Dems Play the Holocaust Card Over DOGE Job Cuts—and It Backfires Spectacularly [WATCH]

A Virginia Democrat has ignited a firestorm after likening government job cuts tied to DOGE to the Holocaust, prompting strong condemnation from Republican leaders who blasted the remarks as “utterly insensitive and hyperbolic.”

State Delegate Joshua Cole, a Democrat from Fredericksburg, made the inflammatory comparison during a hearing on the economic impact of DOGE job reductions, as reported by Fox News.

Quoting a well-known passage from German pastor Martin Niemöller—who initially supported Adolf Hitler before becoming a vocal critic—Cole attempted to frame the job cuts as a creeping injustice reminiscent of the Nazi regime’s atrocities.

Dennis Quaid’s #1 Warning for Americans

The reaction was swift and scathing. House Minority Leader Todd Gilbert, a Republican from Woodstock, called on Cole to issue an apology to Holocaust survivors and all Virginians for his shocking analogy.

“Comparing the loss of some government jobs to the Holocaust is an insult to the memory of the millions who were slaughtered [by the Nazi regime].”

Cole, whose district includes a large concentration of federal workers, argued that his constituents would be severely impacted by the DOGE-related job losses. He lamented that social media users seemed to celebrate the cuts, drawing what he saw as a parallel to Niemöller’s famous words:

“At first they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t Jewish. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn’t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist. And then when they came for me, there was no one to speak up because everyone had been taken.”

100% FREE Gun Law Map CLICK HERE

Niemöller’s confession, originally delivered in 1946, reflected on the guilt of German intellectuals who remained silent as Hitler rose to power.

Cole’s attempt to repurpose it for a debate on bureaucratic job losses didn’t sit well with many, particularly Republicans who saw it as a gross trivialization of one of history’s darkest chapters.

Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears, widely considered the Republican frontrunner in Virginia’s 2025 gubernatorial race, didn’t hold back in her rebuke.

“Virginia Dems disgustingly compared cutting wasteful spending to the Holocaust – trivializing the murder of 6 million Jews,” Sears wrote on X.

Virginia Dems disgustingly compared cutting wasteful spending to the Holocaust—trivializing the murder of 6 million Jews.

Why hasn’t @SpanbergerForVA condemned this? Is she too busy carrying water for radical Democrats? pic.twitter.com/qekGYbPMNS

— Winsome Earle-Sears (@winwithwinsome) February 24, 2025

Mason DiPalma of the Republican State Leadership Committee also weighed in, mocking Cole’s rhetoric.

“Did Josh Cole just compare cutting government waste to the Holocaust?” he asked. “Virginia Dems really have no message and it shows.”

Did Josh Cole just compare cutting government waste to the Holocaust?

Virginia Dems really have no message and it shows. https://t.co/Ie3CZ66UHh

— Mason Di Palma (@MasonDiPalmaNY) February 22, 2025

Cole further warned that Virginia will not have the financial cushion it had during the COVID-19 pandemic to offset economic losses from federal spending reductions.

He expressed concerns about the financial impact on a new veterans’ hospital in Spotsylvania, a county increasingly reliant on federal funding. According to the Congressional Research Service, Virginia is home to about 144,000 federal employees.

Fox News Digital reached out to Cole’s office for comment, as well as committee chairman David Bulova, D-Fairfax, and vice chairman Robert Bloxom, R-Cape Charles. As of publication, none had responded.

With Democrats in Virginia already struggling to articulate a coherent message, this latest blunder only adds to their woes. Comparing government job losses to the systematic extermination of millions isn’t just bad politics—it’s a complete detachment from reality.

100% FREE Gun Law Map CLICK HERE