A Republican candidate for state house has been removed from his post as secretary of the Cook County GOP after reportedly expressing Holocaust-denying views in a text exchange with another party official.
Cook County Republican Party Chair Aaron Del Mar announced the decision late Thursday, saying he has zero tolerance for the remarks attributed to Elk Grove Township Republican Committeeman Edward Lapinski.
“Antisemitic rhetoric and Holocaust denial are morally repugnant, historically false, and completely incompatible with the values of the Republican Party,” Del Mar said in a statement.
Del Mar also demanded Lapinski step down as township committeeman and end his campaign for the 56th District state House seat currently held by Democratic state Rep. Michelle Mussman of Schaumburg.
Attempts to reach Lapinski were unsuccessful. Del Mar said he spoke with Lapinski, who insisted the texts were doctored and not authentic.
“I don’t know how he proves that,” Del Mar said.
Screenshots from the text exchange between Lapinski and New Trier Township Republican Committeeperson Julie Cho were posted on Capitol Fax.com.
According to Capitol Fax, Cho asked Lapinski his views on “Consequences for the World of the Holocaust Narrative,” a video posted by Father James Mawdsley. In it, the British Catholic priest says, “The Holocaust narrative is an evil myth. The Germans ran no homicidal gas chambers. There was no genocide against the Jews.”
Asked about the part of the video denying the existence of gas chambers, Lapinski responded, “a lot of the supposed gas chambers” are “indeed false because now that I know a better understanding of engineering principles and actually seeing HVAC work being done on a large scale there’s no way.”
Cho said Thursday that she had texted Lapinski and asked his thoughts about the Mawdsley video after being told he was a Holocaust denier.
“According to his own texts, it is clear to me he is a Holocaust denier. He should withdraw his candidacy,” she said.
The state GOP released a statement condemning Lapinski’s remarks and saying the party had not recruited him to run for the state legislature
“Holocaust deniers and those who trivialize its atrocities have no place in elected office,” the statement reads.
Mussman, who is seeking her ninth term representing the Schaumburg-area district, said the comments are disrespectful.
“I think we are in a dangerous place in time, where we really are being called to affirm if we believe all people are truly equal and deserving of basic human rights,” she said via text Thursday. “If he is unable or unwilling to acknowledge the history of violence then, will he objectively be able to recognize or acknowledge it present day?”
https://www.dailyherald.com/20260129/news/republican-leaders-condemn-suburban-gop-state-house-candidate-for-holocaust-views/