A.G. Gancarski
A Republican member of the Florida Legislature stood by the phrasing “mask Nazis” in response to a call to recant and apologize for the words.
The Anti-Defamation League of Florida urged Rep. Anthony Sabatini, a Howey-in-the-Hills Republican, to retract the description of advocates of mandatory mask policies.
“In a recent post, Sabatini used ‘Mask-Nazis’ to refer to those who support wearing masks to prevent #COVID19. Invoking the Nazis in an attempt to delegitimize political opponents has no place in civil discourse. We call on him to retract the tweet + apologize,” the ADL tweeted Tuesday evening.
Sabatini responded, for his part, with a depiction of the so-called “Soup Nazi” from the TV show “Seinfeld,” with the trademark phrasing “No soup for you.”
The suggestion was that he didn’t take the ADL call seriously. This continues a pattern of provocative statements from the lawmaker.
Last week, the legislator suggested reading material for what he called “mask Nazis” on Twitter.
He suggested slides from health websites of various Scandinavian countries discouraging mask wearing.
It was uncertain why Sabatini, involved in a number of legal challenges to local mask requirements, invoked Nazism as a comparison for those who believe that masks should be worn.
But those comments were of a piece with previous provocative statements that roiled most everyone but Republicans in the Capitol.
A Sabatini comment this Spring about AR-15s greeting “protesters” in his home county did not upset the Republican House Speaker enough to take action.
“Attention potential ‘protesters’ coming near Lake County, FL. This is an AR-15 — this will be a very common sight upon illegal entry at any Lake County business — FYI!”
Democrats flagged the tweet with appeals to House Speaker Jose Oliva to address the matter. However, the Hialeah Republican said Sabatini’s social media output was of no concern.
The AR-15 comment was “provocative,” Oliva said, but “directed specifically at a hypothetical party.”
Presumably, concerns about Sabatini’s latest will be dismissed in the same manner.
— Rep. Anthony Sabatini (@AnthonySabatini) June 30, 2020
9 comments
S.B. Anthony
June 30, 2020 at 9:28 pm
What a vile and despicable person. Makes one wonder if those who voted him into public office are as vile and despicable as he is.
Dylan Wriley
June 30, 2020 at 9:30 pm
As someone who lives in Eustis. I’m so sorry to the rest of the state. That this twat came from us.
Sonja Fitch
July 1, 2020 at 6:45 am
This is another racist sexist sociopath white man with Mush for brains!! Common good for all!
Charlotte Greenbarg
July 1, 2020 at 7:46 am
The same Antifa trolls with the same “names” popping up here. Masks have to be done properly or they’re useless. And these far left idiots would have banned Seinfeld.
Charlotte Greenbarg
July 1, 2020 at 7:51 am
And, he didn’t “mock” the ADL. Another piece with headline to match that’s more opinion than reporting.
Boomer buster
July 1, 2020 at 12:20 pm
Shut up clown
Palmer Tom
July 1, 2020 at 10:00 am
Nothing Sabatini says is a surprise anymore. The only surprise is that people take him seriously and give his comments more publicity than they deserve.
Ocean Joe
July 1, 2020 at 1:39 pm
Don’t know him, but from the picture, he squints like Pence does right before he says something obsequious about Trump.
Ben Franklin
July 3, 2020 at 11:56 pm
The mask NAZI is not an exlculive term. I’ts very descriptive to the chicken little Karens and Kens who bought into the agitprop from the media and social media.
So sad and pathetic, people believe this total BS and at the same time impact their own immune systems where they end up getting sick. So sad and so pathetic.
Comments are closed.