Who is Darren Bailey? GOP nominee for Illinois governor under fire for comparing abortion to the Holocaust

Illinois Republican gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey is in hot waters for comparing abortion to the Holocaust in a resurfaced 2017 interview.

While running for the Illinois House seat in 2017, the 56-year-old politician, who is now the state's senator, opposes abortion rights in the video, even if the cases are of incest or r*pe.

The only exception, he pointed out in the Facebook video uploaded on October 12, 2017, was allowing abortions if it endangers the life of the mother. Making a comparison between abortions and the Holocaust, he said:

"I believe that abortion is one of the greatest atrocities of our day, and I believe it's one of the greatest atrocities probably forever. The attempted extermination of the Jews of World War II doesn't even compare on a shadow of the life that has been lost with abortion since its legalization."

Bailey's controversial video came to light after media outlet Forward re-published it in an article.

According to his website, he was born and brought up in Louisville, Illinois. As a state senator, Darren Bailey represents the 55th District of Illinois. In the GOP primary, he was backed by former American president Donald Trump.

Bailey was able to win against his Democratic opponent J.B. Pritzker largely because the Democratic groups were betting him on being a weaker contender in the general election.

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Darren Bailey tries to explain his remark on abortion and The Holocaust

After his 2017 video went viral, Eliza Glezer, a spokesperson for Illinois governor J.B. Pritzker, asked Bailey for a response to his "violent antisemitism" and "hateful comments."

Speaking to CBS News, she said:

"Conflating a woman's bodily autonomy to the systematic mass murder of Jewish people is antisemitic and disqualifying. Darren Bailey's disgusting assertion that a woman determining her own reproductive future is worse than the Nazis' genocide of 6 million Jews is offensive to Illinoisans everywhere."

The Anti-Defamation League's Midwest chapter also issued a statement after Bailey's video went viral. Taking to their Twitter handle, the group wrote:

"The Holocaust and abortion are not the same. These types of comments have no place in public discourse. They are deeply offensive and do an incredible disservice to the millions of Jews and other innocent victims killed by the Nazis."

Following the immense backlash, Bailey issued a statement to the news outlet Forward stating that he did not mean to "diminish" the horrors of the Holocaust.

“The Holocaust is a human tragedy without parallel. In no way was I attempting to diminish the atrocities of the Holocaust and its stain on history. I meant to emphasize the tragedy of millions of babies being lost. I support and have met with many people in the Jewish community in Illinois and look forward to continuing to work with them to make Illinois a safer and more affordable place for everyone."

Darren Bailey will be up against Pritzker, who is the third Jewish governor in the state's history, for the upcoming general election in November 2022.