North Carolina GOP Lawmaker Larry Pitmann Under Fire For Calling Abraham Lincoln A ‘Tyrant’ Like Adolf Hitler

Was Abraham Lincoln a tyrant similar to that of Adolf Hitler? One North Carolina GOP lawmaker seems to think so. According to TIME, Larry Pitmann, a representative in the North Carolina General Assembly, is currently under fire after comparing Abraham Lincoln to Adolf Hitler in a comment on Facebook.

Naturally, it didn’t take long for people to respond to the North Carolina lawmaker claiming Lincoln was “the same sort of tyrant” as the Nazi dictator who was single-handedly responsible for the deaths of millions of people. Larry Pitmann originally made the comment comparing Abraham Lincoln to Adolf Hitler when he was responding to people who had criticized him for introducing a bill in North Carolina that was going to render the decision the Supreme Court had previously made to legalize same-sex marriage as inapplicable.

N.C. Rep Larry Pittman Calls Abe Lincoln the “Same Sort [of] Tyrant” as Hitler and We Are Not Even Making That Up https://t.co/E5Lr5cG1zx

— Bruce Bartlett (@BruceBartlett) April 13, 2017

“You aren’t fit to hold public office in the United States of America if you don’t respect the Supreme Court and the Constitution,” one Facebook user wrote in response to the bill. Pitmann’s response to the comment which has caused him to come under fire can be read below.

“And if Hitler had won, should the world just get over it? Lincoln was the same sort if tyrant, and personally responsible for the deaths of over 800,000 Americans in a war that was unnecessary and unconstitutional.”

TIME claims to have reached out to the North Carolina lawmaker and offer him the opportunity to make a statement or to clarify what it was he meant when he compared Abraham Lincoln to Adolf Hitler. Pittman, however, has not responded to the requests for a statement.

While North Carolina lawmaker Larry Pitmann doesn’t have a Twitter account – and one Twitter user even pointed out the fact that he was lucky not to have one – it didn’t take long for Twitter to begin to light up with all sorts of backlash towards the comparison he made between Lincoln and Hitler.

Larry Pitman is a special brand of stupid. https://t.co/kFDA94N8Ju

— Patrick Brizendine (@Anihl8r) April 13, 2017

Some even questioned why Americans continued to elect people who would make such ignorant comments and comparisons into office.

The North Carolina lawmaker, however, isn’t the only individual in the government currently under fire for referencing Adolf Hitler. The White House press secretary, Sean Spicer, also managed to step into the line of fire with a statement he made during a press conference on Tuesday.

According to The New York Times, Sean Spicer – just like the North Carolina lawmaker – is receiving backlash after suggesting that the actions of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria were worse than the actions of Adolf Hitler.

Sean Spicer clarified that the reason he felt this way was because President Bashar al-Assad of Syria was using chemical weapons, which is something Hitler did not use. Spicer slipped under fire as people reminded him of the gas chambers Hitler would use at concentration camps during the Holocaust.

The only difference between the North Carolina lawmaker and Sean Spicer is the fact that Spicer realized the grave mistake he had made and later apologized for what he had said. Larry Pitmann, on the other hand, has yet to apologize for the comparison he made to Adolf Hitler or offer any kind of statement regarding what he had said.

“We didn’t use chemical weapons in World War II,” Sean Spicer said during his press release. “You know, you had someone as despicable as Hitler who didn’t even sink to using chemical weapons.”

“So you have to, if you are Russia, ask yourself: Is this a country and a regime that you want to align yourself with?”

When asked to clarify what he had said, Spicer noted that Hitler did use chemical agents during the Holocaust, but he still believed there was a significant difference between the two.

The remarks Spicer made during the press release caused a few reporters in the briefing room to gasp. It also – almost immediately – caused an uproar on social media. By Tuesday evening, Spicer appeared on CNN to apologize for making a comparison where he shouldn’t have.

Sean Spicer isn't alone making Hitler comparisons. NC Rep. Larry Pittman likens Lincoln to Hitler. https://t.co/BmmH2Pc0R9 #CharObs #NCPOL

— Jim Morrill (@jimmorrill) April 12, 2017

Do you think the North Carolina lawmaker should follow in Spicer’s footsteps and apologize for what he said? Share your thoughts with us in the comment’s section found down below.

[Featured Images by Everett Historical/ShutterStock]