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The Trump administration’s special envoy to combat antisemitism harshly criticized Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz for his comparison of the crackdown on illegal immigrant criminals the Holocaust and Anne Frank.
Walz was speaking to reporters Sunday following the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Alex Pretti, a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) ICU nurse, during an encounter with immigration agents a day earlier.
During a press briefing, Walz said some children in the state felt scared to go outside because of aggressive tactics being employed by federal agents.
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Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz holds a news conference at the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Jan. 5, 2026. (Kerem Yücel/Minnesota Public Radio via AP)
“We have got children in Minnesota hiding in their houses, afraid to go outside. Many of us grew up reading that story of Anne Frank,” Walz said, referring to the German-Jewish teenager who documented her life in hiding during the Nazi persecution in World War II.
“Somebody is going to write that children’s story about Minnesota, and there’s one person who can end this now,” he added, referring to President Donald Trump.
On Monday, Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun, Trump’s special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism at the State Department, criticized the comparison, noting the difference between enforcing immigration law and genocide.
“Ignorance like this cheapens the horror of the Holocaust. Anne Frank was in Amsterdam legally and abided by Dutch law,” he wrote on X. “She was hauled off to a death camp because of her race and religion. Her story has nothing to do with the illegal immigration, fraud, and lawlessness plaguing Minnesota today.”
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President Donald Trump, and Rabbi Yehuda Kaploun light a candle during an Oct. 7th remembrance event at the Trump National Doral Golf Club. Kaploun, who serves as Trump’s special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, criticized Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz for comparing immigration enforcement to the plight of Anne Frank. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
“Our brave law enforcement should be commended, not tarred with this historically illiterate and antisemitic comparison,” he added.
StopAntisemitism, which tracks antisemitic incidents, also responded to Walz’s remarks.
“For those who invoke the Holocaust or Anne Frank to score political points while staying silent as Jew-hatred explodes worldwide: shame on you,” the group wrote Monday on social media. “Exploiting the murder of 6 million Jews while refusing to confront today’s violent antisemitism isn’t remembrance, it’s abuse of history.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Minnesota governor’s office.
To this day, Anne Frank is one of the most famous victims of the Holocaust, and her diary is required reading in many American schools. (Andrew Burton/Getty Images)
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The Trump administration and the Department of Homeland Security have said federal agents are targeting illegal immigrants who have committed crimes while in the United States. Some of the worst offenders have been arrested for or charged with violent crimes and sex crimes against children, DHS has said.
