'Extremely poor judgment': GOP Oregon House minority leader apologizes after son gives a Nazi salute

Tuesday, June 6 marks the 79th anniversary of D-Day. It was on June 6, 1944 that almost 160,000 Allied troops landed in Normandy, France — a major turning point during World War 2. France, at the time, was under Nazi Occupation, and the combination of U.S., British and Canadian troops were allies of the French resistance under Gen. Charles de Gaulle.

While D-Day 79 celebrations were being planned all over the United States, far-right Oregon House Minority Leader Vikki Breese-Iverson, a Republican, was apologizing because her son, according to the Associate Press, had given a Nazi salute in front of a World War 2-era German fighting plane.

When a photo of him giving that salute was posted on social media, Oregon Live reports, Breese-Iverson publicly expressed her disapproval on Facebook.

Breese-Iverson, on June 3, posted, "Out of extremely poor judgement and without considering the impact this photo would have, he posed in front of the aircraft. My husband and I have been in contact with the school administration about enforcing adequate consequences for his actions, both at school and at home. In no way do my husband or I condone these actions, and we apologize to anyone impacted by this image."

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This isn't the first time Breese-Iverson has been caught in a controversy. In December 2020, Breese-Iverson was among the 12 Republicans in the Oregon State Legislature who signed a letter supporting far-right Texas Attorney General's lawsuit in Texas v. Pennsylvania.

Promoting the false, thoroughly debunked claim that the 2020 election was stolen from then-President Donald Trump, Paxton called for the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the election results in four states that now-President Joe Biden won: Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan and Wisconsin. Breese-Iverson and the other Republicans urged Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum to join Paxton's lawsuit, but Rosenblum did just the opposite: She joined more than 20 other state attorneys general in filing a brief vehemently opposing Paxton's lawsuit.

Rosenblum, on December 11, 2020, tweeted, "Texas has no business interfering in other states' elections! The sooner the Court rejects this latest outrage, the better."