Nebraska State Sen. Ernie Chambers is taking criticism for calling the American flag a “rag” and comparing it to the Nazi swastika, according to Fox Insider. Chambers made the comments Tuesday as he spoke out against a state bill that would update civics requirements for students.
“I don’t come here for this rag every day, and it’s a rag. That’s all it is to me,” Chambers said in reference to the flag.
“When you show a way to persuade Jews to sanctify and worship the swastika, when you show me that I’ll come up here and stand while you all hypocritically pretend that rag is something that it definitely is not.”
The Washington Examiner said the comments were in response to a bill put before the Nebraska legislature that would update school civics requirements and make students more literate in “knowledge in civics, history, economics, financial literacy, and geography.”
Chambers is a registered Independent whose policies are more left-leaning than a little:
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State Sen. Julie Slama (R), who introduced the bill, said, “Sen. Chambers’ comments not only degrade a symbol of ultimate sacrifice for our nation, but they also minimize the horrors and millions of lives lost in the Holocaust.”
State Sen. Tom Brewer (R) chimed in with an emotional response.
While introducing a separate bill that would affect military recruiters, Brewer — a 30-year military veteran — said, “I think I speak for most of us that have worn the uniform, it rips our heart out to hear someone say that they refer to the flag as a rag. Because for those of us that have brought home those that we’ve lost, it’s hard to ever refer to the flag as a rag because you have to fold it and you have to get it to the parents, and that’s awful hard to do.”