In the same vein as the recent New York Times exposé of Marco Rubio’s traffic tickets, DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz released a statement Tuesday excoriating Rubio for holding a fundraiser at the house of Texas Republican Harlan Crow who—among his vast historical collection—possesses a handful of Nazi artifacts including paintings made by Adolph Hitler and a signed copy of Mein Kampf.
In her statement slamming Rubio, Wasserman Schultz claims that the candidate’s mere presence in a home with Nazi artifacts is “a gross act of disrespect”:
Holding an event in a house featuring the artwork and signed autobiography of a man who dedicated his life to extinguishing the Jewish people is the height of insensitivity and indifference. There’s really no excuse for such a gross act of disrespect. Mr. Rubio, who by the way, represents a sizable Jewish population in our home state of Florida, should cancel this tasteless fundraiser. It is astounding that the presence of these items that represent horror for millions of Jews the world over, would not stop Mr. Rubio or anyone on his team in their tracks when planning this event.
Wasserman Schultz, who is Jewish, added that the date for the event was especially offensive given that it fell on the eve of Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement:
An event at a home with items like these is appalling at any time of the year. Adding insult to injury, Rubio is holding this event on the eve of the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, Yom Kippur.
As Mediaite’s Alex Griswold points out, however, the DNC statement makes no mention of Crow’s actual beliefs and no claim that his sympathies lie with the Third Reich. That’s because, far from being a Nazi sympathizer, Crow is a collector of historical artifacts of nearly infinite variety. A Dallas Morning News piece linked by Griswold describes his collection as containing “thousands of documents, manuscripts and works of art that span centuries.” The few Nazi items possessed by Crow are negligible in light of his vast collection. What’s more, Crow’s own mother was nearly killed by the Nazis.
According to the Free Beacon:
Making the notion that Crow has any ties to Hitler even more absurd is the fact that his mother, Margaret Crow, was nearly killed by the Nazis.
She survived the sinking of the British SS Athenia, which was the first British ship attacked by the Nazi U-boats. Crow owns multiple artifacts from the SS Athenia, as well.
These pesky facts have not stopped left-leaning media outlets like Salon and Politico from picking up the story. But whether the American public will buy it is another matter.