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| Reince Priebus affirms Trump administration's minimizing the Holocaust, (NBC News) |
Priebus, the former chair of the Republican Party of Wisconsin (RPW), made his political career working with Gov. Scott Walker in defaming ethnic minorities and inflaming racism as pillars of the RPW's whites-first approach to Wisconsin politics.
As Trump has staffed his adminstration with open white supremacist allies such as Steven Bannon and Priebus, his pursuing policies appealing to the Alt Right has drawn fast opposition at this 10-day point of Trump assuming office.
Holocaust minimization, repeated over the weekend as a deliberate adminstration objective, has set the Trump adminstration as overt political supporters of fascism in a development that has occurred so rapidly the political culture is still puzzling over how to respond.
Transcript of Todd and Priebus, (with video), are below, and show a clumsy Priebus saying the Holocaust is a "horrible event," concluding:
I'm trying to clear it up for you. I mean, everyone's suffering in the Holocaust including obviously all of the Jewish people affected and the miserable genocide that occurred is something that we consider to be extraordinarily sad and something that can never be forgotten and something that if we could wipe it off of the history books we could. But we can't. And it's terrible. I mean, I don't know what more to tell you.
From Meet the Press, (NBC News):
CHUCK TODD:
Want to move onto a couple of other things. There was an issue with on Friday the White House put out a statement on Holocaust Remembrance Day. And there wasn't a mention of Jews in the statement of any, of the victims of the Holocaust that a majority of them were Jewish.
Many of us thought it was an error. You guys were there early. And then it turns out it was not. John Podhoretz, a conservative columnist from Commentary magazine wrote this, "The Final Solution was aimed solely at the Jews. The Holocaust was about the Jews. There is no 'proud' way to offer a remembrance of the Holocaust that does not reflect that simple, awful world historical fact. To universalize it to, quote, 'All those who suffered,' is to scrub the Holocaust of its meaning." Mr. Priebus, do you understand why many Jews were offended by the White House's decision not to note that the Holocaust was about eradicating the Jews?
REINCE PRIEBUS:
Well, I recognize, in fact, obviously that that was what the Holocaust was about. And it's a horrible event. And obviously a miserable time in history that we remember here at the White House and certainly will never forget the Jewish people that suffered in World War II.
And obviously still incredible wounds that remain in a time in history that was of great, incredible, horrific magnitude. And everyone's heart here is impacted by the memory of that terrible time. And so for the record, that's the case. And--
CHUCK TODD:
Do you regret--
REINCE PRIEBUS:
--certainly we don't mean--
CHUCK TODD:
--does the president regret not--
REINCE PRIEBUS:
--any ill-will to anybody.
CHUCK TODD:
Do you regret--
REINCE PRIEBUS:
I don't about regret. It's just-- No.
CHUCK TODD:
--the statement?
REINCE PRIEBUS:
There's no--
CHUCK TODD:
There's no regret not acknowledging the pain that--
REINCE PRIEBUS:
We acknowledge it. We acknowledge the--
CHUCK TODD:
But you didn't--
REINCE PRIEBUS:
--horrible time of the Holocaust.
CHUCK TODD:
--but why white-wash--
REINCE PRIEBUS:
--and what it meant for history, and so.
CHUCK TODD:
--but why white-wash Jews from that statement?
REINCE PRIEBUS:
I'm not white-washing anything, Chuck. I just told--
CHUCK TODD:
The statement did.
REINCE PRIEBUS:
--you that it was horrible. And, well, I'm telling you now that that's the way we feel about it. And it's a terrible time in history. And obviously I think you know that President Trump has dear family members that are Jewish. And there was no harm or ill-will or offense intended by any of that.
CHUCK TODD:
But you-- So you don't-- But you don't regret the statement. You don't regret the words that were chosen in the statement and the words--
REINCE PRIEBUS:
I don't regret the words, Chuck.
CHUCK TODD:
--that were not included?
REINCE PRIEBUS:
I'm trying to clear it up for you. I mean, everyone's suffering in the Holocaust including obviously all of the Jewish people affected and the miserable genocide that occurred is something that we consider to be extraordinarily sad and something that can never be forgotten and something that if we could wipe it off of the history books we could. But we can't. And it's terrible. I mean, I don't know what more to tell you. ...
Priebus: Holocaust Statement 'Isn't Whitewashing Anything'
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