Kansas GOP candidate says there is ‘only barbarism’ outside of Western civilization

A Kansas Republican running for Congress told a group of people at a GOP party meeting this week that “outside of Western civilization there is only barbarism,” CNN reported Saturday.

State Sen. Steve Fitzgerald, who is running to replace retiring Rep. Lynn Jenkins (R), reportedly made the comments at a July 2 meeting during a lengthy speech.

In his speech, Fitzgerald told members of the Leavenworth County Republican Party that history is “littered with people taking advantage of and dispatching the lives of others,” according to video obtained from a Democratic operative. 

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“Ask the blacks about slavery. Ask the American Indians,” he said. “Ask — well, of course, the Indians were doing it to each other. The whites were doing it to each other. But if you go all back in history, we have never had much compunction about killing each other, especially if you couldn’t fight back,” Fitzgerald said.

“Outside of Western civilization is only barbarism. Abortion is not compatible with Western civilization. And we need to make that clear, we need to make it recognized, we need to make people understand we are talking about humanity,” he added.

Fitzgerald went on to say that Christians are “under attack,” claiming that “even speaking about [Christianity] can bring you under attack.”

Fitzgerald doubled down on controversial comments he made earlier this year, comparing Planned Parenthood to a Nazi death camp, CNN reported. 

At the July meeting, Fitzgerald recalled a donor giving to Planned Parenthood in his name earlier this year — a donation he denounced by comparing the institution to Dachau, a concentration camp that killed thousands during the Holocaust.

“This is as bad — or worse — as having one’s name associated with Dachau,” Fitzgerald had written about the donation.

Since the comments, rabbis have demanded that he stop invoking the Holocaust “for political purposes,” The Kansas City Star reported in April.

“It was a firestorm. I got calls from everywhere, ‘How dare you? How could you? How could you compare it to Dachau?’ ” he recalled of the letter being made public. “I said, ‘you are right, Dachau really wasn’t one of the bigger killing camps and these guys’ numbers are way beyond anything that they did.’ “

Fitzgerald did not immediately respond to The Hill’s request for comment.

The 2nd Congressional District in Kansas, which includes parts of Kansas City’s suburbs, has seven Republicans running for the seat.

The network noted that while the seat is expected to lean Republican during the November election, former Kansas House Minority Leader Paul Davis (D) is vying to flip the district.

Davis has raised more than $1 million with the help of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, significantly more than any of the GOP candidates, CNN reported.