A Republican congressional candidate from Ohio, countering criticism from a House GOP leader, said this week that he did nothing wrong by wearing a Nazi uniform while participating in World War II re-enactments.
Rich Iott told the Associated Press that he does not agree with the Nazis’ views or their actions against Jews.
Asked whether it was wrong to wear a Nazi uniform, Iott said: “I don’t see anything wrong about educating the public about events that happened. And that’s the whole purpose of historical re-enacting.”
Iott faces Democratic incumbent Rep. Marcy Kaptur in northwest Ohio in the November election.
The Atlantic magazine first reported that Iott had participated in the re-enactments wearing a Waffen-SS uniform. Iott later said he was in a re-enactment group called Wiking for three or four years — though he believed his name remained on the group’s roster for longer. He said he and his then-teenage son had joined as a part of a shared interest in history.
The House Republicans’ No. 2 leader, Eric Cantor of Virginia, on Oct. 10 said he repudiates Iott’s actions and would not support someone who would dress in Nazi attire. — ap