As the FBI investigates a variety of cases stemming from the 2020 election and the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, some are suggesting that the U.S. is starting to resemble Nazi Germany.
During an interview on The PBD Podcast, John Schnatter, who founded the pizza chain Papa John’s, spoke about news that the FBI seized the phone of MyPillow founder Mike Lindell allegedly while he was in a drive-through line at a Hardee’s.
Lindell claimed agents asked him about a Colorado county election clerk who was allegedly involved in a voting machine security breach.
Schnatter said, “You saw last night when Mike Lindell was raided with the FBI, Trump just got raided. I mean, we now have Nazi Germany — where if you’re a conservative and you believe in conservative principles, and you’re outspoken, you got the KGB.”
Host Patrick Bet-David asked, “You believe that?”
“The AG, the FBI, you know, the Internal Revenue Service, now. I mean, yeah, the government is now an enemy of the freedoms of the people,” Schnatter said.
He added, “If you don’t think that, you know, if they attack Lindell, [Donald Trump]. [Michael Flynn], Papa John’s — if they attack us, sooner or later, they’re gonna attack every American that doesn’t believe in their ideology that has a voice.”
Watch the video below:
Papa John's founder John Schnatter, who used the N-word on a 2018 conference call, compares U.S. to “Nazi Germany”:
— The Recount (@therecount) September 14, 2022
“The government is now an enemy … If they attack Lindell, Trump, Flynn, Papa John … they’re gonna attack every American that doesn’t believe in their ideology.” pic.twitter.com/DlMdkCsjaz
Just stop, please.
The mere fact that an investigation focuses on figures who are part of or supportive of the opposition party does not mean that the FBI is a politicized weapon.
It would be helpful if the FBI and Justice Department could be more open and transparent about their investigations.
However, there are legitimate reasons that law enforcement officials do not call a press conference and explain their actions and what evidence they have.
But if the FBI was really behaving like the Gestapo or the KGB trying to take down a political opponent, the chances are low that Lindell would have been left to order his meal from Hardee’s and then live stream himself talking about the encounter.
Still, it is fair to question whether the tactics of the FBI, of seizing Lindell’s phone in a public setting, were appropriate or warranted. Having the specter of a federal investigation hanging over someone for months or even years can damage their reputation, so the sooner people can be cleared or indicted and face trial, the better.
In the U.S., we operate on a presumption of innocence, and it is incumbent upon the government to prove someone’s guilt beyond a shadow of a doubt. And law enforcement actions that veer into the political realm should be met with a healthy dose of skepticism until evidence of wrongdoing is produced and weighed in a trial.
But the absence of information or even the perception that political opponents are being targeted does not mean that investigations are politically motivated, or that the U.S. is becoming something akin to Nazi Germany.
