Glenn Beck Slammed For Bloomberg Nazi Image
Conservative commentator Glenn Beck caused a stir at the National Rifle Association’s convention by presenting an image of Mayor Michael Bloomberg giving a Nazi-like salute.
In his address to the gun lobby, Beck complained about Bloomberg’s efforts to curb illegal guns and impose other controversial health measures in New York City, then presented the image as a joke, suggesting that the mayor’s new motto for the Big Apple is “you will love New York.”
The Anti-Defamation League’s Abe Foxman naturally condemned the display, which was received with cheers at the convention: “While he doesn’t say it, it seems Glenn Beck is implying through an image of Mayor Bloomberg in an apparent Hitlerian salute is that the mayor’s policies on gun ownership and other issues are turning New York city into a
Nazi-like state. That suggestion is outrageous, insensitive and deeply offensive on so many levels. Glenn Beck should know better.”
At a press conference on Tuesday, Bloomberg shrugged off the incident. “Some people and some comments just don’t really deserve the attention of a reply,” Bloomberg said. “Let me just leave it at that.”
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The National Jewish Democratic Council also condemned the joke and called on the NRA to denounce it.
In his radio show on May 7, Beck called on the media to apologize to him for its coverage of the incident, saying the controversy was fueled by the liberal website Media Matters, which scrutinizes conservative media.
“The inspiration for this was a poster of Lenin giving a seig-heil salute,” Beck said, insisting he had no intention of comparing Bloomberg to a Nazi.