Illinois Representative Mary Miller has received widespread backlash after the Republican lawmaker was recorded praising Nazi leader Adolf Hitler in a speech outside the United States Capitol on Wednesday.
Addressing a crowd of President Trump’s supporters at a “Moms for America” rally in Washington, D.C., Miller claimed Hitler “was right on one thing” as leader of Nazi Germany.
"If we win a few elections, we’re still going to be losing unless we win the hearts and minds of our children. This is the battle," Miller can be heard saying, according to accounts shared on social media. "Hitler was right on one thing. He said, ‘Whoever has the youth has the future.’”
It was a chilling phrase to hear from a sitting lawmaker in 2021, especially considering the year marks one century since Adolf Hitler rose to power in Germany. The Nazi leader took control of the party in July 1921, and his rule would eventually lead to the extermination of millions of Jewish people, ethnic Poles, the Roma, handicapped people, political and religious dissidents, and gay men.
Lawmakers from Illinois and beyond soon condemned Miller’s statements. Miller was elected in the 2020 elections to serve as Illinois’ representative for its 15th district, and was sworn in to the 177th Congress on Jan. 3.
Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, who is himself Jewish, did not mince words in his response to Miller.
“I want to address the unfathomable and disgusting remarks that the newest member of the Illinois Congressional delegation made, Mary Miller,” Pritzker said at a press conference Wednesday. “Let me be clear: Hitler got nothing right. This reprehensible rhetoric has no place in our politics. Illinois Republicans cannot allow this to stand, and must condemn this vile, evil streak in their party.”
Fellow Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger, who on Thursday became the first sitting GOP lawmaker to call for President Trump’s removal from office, had a direct message to his newest colleague in a tweet: “I outright condemn this garbage.”
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum also unequivocally condemned Miller’s remarks, saying Hitler’s reign “plunged Europe into the most destructive event in human history.” The museum also shared a statement from Irene Weiss, a Holocaust survivor who lived through her time at the Auschwitz concentration camp.
“Adolf Hitler, the Nazis, and their collaborators murdered almost every member of my family, destroyed my entire community, and ended a centuries-old culture,” Weiss wrote. “I implore our leaders and all Americans not to misuse this history - my history. It minimizes the evil that was Nazism, dishonors the memory of the victims, and pains the survivors. We should be learning from history, not exploiting it.”
Rep. Miller did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
