Minnesota Republican Party President Jennifer Carnahan confirmed the official’s resignation in a statement Tuesday. Previously, it had echoed a claim by a lower-ranking official that the Wabasha County Republican Party’s Facebook page had been hacked, a claim that it was withdrawn on Tuesday night.
“The Minnesota Republican Party learned that the Wabasha County Facebook page was not hacked last night, as the Wabasha County President believes,” Carnahan said in a statement Tuesday. “The offensive image was unfortunately posted by a board member who resigned effective immediately at the party’s request.”
He added that both the state party and the county board “apologize for this disappointing publication,” which he also called “vitriolic.”
The publication is gone, and Carnahan asked the local president to ask the person responsible for the publication to resign, state party communications director Jack Tomczak told CNN. The person who posted the image has not been publicly named.
It featured a black-and-white image of a Nazi officer and a man wearing a six-pointed star of David, which those of the Jewish faith were to use as identification in Nazi-occupied Europe during World War II. The image was captioned, “Just put on the star and stop complaining, it’s not that difficult” at the top of the image, and “Just put on the mask and stop complaining” at the bottom.
Carnahan responded to the group on Monday, confirming the image and claiming that the county board thought it had been released through a hack.
She added: “Our group does not support / approve of divisive and harmful language or publications of this nature.”
On Saturday, Minnesota began requiring its citizens to wear masks in all indoor businesses in accordance with the order of Democratic Governor Tim Walz.
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