Congressman Smith Calls Out State Senator for ‘Dehumanizing’ Nazi Comment

by John Gage

(Picture credit Megan Hunt’s Twitter)

Congressman Adrian Smith called out State Senator Megan Hunt after she compared a group of College Republicans at the University of Nebraska at Kearney (UNK) to Nazis. Smith said the comparison was “unacceptable” and “outrageous.”

“Megan Hunt’s comments are outrageous and the kind of inflammatory rhetoric politicians must avoid,” Smith said in a statement Thursday. “Student groups like the UNK College Republicans should be able to voice their concerns about university policies without being subjected to hateful, dehumanizing attacks from an elected official.”

The congressman went on to say that this type of language had led to assassination attempts against President Donald Trump. “This reckless Nazi comparison is dangerous,” he said. “Such dehumanizing language has contributed to a toxic climate that has led to multiple assassination attempts against President Trump and the assassination of Charlie Kirk.”

Smith’s comments follow a post online where Hunt, who identifies as a Democratic socialist, called the UNK College Republicans “little Eichmanns,” a reference to Adolf Eichmann, one of the major Nazi organizers of the Holocaust.

The Plains Sentinel reached out to Hunt to ask her to clarify her comments further — in response she said, “Seems clear to me.”

Hunt’s comments came in response to a press release from the UNK College Republicans opposing a transgender seminar the college had advertised to faculty as well as diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) language and initiatives they said the college was pushing.

The group said the seminar was “contrary to the values of Nebraska, many students, and faculty,” and called on Nebraska and federal officials to investigate the university.

Following Hunt’s attack, the UNK College Republicans said she was inflaming violence against the group. “We reject these accusations. These inflammatory comments are permission for the left to commit violence against us,” the group said. “We reject political violence. We hope that Megan apologizes and can display more decorum.”

UNK Under Scrutiny for ‘Woke’ Policies

The statement from Hunt comes after Governor Jim Pillen called the same UNK seminar “nonsense” and “destructive to the University of Nebraska’s teaching mission.” Following criticism from Pillen, UNK announced it had “removed” the seminar and said it would be correcting its review process moving forward.

In his statement, Pillen criticized UNK of having a “woke disease.” Following the governor’s statement, multiple faculty and students criticized UNK for pushing “DEI” hires, targeting conservative for their personal beliefs, and creating an anti-free speech environment for students.

The Plains Sentinel is aware of at least one professor considering a lawsuit against UNK over discrimination, stemming, in part, from their conservative political beliefs.

UNK Continues ‘DEI’ Hiring as Faculty Say It Targets Conservatives

A recently retired professor, Dr. Thomas Martin, who taught at UNK for over 30-years, told The Plains Sentinel that the university is been moving in a direction that is hostile to the country’s “classical western tradition.” Martin said that the administration at the university was “completely anti-Christian.”

“They never say it explicitly, but implicitly everything they do is that way,” he said.

Multiple current faculty said the university administration was actively hostile towards conservative members.

One of the incidents cited was a UNK directive which tried to compel speech with the administration requiring faculty members to put a “diversity and inclusion” statement in their syllabuses.

“UNK stands in solidarity and unity with our students of color, our LatinX and international students, our LGBTQIA+ students and students from other marginalized groups in opposition to racism and prejudice in any form, wherever it may exist,” the statement read.

The university told faculty that they had a “moral and legal obligation” to include the statement in their syllabuses. Some faculty pushed back and successful got the university to allow them to include a modified statement that included respect for all students, not just “marginalized groups.”

A UNK student, Keya Knaus, said she was upset with the university because they were pushing out her favorite professor over her conservative political beliefs. “I think they don’t like what she has to say,” Knaus said, adding that it “seems like” professors with views that align more with the administration are allowed to speak more freely.

Knaus said that she had personally experienced a hostile free speech environment on UNK’s campus.

“In some of my other classes because of my political views, I’m not able to say what I want to say,” Knaus said, describing herself as “more Republican” than most of her professors at UNK.

“It isn’t right,” she added. “Especially at a college level. It takes away our freedom of speech.”

UNK has responded to accusations from students and faculty saying they are “inaccurate and misleading” but vowing to do a full investigation.

John Gage is the executive editor of The Plains Sentinel.