State lawmaker doubles down on comments comparing Lamont to Hitler over pandemic rules

A state lawmaker is doubling down on her comments she made that compare Gov. Ned Lamont to Adolf Hitler over his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

News 12 Staff

Oct 11, 2021, 7:28 PM

Updated 1,090 days ago

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A state lawmaker is doubling down on her comments she made that compare Gov. Ned Lamont to Adolf Hitler over his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Rep. Anne Dauphinais, a state representative from eastern Connecticut, has been a vocal opponent of vaccine mandates.
On Friday, she posted on Facebook, "King Lamont, a.k.a. Hitler, dictating what we must inject into our bodies!"
Jewish anti-defamation groups are demanding an apology over the remark.
“Comparing Gov. Lamont to Hitler is just offensive, and it immediately ignores the evils of the Holocaust,” said Frederic Bloch, the senior vice president of the Anti-Defamation League. 
When asked to apologize, Dauphinais doubled down, writing, “I meant that he was acting like Hitler in the early 1930s. To date, he has not called for putting the unvaccinated in camps."
Connecticut House Republican Leader Rep. Vin Candelora says the comments are “offensive.”
"It certainly detracts from the underlying, substantive issues that are before us, and I think it does certainly offend a lot of people,” he says.
However, Candelora also referred to the situation as a “free speech issue” and he won't penalize Dauphinais.
This isn't the first time that Connecticut Republicans have made inflammatory comments about vaccine and mask rules.
State Rep. Gale Mastrofancesco compared them to George Floyd's murder two weeks ago.
“Our children can't breathe— they can't breathe in school with these masks on,” she said
State Sen. Rob Sampson compared vaccine mandates to slavery.
"If you don't own your own body and are not free to make your own decisions on how to treat it, then you are a slave,” he said.
At rallies, vaccine protesters have also worn Star of David patches.
Bloch says he thinks there’s still time for this debate to cool down.
"I do think it's possible, especially if political leaders dial down the rhetoric,” he says.
The office of Dauphinais did not respond to calls for comment.