An Alaska state representative compared coronavirus safety measures to the Nazi treatment of Jews on Friday, eliciting condemnation from his peers in the legislature, the Anchorage Daily News reports. When the state’s congress resumes session next week, lawmakers will be required to undergo a health screening. Passing legislators will wear a sticker identifying their status. Representative Ben Carpenter, a Republican from Nikiski who’s come out against stay-at-home orders, wrote in an email to the entire 40-person Alaska House, “How about an arm band that won’t fall off like a sticker will? If my sticker falls off, do I get a new one or do I get public shaming too? Are the stickers available as a yellow Star of David?” Rep. Grier Hopkins, a Democrat, responded, “Ben, This is disgusting. Keep your Holocaust jokes to yourself.” Rep. Andy Josephson, also a Democrat, wrote, “I don’t think a tag that we’re cleared to enter the building is akin to being shipped to a concentration camp. It’s more akin to needing a boarding pass when you get through TSA. This is that.”
