added: “We need to get corruption and evil out of our government.”
Bailey later apologized for suggesting the community to “move on” quickly and “celebrate” Independence Day.
“I’m sorry if we somehow reduced the pain felt in our state today,” he said in a statement. “I hope we can all come together in prayer and action to address rampant crime and mental health issues to ensure these horrific tragedies don’t happen again.”
