Outrage as US Republicans compared to Goebbels

NORTH CAROLINA, United States of America – The head of California’s Democratic Party drew criticism from across the US political spectrum Monday, after he compared Republicans to the notorious Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels.

On the fringes of the Democratic convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, state Democratic Party chairman John Burton castigated Republicans for lying in a bid to win the White House.

“They lie and they don’t care if people think they lie… Joseph Goebbels – it’s the big lie, you keep repeating it,” he told a San Francisco Chronicle reporter.

The comments were quickly condemned by the Republican Jewish Coalition.

“John Burton ought to know better than to bring the Nazis and their victims into our current political debates, but apparently the offense such remarks cause to Holocaust survivors and their families are of less concern to him than the prospect of partisan gain.”

A spokesman from President Barack Obama’s re-election team, Ben LaBolt, said the comments did not reflect the campaign’s views.

“That obviously doesn’t represent the views of the campaign,” LaBolt said according to Politico. “There’s no place for that in the political discourse.”

Burton also referred to Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan as a “horse’s ass.”

Ryan has been pilloried for questionable claims made in his acceptance speech last Wednesday in Tampa, at the Republican convention.

Burton later apologized for any offense caused.

“I did not call Republicans Nazis nor would I ever. In fact, I didn’t even use the word.

“If Mitt Romney, Paul Ryan, or the Republicans are insulted by my describing their campaign tactic as the big lie – I most humbly apologize to them or anyone who might have been offended by that comment.” – Agence France-Presse