WAS USING THE YELLOW STAR OF DAVID AN APPROPRIATE WAY OF OPPOSING VACCINE MANDATES?

Who is John Bennett? Oklahoma GOP chairman compares Covid vaccine mandates to Holocaust

 

By Bhagyasri Chaudhury  

 

meaww

August 2, 2021

 

 

                                                                         John Bennett  

Oklahoma Republican Party Chairman John Bennett made a stunning analogy on the group's Facebook page on Friday, July 30, comparing coronavirus vaccine mandates to the Nazis requiring Jews to wear the yellow Star of David on their clothing. On Sunday, August 1, he doubled down. 

Without a doubt, the coronavirus is one of the most significant challenges that humanity has faced in the 21st century. To make matters worse, new strains of the virus are evolving, making the fight against it more difficult. However, though the remedy is available, many people appear to reject it. According to a research from Texas A&M University's School of Public Health, around 22 per cent of Americans consider themselves anti-vaxxers. Those figures should worry everyone because they might be the difference between ending the pandemic or extending it with newer, more severe strains.

Chairman Bennett called on supporters to resist the tyranny that mandates entail in a nearly seven-minute video and doubled down on his Holocaust remarks after briefly acknowledging them, news outlets reported on Monday, August 2.

 

J                                           John Bennett's post on Facebook

 

"You see the star of David, when they put that on the Jews, they weren't sending them directly to the gas chambers, they weren't sending them directly to the incinerator, this was leading up to that," said Bennett in a Facebook video. "They give them a star to put on them - they couldn't go to the grocery store, they couldn't go out in public, they couldn't do anything without having that star on their shirt. Take away the star and add a vaccine passport."

Who is John Bennett?

Born and raised in Vian, Oklahoma, John R Bennett is the Chairman of the Oklahoma Republican Party and a member of the United States Congress representing Oklahoma. From 2011 until 2019, he was a member of the Oklahoma House of Representatives. Bennett graduated from the University of Phoenix with a bachelor's degree in communications. He joined the US Marine Corps after graduating and went on to serve three combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was also a pastor of Lee Creek Assembly of God in Muldrow and is a Christian of the Pentecostal denomination.

Working for the Sequoyah Sheriff's Department's narcotics task force and owning a small business with his wife, Nicole, maintained his professional career. Bennett was the first Republican ever elected to the Oklahoma State House from District 2 in 2010, the Oklahoma GOP official website stated. He was elected to the Oklahoma Legislature for the first time in 2011. 

Before retiring in 2019, he served in the 53rd Oklahoma Legislature, the 54th Oklahoma Legislature, the 55th Oklahoma Legislature and the 56th Oklahoma Legislature. He was the architect of legislation that required school systems to consider students' expressions of faith the same as any other authorized subject. He eventually termed himself out and became a pastor in Muldrow. He was elected as Chairman in 2021.

What did John Bennett say?

On Friday, the Oklahoma Republican Party's Facebook page posted a photo of a yellow star of David with the word "unvaccinated" scrawled across it. "Limited access to travel within their State, Province or Territory. The bearer may not fly, cannot enter a pub, restaurant, club or theatre. … WAKE UP PEOPLE - Is this sounding familiar?" the post read.

The article then instructed "PATRIOTS" to contact Oklahoma's Lt Gov Matt Pinnell and "politely request he call for a special legislative session to address private employer VACCINE mandates, or their employees face risk of termination." Bennett has a history of provocative remarks, including ones that are Islamophobic, the Mail reported. COVID-19 immunizations are not required in Oklahoma, according to the state's Republican governor.