Recent social media posts by former Republican Kent County Commission candidate Derek Anderson include Adolf Hitler’s face inside a heart with the caption “In your heart you know he’s right.”
“People go right from that to be all ‘this guy thinks it was completely legitimate to mass slaughter millions of Jews,’ right?”
Anderson’s other posts dispute accounts of the Holocaust, stating in part,” I deny the existence of mass extermination camps. I deny the existence of gas chambers at the camps. I deny that Hitler ordered the mass extermination of the Jews. I deny any eyewitness testimony from a Jew.”
“So, I'm a Christian and so I believe that all truth is God's truth, and the truth brings light, and truth should be pursued wherever it goes. I believe that we have been fed some lies regarding history.”
In a closed-door session Tuesday evening, the Kent GOP took formal action to censure Anderson for what it called “conduct unbecoming of a member of the party” and to strip him of his ability to participate in party activities.
“What is that? Does that have any real impact on me or my current platform? No, it's more formality.”
Chairwoman Lynn Afendoulis wrote in a news release, “Anderson’s posts are offensive and wholly inconsistent with the beliefs and values of the Republican Party."
Although Anderson did not win the election, he won the Republican primary for his seat which by law makes him a statutory member of the local executive committee.
The party is now investigating its ability to legally remove a statutory member from that role.
