News Brief

Tom Lantos used the Holocaust as a “weapon,” talk show host Michael Savage said. “You’re not supposed to talk badly about the dead. I generally wouldn’t do it,” Savage, the right-wing host said Monday — the day that Lantos, the California Democrat who was the only Holocaust survivor elected to Congress, died. “But in the case of Tom Lantos, I’ll make an exception.

“I think he was one of the most — he was a scoundrel. And I’ll tell you why I detested Tom Lantos. The man survived the Holocaust of World War II and used it as a weapon the rest of his life, that’s why. Do you understand what I just said to you? You can’t have it both ways. You can’t suffer such a horror and then use it as a weapon without people noticing it.” Lantos said his experience fighting in the Hungarian resistance and surviving the Holocaust informed his lifelong battle for human rights. His record was universally lauded by Democrats and Republicans. Savage, who is Jewish and based in the San Francisco area that Lantos represented, is known for inflammatory talk on his syndicated program. He once accused billionaire political activist George Soros of being the sort of Jew “who brought about the Holocaust.” His remarks were highlighted by the liberal media watchdog Media Matters.