David Brody addresses controversy over Rep. Greene's Holocaust reference during interview

David Brody, host of "The Water Cooler," addressed the controversy over comments made by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene last week during an interview on the show, saying critics had portrayed the lawmaker's comments inaccurately.

While interviewing the Georgia Republican lawmaker last week, Brody noted that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had made comments on Thursday indicating that unvaccinated lawmakers could potentially be segregated in the House chamber.

"This woman is mentally ill," Greene responded. "You know, we can look back at a time in history where people were told to wear a gold star and they were definitely treated like second-class citizens, so much so that they were put in trains and taken to gas chambers in Nazi Germany, and this is exactly the type of abuse that Nancy Pelosi is talking about."

In addressing the matter on Monday, Brody, who was born Jewish, said that references to the Holocaust generally cause people to "lose from a PR standpoint," but he also said that the traditional media has misrepresented Greene's remarks.

"Look, even if you make a strong argument on whatever your noble intentions might be, no one is gonna listen to it after you start invoking gas chambers, etc.," he said. "And I say this as someone who was born Jewish, has defended the Jewish State throughout my career.

"Now having said that, the media has portrayed Congresswoman Greene's comments inaccurately. First of all, they are saying she was comparing her situation to that of a Holocaust victim, so that's 100% wrong. An honest reading of her comments, shows that she was comparing the pre-Holocaust period in Nazi Germany to some aspects of America today. Specifically, she was noting how history has shown us that certain countries and regimes have indeed separated people into second-class citizens.

"In essence, she was saying that Jews were branded as second-class citizens back then with a gold star and today we are also seeing a branding and division of people between the vaccinated and the unvaccinated, two classes of people," he added. "That was the point she made. Look, she wasn't coming from a place of hate. She was trying to highlight warning signs in today's society, and in today's America. The traditional media is not accurately reporting what MTG said. If you want to fault her for even going there with the Holocaust comparison, that's fine. But we have an obligation to honestly portray what was said. Anything to the contrary is a disservice to the truth and to the public." 

CNN's Jake Tapper tweeted the clip of Greene's comments and noted that Brody could be seen nodding his head during part of the interview and that he did not pose a follow-up question to Greene: "MTG says Speaker Pelosi wanting Members of Congress to get vaccinated and if not to wear masks is 'exactly the type of abuse' as murdering Jews in gas chambers during the Holocaust and David Brody nods along. No follow up." 

Brody said Monday the CNN criticism "is totally distorted and intellectually dishonest."

"I was nodding in agreement at the part when she started talking about the gold star treatment in Nazi Germany because I understood her analogy about people being separated into two classes of people then and now," he said. "I nodded because I had been expressing this exact same sentiment on the air for months regarding comparisons to Nazi Germany and how back then you had to show your papers and today you have to show your vaccine passport. Folks, look, it's important to never forget that before the Holocaust took place the Nazis forced Jews to wear identifying badges. It was a form of psychological warfare."

"Of course," he added, "the parallels end once the Jews were taken away to concentration camps, and I was not nodding in agreement to that, nor was Marjorie Taylor Greene suggesting that."

Brody said that he accepted the criticism regarding the lack of a follow-up question. 

"I got a bit caught up in the three other topics I had to get to in the limited amount of time I had with her," he explained. "So in retrospect, look, I wish I had asked her whether or not she wanted to clarify the gas chamber language and how that will be seen as offensive to Jews. Honest mistake. And I admit, hmmm, I'm not perfect. However, I'm fully aware that my critics in the media who have made their own share of honest and dishonest mistakes weren't interested in an honest debate, just a clickbait headline."