Sarasota Dems condemn dangerous rhetoric, unless it comes from one of their own

The Sarasota Democratic Party has officially endorsed a candidate for Hospital Board who has publicly compared all Republicans to Nazis, who committed state-sponsored genocide during the Holocaust.

In a 63-page slide deck presentation obtained by Florida Politics, Dale Anderson uses the symbol of a swastika 34 times when drawing the “undeniable parallels” (his words) between Adolf Hitler’s Germany and those who register as Republicans in today’s GOP.

Anderson became a candidate for Hospital Board after the original Democratic nominee passed away in July.

There’s a lot to unpack here.

First and foremost, the Sarasota Democratic Party needs to immediately rescind their endorsement, preferably calling on Anderson to remove himself from consideration this November.

Regardless of party affiliation, no candidate for public office — let alone a Hospital Board seat — should be comparing an entire portion of the population to the Nazi Party. Sarasota County is home to 158,902 registered Republicans. Does Anderson really believe they’re all Hitlers in disguise?

And ask yourself this: How would those Republicans feel seeking medical care at the five-star Sarasota Memorial Hospital knowing one of its Board members likens them to those who perpetrated the mass slaughter of 6 million Jews.

The Sarasota Democratic Party’s endorsement of Anderson is particularly troubling given its leader’s stated stance on the second assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, himself often compared to Hitler and Nazism.

Sarasota Democratic Party Chair Daniel Kuether issued a statement Monday condemning the assassination attempt, urging “all Americans to reject violence and hatred and embrace dialogue and unity instead.” Anderson’s comparison of Republicans to Nazis is exactly the kind of rhetoric that stirs dangerous sentiment.

And Anderson isn’t the only candidate the local party is backing who has engaged in distasteful attacks.

Kuether is also running a candidate for the House, 27-year-old Derek Reich, who has called all Republicans “crazy” on his social media accounts while routinely attacking the family members of his opponent, Republican Rep. Fiona McFarland, the Navy veteran and mother of four who easily defeated Reich by double digits in 2022. Does that sound like “embracing dialogue and unity?”

The bottom line is simple. There is too much hatred and bigotry permeating every corner of our great nation. Democrats are quick to call out hateful, potentially violent rhetoric coming from their opponents. Elon Musk, who is supporting Trump for President, raised the question in a now deleted post on his social media platform X about why assassination attempts were happening against Trump, but not Vice President Kamala Harris or President Joe Biden. It was quickly condemned — rightfully so. And Trump and his running mate, JD Vance, have faced a mountain of criticism for continuing to claim that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, are eating people’s pets, a claim that has led to bomb threats and school closures.

If Democrats can call out dangerous talking points on the Right, they should at least be willing to NOT prop up candidates on the Left who also espouse hateful rhetoric. After all, the party’s top leaders are already facing claims that their own talking points about Trump being a threat to democracy led to his second assassination attempt.

Stirring hatred and fanning the flames of exaggerated outrage isn’t acceptable on either side of the political aisle, and Kuether either knows it, or should.

But will he meet the moment and rise to the occasion? Or is his talk about rejecting hatred and embracing dialogue just all talk and no action.

Your move, Mr. Chair.