At UCLA on Wednesday potential presidential nominee Hillary Clinton clarified recent remarks she made at a private fundraiser Tuesday about similar tactics used by Vladimir Putin in Ukraine to those used by the Nazi party in World War II.
According to TIME, while Clinton was attending a $1,500 plate California fundraiser, the former first lady assessed Putin’s claim to protect ethnic Russians in the occupied Crimea region similar to maneuvers made by Hitler and Nazi policy to protect Germans wherever they may be.
She remarked, “All the Germans that were…the ethnic Germans, the Germans by ancestry who were in places like Czechoslovakia and Romania and other places, Hitler kept saying they’re not being treated right. I must go and protect my people and that’s what’s gotten everybody so nervous.”
Politico reports that her UCLA speech Clinton reaffirmed her position while defending the historical perspective side of her argument, this time making sure not to mention Hitler by name.
“I’m not making comparisons, but I am recommending that we can perhaps learn from this tactic that has been used before,” she said.
Clinton praised the Obama administration’s efforts, and called for a “smart response” that includes European allies including Germany.
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