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GOP Congresswoman Mary Miller apologizes for referencing Hitler at DC rally

A Republican congresswoman who invoked Adolf Hitler during a rally one day before Wednesday’s deadly Capitol siege apologized Friday, insisting she’s “passionately” pro-Israel.

Illinois Rep. Mary Miller, who was endorsed by President Trump in September, issued a mea culpa Friday for her remarks Tuesday outside the Capitol, where she stressed the importance to “teach and train” the next generation before referencing Hitler directly.

“This is the battle,” Miller told the crowd at the “Moms for America” event. “Hitler was right on one thing. He said, ‘Whoever has the youth has the future.’”

Miller, 61, insisted Friday she was trying to highlight the “importance of guarding” young Americans from destructive influences with the controversial citation, which led to several calls from Illinois Democrats for her to step down.

“I sincerely apologize for any harm my words caused and regret using a reference to one of the most evil dictators in history to illustrate the dangers that outside influences can have on our youth,” Miller said in a statement obtained by The Post. “This dark history should never be repeated and parents should be proactive to instill what is good, true, right and noble into their children’s hearts and minds.”

Miller also accused some unnamed critics of trying to “intentionally twist” her words.

“Let me be clear,” her statement continued. “I’m passionately pro-Israel and I will always be a strong advocate for all of the Jewish community.”

Miller has also spoken with Jewish leaders nationwide since referencing the leader of the Third Reich and thanked them for their “kindness and forthrightness,” she said.

The state’s governor and the US Holocaust Memorial Museum were among critics who swiftly denounced Miller’s comments, saying Hitler was responsible for the “most destructive event in human history” with the genocide of 6 million European Jews.

Mary Miller
Mary Miller SHAWN THEW/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

“I implore our leaders and all Americans not to misuse this history — my history,” Auschwitz survivor Irene Weiss said. “It minimizes the evil that was Nazism, dishonors the memory of the victims, and pains the survivors. We should be learning from history, not exploiting it.”

Miller had paraphrased a statement Hitler reportedly made at a Nazi rally in 1935, saying “he alone who owns the youth gains the future.”

Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) had also called on Miller, who was elected in November, to “resign immediately” on Thursday.

“To say that Adolf Hitler, the perpetrator of the worst genocide in world history, is ‘right’ about anything is disqualifying for any supposed ‘leader’ serving in Congress,” Duckworth said.