The American people need to read more writings and quotations by Adolf Hitler, Mao Zedong, and Josef Stalin. That’s according to North Carolina Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, who spoke in front of a crowd during a Moms for Liberty convention in Philadelphia last weekend. According to him, dictators like Hitler and Mao are being taken out of context, and their work needs to be reconsidered.
On Sunday, Robinson told the audience gathered at Moms for Liberty’s “Blessings of the Liberty Breakfast” that instead of automatically criticizing Moms for Liberty for quoting Hitler in their June newsletter, it’s time to “start reading” quotes from homicidal strongmen like Hitler and Stalin. At what was effectively a prayer breakfast with a Rabbi and other clergy in attendance, Republicans legitimized dictators and Nazis.
“Here’s the thing,” Robinson declared. “Whether you’re talking about Adolf Hitler, whether you’re talking about Chairman Mao, whether you’re talking about Stalin, whether you’re talking about Pol Pot, whether you’re talking about Castro in Cuba, or whether you’re talking about a dozen other despots all around the globe, it is time for us to get back and start reading some of those quotes.”
It wasn’t the first time Robinson or Moms for Liberty embraced Hitler.
A Moms for Liberty chapter in Indiana got into trouble two weeks ago for quoting Hitler in its newsletter. The quote was explicitly cited and attributed to the despot in the text by the Hamilton County chapter of Indiana. The chapter first tried to add context to justify using the Hitler quote before apologizing. But after the blowback grew, the section was quietly removed.
A far-right Christian nationalist, Robinson is running for governor in North Carolina.
Since taking office in 2021, Robinson has spread anti-Semitic, anti-Black, and homophobic rhetoric online aggressively, Talking Points Memo reported.
A review of his Facebook activity over the past seven years revealed he also shared conspiracy theories, promoted Holocaust denialism, and pushed falsehoods about the 2020 election.
Writer and LGBTQ+ activist Charlotte Clymer didn't hold back on Twitter.
“We have reached the point where Republican elected officials are pushing for bans on LGBTQ books but encouraging all to read books by Hitler, Stalin, and Mao,” she wrote.
The Southern Poverty Law Center recently designated Moms for Liberty a far-right anti-government extremist group.