While appearing on a Virginia-based conservative talk radio station earlier this month, Rep. Scott Perry (R-York) compared Democrats to Nazis while talking about Michigan US Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed (D) who has become a lightning rod for Republicans because of his Muslim faith and progressive campaign platform.
“While [House Minority Leader] Hakeem Jeffries […] and some of the party leaders have let these, these crazy nutjob people into the room, that doesn’t tell the whole story, right,” Perry said on the O’Connor and Company podcast.
He added, “I mean, not everybody in Germany in the thirties and forties was in the Third Reich, but the Third Reich was running the operation, right? And so not every Democrat or liberal sees himself like this guy that’s running for the Senate up in Michigan.”
Meet the candidates: Scott Perry and Janelle Stelson face off in Pa.-10 rematch
Perry is running in a rematch against former WGAL anchor Janelle Stelson in November’s election, and a spokesperson for Stelson’s campaign condemned his comments.
“These disgusting and dangerous comments are no surprise from Scott Perry, whose long record of antisemitism has been condemned by local and national Jewish groups, including the Anti-Defamation League,” a Stelson spokesperson said in a statement.
“At a moment of increased political violence and threats to the Jewish community, Scott Perry’s pattern of antisemitic activity is unacceptable and too extreme for Central Pennsylvania.”
Perry was previously condemned for making similar comparisons about Democrats at the conservative-leaning Pennsylvania Leadership Conference in 2021.
“[Democrats] are not the loyal opposition. They are the opposition to everything you love and believe in,” Perry said at the time.
“We can acknowledge that maybe not every one of them is that way, but that doesn’t matter. We’ve seen this throughout history, right? Not every citizen in Germany in the 1930s and ’40s was in the Nazi Party. They weren’t. But what happened across Germany? That’s what’s important. What were the policies? What was the leadership? That’s what we have to focus on,” he added.
At the time, the Jewish Federation of Greater Harrisburg, the Anti-Defamation League of Philadelphia, the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Harrisburg, and the Pennsylvania Jewish Coalition issued a joint statement denouncing Perry’s rhetoric.
“These types of references are offensive and painful, particularly to people whose family members perished in the Holocaust or fighting in [World War II]. It is alarming that elected officials continue to recklessly make such comparisons, minimizing the genocide of millions of people,” the organizations said.
Then, in 2024, Perry came under further scrutiny after his campaign’s Facebook page posted, and then deleted, an antisemitic meme that included stereotypically Jewish bankers with large noses sitting at a Monopoly board.
Scott Perry uses DHS shutdown to spread conspiracy theories about immigrants and voter fraud
Perry also defended the anti-immigrant and antisemitic Great Replacement conspiracy theory, which states that white people in the United States are being replaced by immigrants and minorities.
However, leaders at the Jewish Federation of Greater Harrisburg were reluctant to condemn Perry’s most recent statements, citing his “100% voting record” in support of Israel.
“The answer is ‘No.’ He may have used inappropriate language, but since Scott Perry has been in Congress he has a 100% voting record in support of Israel,” Gerald Morrison, a member of the Jewish Federation of Greater Harrisburg’s transition committee, said in a statement when asked about Perry’s comments.
“That is what is most important to us,” he added.
In 2024, Morrison organized a fundraiser with then-US Senate candidate Dave McCormick, now a Senator, and members of the Harrisburg Jewish community who found former Vice President Kamala Harris “repugnant” and “[wanted] Jews to understand how significant this vote is with respect to Israel.”
Steve Roth, board chair of the Jewish Federation of Greater Harrisburg, added that the federation does not “condone the use of Nazi, Third Reich, or Holocaust analogies as a means of characterizing Democrats, Republicans, or other contemporary political opponents,” because it diminishes the history of the Holocaust, but reiterated support for the congressman.
“The Jewish Federation recognizes that elected officials, including Congressman Perry, may have positions or voting records on Israel and other matters that members of the Jewish community support,” Roth said in a statement.
Perry’s campaign declined to comment by the time of publication.
