TUCSON, Arizona — Arizona congressional candidate Frank Antenori compared Barack Obama’s presidency to Saddam Hussein’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait, telling a Tea Party crowd this week to “imagine…having your country taken from you and then having to fight for it to get it back. We’re at that point here in this country.”
Antenori made the specious comparison in front of approximately 500 Arizonans on Wednesday at a Tucson Tea Party rally. He is the frontrunner for the GOP nomination to fill former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords’ (D-AZ) vacant eighth congressional district seat.
Discussing his background before entering politics, Antenori pointed to his service in Operation Desert Storm, noting that he helped train Kuwaitis “to liberate their own country after it had been taken from them by Saddam Hussein.” Antenori then continued on to compare Kuwait’s struggle against Hussein to the United States under President Obama: “Imagine that, having your country taken from you and then having to fight for it to get it back. We’re at that point here in this country.”
ANTENORI: Came back, turned around, by 18 went to Desert Storm. We helped train the Kuwaiti Liberation Brigade and lead the Kuwaitis into Kuwait City to liberate their own country after it had been taken from them by Saddam Hussein. Imagine that, having your country taken from you and then having to fight for it to get it back. We’re at that point here in this country.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=ymLd8haJnrw
Unfortunately, Antenori’s outrageous comparison was only the second most offensive comment made at the Tea Party event. Prior to his speech, Gabriela Mercer, a Republican candidate for Arizona’s 3rd congressional district, said that Rep. Raúl Grijalva’s (D-AZ) “allegiance is not to America.” Grijalva, a Latino congressman, was born in the United States and has served his state and country for decades.