White House condemns Democrat who told Stephen Miller to ‘go back to 1930’s Germany’
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller speaks to the media outside the White House on May 30, 2025. | Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images
The White House lashed out at a House Democrat who wrote on X that Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller — who is Jewish — should “go back to 1930’s Germany.”
“What an absolutely disgusting comment from a Congressman to a Jewish WH official,” Deputy Press Secretary Anna Kelly wrote on X on Thursday, quoting Rep. Mark Pocan’s (D-Wis.) post. “Pocan must apologize — not just to Stephen, but to his constituents — and then seek professional help. This crazed antisemitic hatred from Dems emboldens radicals to target Jewish Americans.”
Pocan’s Wednesday post was a response to one by Miller where he said New York City is “the clearest warning yet” of what happens to societies that fail to “control migration.”
Though not explicitly stated, Miller was likely referring to Zohran Mamdani’s apparent Democratic primary win in New York City’s mayoral race earlier this week. Mamdani, who is Muslim, immigrated to the U.S. from Uganda when he was seven. Mamdani has been the subject of xenophobic attacks during his campaign, including from some conservative figures who said New York City would see another Sept. 11 if he becomes mayor.
Pocan declined to apologize, instead saying he is not engaging in a “false debate” with the “people who make up the racist base of the GOP.”
“I’m confident normal people are as troubled by his views as I am, and understand he is doing Nazi-like things to people in the name of his extremist views,” Pocan said in a text message to POLITICO. “They rounded up people in the 30’s, just as they are today with zero due process.”