Asked if she was comparing DeSantis to Hitler, Nikki Fried responded, “in a lot of ways, yes.”
By United with Israel Staff
In a recent interview with NPR’s Friday Roundup Podcast, Florida Agricultural Commissioner and 2022 Democratic gubernatorial candidate Nikki Fried compared her opponent to Nazi leader Adolph Hitler.
Governor Ron DeSantis “is doing everything possible to take power away from local governments, taking away people’s abilities to protest, making it harder to vote, talking about, you know, banning books,” Fried alleged.
“That’s what dictators do,” she said. “Instead of listening and trying to govern with the people, he is trying to govern over the people…I’m a student of history, too. I saw the rise of Hitler.”
Asked by co-host Melissa Ross, a reporter for Jacksonville public radio station WJCT, if she was comparing DeSantis to Hitler, Nikki Fried responded, “in a lot of ways, yes.”
DeSantis recently announced his decision to relaunch the Florida State Guard, which was created to serve as a stateside replacement for the Florida National Guard while the National Guard was deployed abroad. Currently non-operational, it was active during WWII.
According to its Florida State Guard Reactivation Group website, “The purpose of the Florida State Defense Force Reactivation Group is to advocate for the reinstitution of the legislatively authorized state defense force or ‘State Guard’ in Florida. Many other states have similar organizations which use various names like ‘State Guard,’ ‘Military Reserve’ and other similar names.”
Currently, 22 US states have their own military reserve. Nevertheless, Fried claimed, “the reason why this governor wants it is different than the other states that have been utilizing it for emergency purposes…
“This governor is doing it for the sole purposes of power and doing so to make fear and to instill that, to blame people for what is happening in their lives, blaming certain parts of our society and culture, and that’s exactly what Hitler did to the Jews back during World War II.”
Later in the interview, she backtracked to an extent, saying, “Do I think that we’re going to get to the extent of Hitler’s power? Of course not.”
To listen to the full interview, click HERE.