RICHMOND – On Saturday, the Republican nominee for the 28th district in the House of Delegates, Paul Milde, posted a meme to his Facebook page, below, that appears to mock the children detained at the U.S. southern border and the victims of the Holocaust. In June, Milde defeated incumbent Bob Thomas in the Republican primary by running to the right of Thomas and challenging Thomas for voting to expand access to affordable health care.
House Democratic Leader Eileen Filler-Corn, the first woman and Jewish leader of a caucus in the Virginia House of Delegates, issued the following statement:
“House Republican nominee Paul Milde has at once mocked the children at our border who are separated from their parents and are living in cages without soap or toothbrushes, as well as the six million Jews and five million others who died in concentration camps during the Holocaust.
“‘Jokes’ such as the one Mr. Milde shared on his Facebook are not light-hearted nor are they harmless – they are anti-Semitic, anti-immigrant, horrific, disturbing, anti-American, and dehumanizing.
“Mr. Milde should remove the post and apologize immediately.”
In 2017, Democratic nominee Josh Cole lost the election by fewer than 100 votes. Cole is running again this year and also issued a comment condemning Milde’s social media post.