Piute County Commissioner Darin Bushman (Photo credit: Piute County)
JUNCTION, Utah — A Piute County commissioner has deleted a tweet comparing Utah’s governor to Adolf Hitler.
Commissioner Darin Bushman took to Twitter after Gov. Gary Herbert approved a request from Salt Lake County officials granting them the power to mandate wearing face masks in public.
In the now-deleted tweet, Bushman wrote, “Hang on friends, it won’t be long before you are required to do a Sieg Heil Salute to Herbert.”
The tweet included the hashtags #nazi and #mask and was accompanied by a photo of a Nazi-era Germany rally.
Bushman apologized Friday, saying he didn’t think anyone would see the post.
“What I’m really amazed about — I’ve always felt like I was always talking to myself on Twitter, so the fact that somebody actually listened to it was just surprising to me,” Bushman said.
“You know, I took the tweet down, I made my apology, and whether people think my apology is sincere or not sincere, you know, that’s in the eye of the beholder,” he said.
The office of the governor responded to Bushman’s original tweet on Friday in a statement asking for civility.
“Drawing comparisons between a widely accepted public health practice during a pandemic and Hitler’s brutal authoritarianism is beyond the pale,” the statement read. “It can only have the effect of polarizing an important and substantive policy debate. And, as has been recognized by leaders in Utah’s Jewish community, it grossly trivializes the experience of the Holocaust.”
Piute County is one of the areas of the state at “green” risk under the governor’s Utah Leads Together virus response plan. Salt Lake County and Summit County, whose leaders asked for permission to mandate masks, planned to put those orders in place this weekend.
COVID-19 coronavirus is transmitted from person to person. It is a virus that is similar to the common cold and the flu. So, to prevent it from spreading:
Utah’s Coronavirus Information
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Utah Coronavirus Information Line – 1-800-456-7707
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention