Rep. Randy Weber, a Republican from Texas, has drawn hefty criticism and some praise after he compared President Barack Obama's decision not to attend a rally in Paris to Adolf Hitler's visit to the city after the Nazis invaded.
Weber, known for his anti-Obama rhetoric, took to Twitter on Monday: “Even Adolph Hitler thought it more important than Obama to get to Paris. (For all the wrong reasons.) Obama couldn't do it for right reasons.”
Even Adolph Hitler thought it more important than Obama to get to Paris. (For all the wrong reasons.) Obama couldn't do it for right reasons
— Randy Weber (@TXRandy14) January 13, 2015
Weber's office did not respond to a request for comment.
Critics came out in force on Tuesday and said comparing a presidential visit to the Nazis' deadly advance through Europe in World War Two was in poor taste. They slammed Weber for his lack of historical perspective and for misspelling the name of the former German leader.
“@TXRandy14 You are a terminal fool,” Tom D'Antoni, editor in chief of Oregon Music News, wrote in a tweet.
A smaller number of supporters said Weber was on the mark with his comments and criticized Obama for not attending.
The White House on Monday conceded the United States should have sent a higher-level representative to a Paris unity march after deadly Islamic militant attacks there.
Other Republican lawmakers and U.S. media outlets criticized Obama's administration for not sending a top leader to Sunday's march, which featured leaders from France, Britain, Germany, and Israel and the Palestinian territories.
