After photos of her son giving the Nazi salute next to an antique German warplane from World War II went viral online, some of her voters called for the resignation of Oregon’s minority leader in the House, Republican Vikki Breese-Iverson. The photo has been used as evidence that the congresswoman is unfit to govern by some groups, while others wonder if she should be punished for the actions of her teenage son.
The son of Breese-Iverson was removed from a report in which he was pictured with a classmate in front of a Focke-Wulf 190 at the Ericksen Aircraft Collection in Madras, Oregon, during a school field trip. They probably struck the offensive position in response to the German plane with a swastika painted on its tail. Nobody knows who snapped the photo yet, according to our sources.
Breese-Iverson publicly apologized “to anyone impacted by the image,” saying that her son had demonstrated “extremely poor judgment.” The Republican lawmaker also uploaded a photo of what she claims is a letter written by her son. There’s a line in there about how what he did “was a dumb mistake” he made “in the moment,” and he later realized he should have thought about the damage he may do by striking that pose.
The Central Oregon Diversity Project has not given up on its demand that Breese-Iverson resign, arguing that the lawmaker’s role as a parent and a politician are both brought into question by the teen’s behavior. One of the group’s spokespeople reportedly told Newsweek that she lacks the ability to perform “her elected position” because she can’t prevent her own child from “parenting their own child so they don’t get caught perpetuating Nazi symbolism.” Despite widespread outrage, not everyone agrees that the call for the House member’s resignation is warranted.
The Republican members of the House are in agreement. A statement was released in which they echoed their colleague’s apologies and expressed their own disapproval of the stance, as well as their hope that the school and the boy’s parents would hold him accountable
