--- description: A North Carolina Republican lawmaker compared Abraham Lincoln to Adolf Hitler in a Facebook comment, calling them both tyrants title: GOP Lawmaker Calls Abraham Lincoln a 'Tyrant' Like Adolf Hitler image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # North Carolina GOP Lawmaker Calls Abraham Lincoln a 'Tyrant' Like Adolf Hitler  by [Alana Abramson](/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 13, 2017 12:28 AM CUT  by [Alana Abramson](/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 13, 2017 12:28 AM CUT A North Carolina Republican lawmaker is under fire after comparing [Abraham Lincoln](http://time.com/4708749/donald-trump-abraham-lincoln-republican/ "undefined") to [Adolf Hitler](http://time.com/4735224/sean-spicer-hitler-chemical-weapons-transcript/ "undefined") in a Facebook comment. Larry Pitmann, a representative in the [North Carolina General Assembly](http://www.ncleg.net/gascripts/members/viewMember.pl?sChamber=H&nUserID=633 "undefined"), said Lincoln was the “same sort of tyrant as” the Nazi dictator, who was responsible for the deaths of millions. Pittman, was responding to comments on Facebook criticizing him for introducing [a bill](http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2017/Bills/House/PDF/H780v0.pdf "undefined") in the North Carolina legislature that would render the Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage inapplicable in his state. “You aren’t fit to hold public office in the United States of America if you don’t respect the Supreme Court and the Constitution,” one Facebook user wrote. Pittman replied, “And if Hitler had won, should the world just get over it? Lincoln was the same sort of tyrant, and personally responsible for the deaths of over 800,000 Americans in a war that was unnecessary and unconstitutional.” Pittman did not respond to request for comment from TIME to clarify his remarks. [White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer](http://time.com/4735868/why-spicers-holocaust-remark-matters/ "undefined") found himself embroiled in controversy when he said at his daily briefing Tuesday that Hitler, who was responsible for the gassing of millions of people, didn’t stoop to level of Syrian President Bashar-al Assad and use chemical weapons as a mechanism for murder. “He was not using gas on his own people the way Assad is doing,” Spicer said. He [subsequently apologized](http://time.com/4736036/sean-spicer-hitler-comments-apology/ "undefined") for his comments. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4737751/larry-pittman-north-carolina-abraham-lincoln-adolf-hitler/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4737751/larry-pittman-north-carolina-abraham-lincoln-adolf-hitler/"},"headline":"North Carolina GOP Lawmaker Calls Abraham Lincoln a 'Tyrant' Like Adolf Hitler","datePublished":"2017-04-13T00:28:58.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T04:22:41.862Z","description":"He was defending a bill that would reverse a Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage","url":"https://time.com/4737751/larry-pittman-north-carolina-abraham-lincoln-adolf-hitler/","keywords":["North Carolina","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alana Abramson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4737751/larry-pittman-north-carolina-abraham-lincoln-adolf-hitler/","name":"North Carolina GOP Lawmaker Calls Abraham Lincoln a 'Tyrant' Like Adolf Hitler"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"NCAA Ends Ban On Championships in North Carolina After Parts of 'Bathroom Bill' Repealed","description":"The NCAA ended its six-month ban on holding championship events in North Carolina following the state’s repeal of parts of its controversial “bathroom bill.”","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/7Gl480jF/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-04-04T21:07:19.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/7Gl480jF.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4737751/larry-pittman-north-carolina-abraham-lincoln-adolf-hitler/","duration":"PT1M12S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4737751/larry-pittman-north-carolina-abraham-lincoln-adolf-hitler/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```