Ohio Congressional candidate Rich Iott (R) accused his opponent, Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur, of being behind the “coordinated attempt at character assassination” related to his Nazi reenactment hobby.
Iott also made the bold claim that “this coordinated attack has shown so much more about you and your character than it does about me.”
Iott has become the subject of national attention in recent days, and Republicans have scrambled to distance themselves from him, even as Iott defends his hobby of dressing up like a Nazi as a member of the 5th SS Wiking Panzer Division, a group of Ohio World War II reenactors.
The comments came during a debate Monday evening, and Iott used his opening statement to address Kaptur. “You and I have known each other for 25 years,” Iott said. “You know my family, I’ve contributed personally to your campaign in the past, and together we’ve done a lot for this community. But now because you want to win reelection so badly, you’ve thrown all of that out the window.”
He continued: “You have coordinated an attack on me that’s tried to brand me a Nazi. A Nazi? Because I participated in some historical reenactments?”
Kaptur, for her part, denied that she was behind the media attention, saying “actually it was the media that brought it to my attention” that Iott participated in these reenactments.
She also denied knowning Iott for 25 years, as he claimed: “I met my opponent for the first time this year, this summer, when I walked up to him at the Point Place Parade and I introduced myself to him. I really don’t know him. I know what we learned through this campaign.”
Here’s the video. Iott’s statement comes around 4:40:
