Arizona Rep. Brenda Barton says she never called Obama ‘Hitler’

PHOENIX — Arizona Rep. Brenda Barton issued a statement Wednesday saying she did not call President Obama ‘Hitler’ and that her words the day before were taken out of context.

Barton’s latest statement, in part, read:

Let me clarify that I never used the word or said that President Obama was “Hitler.” That was a creative assumption of the Capitol Times reporter, who also reported that I referred to our government as a “Constitutional Democracy.” I would never use that description because, we are in fact – through law and history – a Constitutional Republic.

What I did suggest, rather directly, was that the National Park Service enforcement personnel (referring to them as “thugs” for their reported behavior) were simply following orders of “their leader” – and I used the German phrase for emphasis, Der Fuhrer. I am referencing the Presidents behavior as indicated by his actions. The Merriam-Webster New Collegiate Dictionary defines “Fuhrer” as “(2) a leader exercising tyrannical authority.”

Barton’s initial Facebook post about the president said:

Someone is paying the National Park Service thugs overtime for their efforts to carry out the order of De Fuhrer… where are our Constitutional Sheriffs who can revoke the Park Service Rangers authority to arrest??? Do we have any Sheriffs with a pair?

Barton, a Republican from Safford, Ariz., corrected the spelling of Hitler’s self-appointed title in her clarification release. Originally she spelled it “De Fuhrer.”