GOP leaders went into damage control Tuesday after a western Minnesota county Republican party Facebook page shared a post that compares U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders to Adolf Hitler.

Sanders is Jewish, which makes the original post ill-informed, if not offensive.

The post by the Clay County Republican Party was removed and the group later apologized, calling it “stupid,” but not before local Jewish groups took screenshots and shared it on Twitter.

Earlier today we saw this post from the @mnGOP in Clay County, comparing Sen. Bernie Sanders to Hitler. There are a LOT of reasons this is a ridiculous, spurious comparison, and even more reasons why its deeply offensive, and anti-Semitic. pic.twitter.com/jo93pq7FFc — JCA MN (@JCA_MN) February 26, 2019

Jewish Community Action seized on the post in a series of tweets:

“First, and this should go without saying, comparing any Jew to the Nazis is bad form. Hitler was responsible for the murder of 6 million Jews. This is especially gross because Bernie Sanders has talked publicly about *his own family members* murdered in the Holocaust.

“Second, this particular post is deeply anti-Semitic, because it compares the super-rich, Bernie’s targets, to the Jews themselves. As if to say Jews are the same as the billionaires Bernie frequently talks about. Which is also how Hitler talked about the Jews, as it turns out.

“Finally, it’s particular appalling that not just a few weeks ago, we saw @mnGOP Chair @Jkcarnah (Republican Party Chairwoman Jennifer Carnahan) call on Rep. Ilhan Omar to resign from Congress for a comment some felt touched on potentially anti-Semitic tropes.” Related Articles Former Ramsey County commissioner Blake Huffman to repay charity funds in settlement with attorney general

Carter, Frey declare Sept. 21 RBG Day in the Twin Cities

The COVID-19 vaccine got political this week. Here’s a look at the facts.

Book review: ‘Melania and Me’ is not a giggly tell-all

Trump and Biden hit the now battleground state of Minnesota

On Tuesday evening, Fred Wright, chair of the Clay County Republican Party, issued a statement apologizing:

“The recent post that was shared by a volunteer on the Facebook page for the Clay County Republican Party has been taken down. Whether it’s the Democrats comparing Donald Trump to Hitler or Republicans comparing Bernie Sanders to Hitler, it is wrong, stupid, and inappropriate. We sincerely apologize.”

The incident caught the attention of the state party, which issued a statement earlier in the day.

Republican Party Chairwoman Jennifer Carnahan released the following statement Tuesday afternoon: “The recent Facebook comment posted by a volunteer with the Clay County Republican Party is not appropriate and the MNGOP does not condone these actions or their sentiment. We have called on the local Republican unit to remove this post and hold themselves to a higher standard in the future. We must, Republicans and Democrats alike, do better to dispel hate and come together as Americans.”

The Clay County GOP share appears to have come from an Instagram account that shares low-brow conservative Internet memes.

The Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and The Dakotas also condemned the post in a series of tweets:

“We condemn the disgusting anti-Semitic Facebook post by the Clay County GOP. Rhetoric comparing Jews and/or Israel to Nazis is extremely offensive and should have no place in our political discourse.

“Pointedly, as our International Holocaust Remembrance Day speaker, Michael Berenbaum, said a few weeks ago: we are seeing a marked increase in the permissibly of bigoted rhetoric in our politics. We see this on both the far-left and far-right.

“Trivializing the atrocities of the Holocaust through flip and false comparisons is itself a form of Holocaust denial — and should be denounced.”