On Thursday, Andrew Zirkle, an intern working in the office of Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), publicly posted his resignation letter — and tore into his erstwhile boss for a social media post comparing vaccine passports to the Holocaust.
"If you have to carry a card on you to gain access to a restaurant, venue or an event in your own country ... that's no longer a free country," said Massie's original post, which was accompanied by an image of a number-tattooed wrist of a Nazi death camp prisoner.
"These sorts of statements and comparisons are highly inappropriate and are not something I want to associate with personally or professionally," wrote Zirkle on Twitter. "Belittling the Holocaust in this way is an affront to the Jewish community as well as any survivors or family of those who perished."
1/ I quit. I wanted to let everyone who knows me personally to know that as soon as I got in to work this morning, I resigned my position in the Office of Congressman Thomas Massie because of his tweet comparing the horrors of the Holocaust to vaccine passports.pic.twitter.com/YXSrPWW80e— \ud83e\udd80Andrew Zirkle\ud83e\udd80 (@\ud83e\udd80Andrew Zirkle\ud83e\udd80) 1630006720
3/ Everyone has personal limits of what is intolerable and this is one of mine. I hope to take what experience I gained from DC and move on stronger to the next challenge. -AZ— \ud83e\udd80Andrew Zirkle\ud83e\udd80 (@\ud83e\udd80Andrew Zirkle\ud83e\udd80) 1630006721
Massie is one of several Republicans who have attracted outrage for comparing COVID-19 health measures to the Holocaust. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) was forced to apologize after comparing mask mandates to "gas chambers in Nazi Germany," and Oklahoma Republican Party chair John Bennett has faced blowback from his own caucus after posting an image of a yellow Star of David patch bearing the word "Unvaccinated."
