Jewish Family-Run Soup Shop Sends Gazpacho, Elie Wiesel’s ‘Night’ to Marjorie Taylor Greene After ‘Gestapo’ Mixup
A Jewish mother-daughter duo behind a Washington, DC soup shop has offered to help Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) understand the difference between the gestapo, Nazi Germany’s secret police, and the vegetable-based cold soup gazpacho after the US lawmaker confused the two in a recent interview.
The company, Soupergirl, is sending cases of gazpacho, a dictionary, and a copy of “Night” by Holocaust survivor and Nobel Prize laureate Elie Wiesel to Greene in light of her comments.
Marilyn Polon and her daughter Sarah Polon, who founded the certified-kosher and vegan soup company in 2008, additionally invited Greene to have an “informed conversation” about the difference between gestapo and gazpacho. “If you don’t want to take us up on our offer, we’ll be donating the gazpacho to area food banks,” Sarah said Thursday in a video posted on Twitter.
The soup shop also launched a campaign to use Greene’s gaffe as a “teachable moment” to raise awareness about Holocaust misinformation and education. All proceeds from the campaign will go to the Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect, a non-profit organization.
During an interview with One America News on Tuesday, Greene accused House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) of using Capitol police as “political pawns.” She then referenced “Pelosi’s gazpacho police spying on members of Congress, spying on the legislative work that we do, spying on our staff and spying on American citizens that want to come talk to their representatives.”
Greene has come under fire in the past for making antisemitic comparisons to Nazi Germany when criticizing COVID-19 restrictions. Last May, she drew calls for censure from House colleagues, including Republican Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (CA), after tweeting that “Vaccinated employees get a vaccination logo just like the Nazi’s [sic] forced Jewish people to wear a gold [sic] star.”
On Wednesday, Greene addressed her mistake by poking fun at it on Twitter, saying, “No soup for those who illegally spy on Members of Congress, but they will be thrown in the goulash. #Gazpacho #Gestapo.” The Congresswoman was likely referring to the “Seinfeld” character called Soup Nazi and his catchphrase: “no soup for you.”
Larry Thomas, the actor who played the fictional character in “Seinfeld,” told The Guardian he was surprised by Greene’s remark in the interview and her later attempt to downplay the comment on Twitter.