Republican Randy Weber, a Congressman from Texas, has apologized for criticizing US President Barack Obama for not participating in a unity march called in the aftermath of the Paris terror attack and referring the entire episode to Adolf Hitler’s visit to the French capital in 1940.
Weber drew mixed reactions for comparing Obama’s decision to not attend the Sunday’s unity rally in Paris to the visit of Adolf Hitler to the French capital city after the Nazis carried invasion.
The Republican leader took potshots at the American President on the micro-blogging site Twitter.
“Even Adolph Hitler thought it more important than Obama to get to Paris. (For all the wrong reasons.) Obama couldn’t do it for right reasons,” Weber said in his tweet on Monday.
Weber, who has took over the House seat vacated by Rep. Ron Paul, joined the critics who were faulting Obama for not sending a top government official to Paris to join the other world leaders to extend their support after the terror attacks last week.
Weber issued a statement of apology on Tuesday afternoon.
“I need to first apologize to all those offended by my tweet. It was not my intention to trivialize the Holocaust nor to compare the President to Adolf Hitler,” Weber said.
“The mention of Hitler was meant to represent the face of evil that still exists in the world today. I now realize that the use of Hitler invokes pain and emotional trauma for those affected by the atrocities of the Holocaust and victims of anti-Semitism and hate,” he further added.
The US Ambassador to France had represented the country at the event, which was attended by over 40 heads of state.