(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — State Sen. Darren Bailey, the Republican nominee for Illinois governor, is doubling down following criticism after he suggested the impact of abortion eclipses the Holocaust.
Bailey, who opposes abortion, linked the two topics in a 2017 statement in which he said “the attempted extermination of the Jews of World War II doesn’t even compare on a shadow of the life that has been lost with abortion since its legalization.”
Bailey tried to clarify his remarks but stopped short of apologizing. Now, he says some rabbis he has met with are okay with his making the analogy.
Bailey’s Democratic opponent, incumbent Gov. JB Pritzker, used the remark in a recent political ad. The campaign of Pritzker — he is Jewish and supports abortion — said the Holocaust reference is offensive.
“All the people at the Chabads that we met with and the Jewish rabbis they said, ‘No, you’re actually right,’” Bailey said, according to the Jewish news site Forward.
Bailey’s campaign has not named the rabbis he referred to.
In a statement, the Springfield Jewish Federation said Holocaust comparisons are inappropriate when used politically.
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