VA Dem slams DOGE fans, compares job cuts to the Holocaust: ‘First they came for the Jews...’

VA state Del. Joshua Cole made a Holocaust reference while criticizing DOGE; paraphrasing Niemöller: "Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out, because I was not a Jew."

German pastor Martin Niemöller (1892-1984) addresses a press conference on the Central Committee Meeting of the World Council of Churches in Chichester, at the Institute of Journalists, July 15, 1949. (Douglas Miller/Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears, the current Republican frontrunner in the 2025 governor’s race, slammed Cole’s comments.

"Virginia Dems disgustingly compared cutting wasteful spending to the Holocaust – trivializing the murder of 6 million Jews," Sears wrote on X. 

"Did Josh Cole just compare cutting government waste to the Holocaust?" asked Mason DiPalma, an official with the Republican State Leadership Committee.

"Virginia Dem[ocrats] really have no message and it shows."

Charles Creitz is a reporter for Fox News Digital. 

He joined Fox News in 2013 as a writer and production assistant. 

Charles covers media, politics and culture for Fox News Digital.

Charles is a Pennsylvania native and graduated from Temple University with a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism. Story tips can be sent to charles.creitz@fox.com.

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/va-dem-slams-doge-fans-compares-job-cuts-holocaust-first-came-jews