Holocaust Distortion During the Global Pandemic: An Exercise in Anti-Democratic Demagoguery

Far-right demagogues, including Thomas Massie (R-KY), Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), and Lauren Boebert (R-CO) have compared COVID related mandates to Nazi-era policies that restricted the movement of Jewish peoples, have repeatedly evoked the image of the concentration camp tattoo, and have referenced the Nazi’s T4 programme that mandated the forced sterilisation of people with disabilities. This rhetorical strategy is a form of Holocaust distortion, the active excusing, minimisation, or misrepresentation of the Holocaust for political purposes. This essay explores how right-wing politicians use Holocaust distortion as a rhetorical strategy during the global pandemic, to the detriment of democratic deliberation. Our analysis focuses on the tactics of Holocaust distortion: hyperbole, comparison, argument by analogy, and the slippery slope fallacy. We suggest that COVID-19 era related Holocaust distortion has grave consequences for democratic life in the United States. We recommend adaptations in our cultural and scholarly communication practices that may help resist the demagogic logics of Holocaust denial.

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Javnost - The Public on 2023-01-02, available online: https://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/13183222.2023.2168959.

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Work Title Holocaust Distortion During the Global Pandemic: An Exercise in Anti-Democratic Demagoguery
Access
Open Access
Creators
  1. Matthew Parnell
  2. Mary E. Stuckey
Keyword
  1. Demagoguery
  2. Democratic deliberation
  3. Hyperbole
  4. Comparison
  5. Analogy
  6. Slippery slope
License CC BY-NC 4.0 (Attribution-NonCommercial)
Work Type Article
Publisher
  1. Javnost - The Public
Publication Date February 10, 2023
Publisher Identifier (DOI)
  1. https://doi.org/10.1080/13183222.2023.2168959
Deposited March 11, 2024

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Version 1
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  • Created
  • Added Holocaust_Distortion_Javnost_Parnell_Stuckey_FINAL_DRAFT.docx
  • Added Creator Matthew Parnell
  • Added Creator Mary E. Stuckey
  • Published
  • Updated Keyword, Publisher, Publication Date Show Changes
    Keyword
    • Demagoguery, Democratic deliberation, Hyperbole, Comparison, Analogy, Slippery slope
    Publisher
    • Javnost
    • Javnost - The Public
    Publication Date
    • 2023-01-01
    • 2023-02-10
  • Updated