US politician apologises for wearing Star of David to Covid protest

A US politician has issued an apology, after being filmed wearing a yellow Star of David badge to a protest on Covid restrictions.

Washington state Rep. Jim Walsh faced backlash when he was seen wearing the badge as he gave a speech at the protest.

The Republican lawmaker wore the symbol in a bid to suggest vaccine mandates – that don’t exist in his state – are comparable to how Nazi’s treated Jews, The Seattle Times reported.

He also compared such mandates with the racial segregation laws during the Civil Rights Movement that targeted African Americans.

“This gesture went too far,” Rep. Jim Walsh, said during a radio interview with host Jason Rantz. “It was inappropriate and offensive and I’m terribly sorry that it happened and that I was a part of it.”

Before he apologised, Walsh had defended himself from critics in the comments section of a Facebook video of his protest speech.

“It’s an echo from history,” Walsh commented on Saturday. “In the current context, we’re all Jews.”

The lawmaker has refused to reveal his vaccination status publicly and told The Seattle Times: “I won’t say publicly whether I’m vaccinated or not.”

Walsh has even compared his vaccine stance to the film Spartacus, where a group of slaves refuse to identify a Roman general when they are threatened with crucifixion.

He has also compared the teen dystopian film series The Hunger Games with the state’s lottery encouraging people to get the Covid vaccine.

Walsh is not the first politician to compare Covid rules with Nazi’s and the Holocaust.

US Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene also faced backlash when she compared the mask-wearing rules at Capitol Hill to the Holocaust. She later apologised for her comment.

“There are words that I have said, remarks that I’ve made that I know are offensive, and for that I’d like to apologise,” she said. “So I should own it. I made a mistake.”