Republican City Councilman in MN Says COVID-19 Patients Should Wear Yellow Stars

On July 20, 2020, in a bizarre objection to a city ordinance mandating masks, St. Cloud City Councilman Paul Brandmire proposed that, “If we can mandate masks, then certainly we can mandate that COVID-positive people wear some sort of identification badge, maybe like a bright yellow star or something pinned to their lapel.”

Brandmire, who is a Republican and candidate for Minnesota House seat 14B, claimed that it would be “absurd” to interpret this statement as a reference to the Holocaust, saying “there was no reference to Jews.” The yellow star, which Jews in Nazi Germany were forced to wear to identify themselves, is unquestionably associated with the Holocaust and the persecution of Jews. Unwilling to acknowledge Jewish communities’ dismay at his comment, Brandmire argued, “People are overly friggin’ sensitive.”

Brandmire went on to say, “I’m not antisemitic. I’ve been to Israel. I’ve been to Jerusalem. I’ve prayed at the Wailing Wall” — a protestation that promotes the antisemitic and false idea that the State of Israel is representative of all Jews across the world. Visiting or even living in Israel is by no means any indication that someone is not antisemitic, and the suggestion that traveling to the state automatically absolves someone of antisemitism is both illogical and offensive.

The antisemitic conflation of American Jews and the State of Israel is a regular practice from the Republican Party, and professions of love for Israel is a predictable response from Republican politicians accused of antisemitism. Elected officials, from Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) to Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA), have used this excuse when confronted by Jews about their party’s antisemitism.