Brown likens Whitman campaign to Goebbels’ Nazi propaganda

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown has compared billionaire GOP nominee Meg Whitman’s saturation campaign effort to that of a Nazi minister of propaganda.

‘It’s like Goebbels,’ Brown told Doug Sovern of KCBS radio in the Bay Area, referring to Joseph Goebbels. ‘Goebbels invented this kind of propaganda. He took control of the whole world. She wants to be president. That’s her ambition, the first woman president. That’s what this is all about.’

A Brown spokesman did not dispute the statement but said Brown does not believe Whitman is comparable to Goebbels. Whitman’s campaign manager Jillian Hasner called the remarks ‘deeply offensive.’

The remarks, posted on Sovern’s blog Wednesday, were made before Tuesday’s primary when Sovern ran into Brown while bike-riding.

Brown also expressed concern about Whitman’s spending ability.

‘You know, by the time she’s done with me, two months from now, I’ll be a child-molesting...’ Brown told Sovern, letting the line trail off. ‘She’ll have people believing whatever she wants about me.’

-- Seema Mehta in Los Angeles