Is the US operating concentration camps right now? Liz Cheney’s ignorant attack on AOC sparks debate – with experts saying yes
Liz Cheney speaks to Fox News (screen grab)

Thanks to AOC (and Liz Cheney's Ignorance) America Is Having a Conversation We Need to Have

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) attacked her fellow Member of Congress, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Tuesday, after the New York Democrat said in a video that the Trump administration is operating concentration camps to house migrants.

"The U.S. is running concentration camps on our southern border and that is exactly what they are," Ocasio-Cortez declared.

Cheney, who is the third most-powerful Republican in the House, attacked AOC, telling her she should "spend just a few minutes learning some actual history." She further criticized Ocasio-Cortez, saying, "6 million Jews were exterminated in the Holocaust. You demean their memory and disgrace yourself with comments like this."

Congresswoman Cheney's tweet drew a great deal of attention – and anger.

It wasn't long before historians and authoritarianism experts weighed in – to tell Cheney was she was absolutely wrong, and AOC is correct.

Among those wanting to set the record straight were actor and activist George Takei, who at the age of five was taken from his home with his parents and sent to live in a U.S. Japanese internment camp.

Some also criticized or corrected journalists for refusing to use the term "concentration camps," for fear of upsetting conservatives.

Some are claiming calling the concentration camps "concentration camps" invokes Godwin's Law, which notes that the longer an internet discussion goes on, the more likely Hitler will somehow be invoked. They should know the creator of Godwin's Law, Mike Godwin, retweeted this:

He also engaged with MSNBC's Chris Hayes, saying that yes, these are concentration camps.

Here are other experts making sure Americans understand that we, indeed, are operating concentration camps: