Whatcom candidate reacts to criticism of his social media

A Republican candidate for the state Legislature in Whatcom County has agreed that a social media post he made in April 2020 is antisemitic.

But Dan Johnson of Laurel, who is running for the 42nd District House of Representatives position 2, didn’t apologize specifically for the meme that showed a yellow Star of David with the words “A new badge has been created which will allow you to go back to work, to travel in your state, to fly, catch a train or bus, and to buy and sell.”

Nor did Johnson explain why he made the Facebook post on the birthday of Adolf Hitler, who as the leader of Nazi Germany orchestrated a genocide against European Jews that included forcing them to wear a yellow Star of David on their clothing.

“I inappropriately compared pandemic mandates to the Nazis’ treatment of Jewish people,” Johnson wrote on his campaign Facebook page Tuesday, Sept. 27.

“At the time I wrote that I was deeply frustrated by the governor’s mandates that were destroying small businesses and livelihoods. Looking back the post trivialized the darkest time in human history and that doesn’t reflect my values,” he said.

A month before Johnson’s post, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee Inslee had ordered business closures and social-distancing requirements aimed at curbing the spread of the new coronavirus.

In his Facebook post on Tuesday, Johnson was reacting to a Sept. 25 story in The Bellingham Herald that examined his social media going back nearly a decade, including written posts, memes and video recordings.

Much of his past online presence was once publicly available but has now been removed.

Johnson failed to respond to The Herald’s questions about those posts, which included:

▪ Sexist and antisemitic memes.

▪ Misinformation about COVID-19.

▪ Apparent support for anti-government militants.

▪ The violent overthrow of elected officials.

On Tuesday, Johnson again failed to address the content of his social media posts and videos, instead saying “if I have ever said something that offended another (and I’m sure I have), or caused anyone pain, I am sorry,” without acknowledging a particular offense.

In his post, Johnson said that a Herald reporter asked him “Why are you a racist?”, a claim that The Herald denies.

The Herald will not publish the most offensive of the memes from Johnson’s social media, but the newspaper has shown them to the people who were quoted in its Sept. 25 report.

But The Herald made copies of false, sexist and antisemitic posts before they disappeared from public view, and “The Hook” remains available in audio form on the Spotify streaming service.

Several of his Facebook posts have been flagged by the social media company as false, partly false, or misleading.

Johnson placed second in the Aug. 2 primary and is facing Democrat Joe Timmons of Bellingham in the Nov. 8 general election.

Timmons and others told The Herald that they examined Johnson’s memes and recordings and found them offensive.

“I believe candidates and elected officials should lead by example and that voters have a right to know the true values and opinions of those they are electing to represent them,” Timmons told The Herald for its earlier story.