Nicolas Maduro, the socialist dictator of Venezuela, thinks he and his cronies have a lot in common with Jews who suffered under the Nazis in the 1930s and 1940s. And the tens of thousands of people who are protesting his rule in the streets? In his view, they are a lot like the Nazis who murdered 6 million Jews in the holocaust. From Reuters:

“We are the new Jews of the 21st century that Hitler pursued,” Maduro said during the cabinet meeting. “We don’t carry the yellow star of David … we carry red hearts that are filled with desire to fight for human dignity. And we are going to defeat them, these 21st-century Nazis.”

This analogy may be the dumbest thing Maduro has ever said. The idea that he and his cronies represent a persecuted group in a country where he has complete power and an army of police and unofficial colectivo defenders of the revolution to enforce his will is absurd. Here’s the suffering that Maduro apparently believes is comparable to the holocaust:

Social media has for weeks buzzed with videos of Venezuelan emigrees in countries from Australia to the United States shouting insults at public officials and in some cases family members in public places.

That’s a reference to a social media campaign aimed at the daughter of the socialist Mayor of Caracas who is living the good life in Australia while people back home are eating cats and dogs to survive. From the Australian:

Ms Rodriguez has been studying film at Sydney’s SAE Creative Media ­Institute since the beginning of last year, and has posted photos of herself tanning on the sand, cuddling kangaroos and has also been snapped sipping cocktails on Bondi Beach…

A Twitter account operated by Venezuelan opposition activists, called VVsincensura, is encouraging followers to disseminate photographs of the families of the political elite living the good life overseas. It claims a flood of information has been sent to its site.

My gut reaction is to leave children out of political disputes but in this case, my sympathy is limited. One of the images included in the Australian story is of Rodriguez wearing a T-shirt which reads “Capitalist patriarchy is ruining the world and all I got was this lousy T-shirt.” Apparently, President Maduro isn’t the only Venezuelan socialist who is strikingly tone-deaf.