Jesse Ventura vents more 'American Sniper' criticism by comparing U.S. to Nazis, Communists

The former Minnesota governor previously called Chris Kyle "a liar"

The Wrap
February 11, 2015 at 7:50PM
Former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura filed suit Monday against HarperCollins, the New York publisher of the book that a federal jury in St. Paul said had defamed him.
Former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura filed suit Monday against HarperCollins, the New York publisher of the book that a federal jury in St. Paul said had defamed him. (Star Tribune file photo/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Seth Rogen learned the hard way that Americans won't be happy if you mention "American Sniper" and Nazis in the same sentence, but it looks like former Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura didn't get the memo.

Ventura, a former U.S. Navy SEAL and professional wrestler, called into to Alan Colmes' Fox News Radio show on Tuesday to explain his criticism of Chris Kyle — the real-life subject of Clint Eastwood's record-breaking Iraq War drama starring Bradley Cooper — and ended up making a much bigger statement about the United States.

"A hero is not how many people you've killed. He was obviously a great sniper. He was obviously a great shot. He obviously did his job correctly," Ventura said. "Let me fire this one at you. Do you think the Nazis had heroes?"

"When they invaded a country, when they invaded Poland, when they invaded France, and if a Nazi soldier killed a hundred people that had lived there, would he be classified a hero in Germany?" Ventura asked Colmes.

Ventura previously stated he had no interest in seeing "American Sniper" and called Kyle an "a liar" with no honor, due to Kyle alleging in his memoir that he punched Ventura in the face at a bar in 2006 after Ventura said the SEALs "deserve to lose a few" in Iraq. The former politician filed a defamation lawsuit against Kyle's estate and won $1.8 million last year.

Ventura's latest comments on "American Sniper," however, went beyond Kyle's actions, as he questioned the entire Iraq War.

"What I'm stating is we invaded Iraq, we were not asked in," Ventura said. "We invaded a country, we overthrew its government, and then we killed people that lived there."

"Are we analogous to the Nazis?" Colmes asked Ventura.

"Well, and the Communists, yeah. We behave the same way now," Ventura said. "I said this before, I said, 'That's how George Bush killed my American dream.' I never believed that my country would line our military up at the border of another sovereign nation, invade that country, overthrow its government, occupy them without being asked. We invaded, and all on lies."

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