Report: Nazi Art Collector Raising Money for Rubio

By Sherri Lonon/Patch

A planned fundraiser for Florida Sen. Marco Rubio’s presidential campaign at the home of a wealthy Texas art collector has officials from the Democratic National Committee up in arms. The fundraiser’s timing, on the eve of Yom Kippur, is also raising eyebrows.

It seems Texas real estate investor Harlan Crow and his wife, Kathy, are hosting the $2,000-per-couple event at their home in Highland Park Tuesday to benefit Rubio’s campaign for the White House. The problem, the DNC said, is that Crow is a serious art collector with some unique pieces in his home that many find questionable and even deeply offensive. In addition to works by Monet and Renoir, Crow also owns two paintings by Adolf Hitler and his very own signed copy of the Nazi leader’s autobiography “Mein Kampf.”

“An event at a home with items like these is appalling at any time of the year,” DNC chairwoman and U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz said in a statement. “Adding insult to injury, Rubio is holding this event on the eve of the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, Yom Kippur. Holding an event in a house featuring the artwork and signed autobiography of a man who dedicated his life to extinguishing the Jewish people is the height of insensitivity and indifference.”

Rubio’s campaign hasn’t issued a response on its website or Twitter account.

The DNC says on its website the turn of events shows that “in this Republican field, the sad truth is often stranger than the wildest fiction.”

Wasserman Schultz said the whole affair is a “gross act of disrespect.”

“Mr. Rubio, who by the way, represents a sizable Jewish population in our home state of Florida, should cancel this tasteless fundraiser,” she added. “It is astounding that the presence of these items that represent horror for millions of Jews the world over would not stop Mr. Rubio or anyone on his team in their tracks when planning this event.”

Crow, other media outlets are reporting, was a Gov. Scott Walker supporter initially. When the Wisconsin leader dropped out of the race, he threw his support in Rubio’s direction.

Yom Kippur, a Jewish holiday, begins at sunset Tuesday and ends at sunset Wednesday. The holiday is considered one of the most important of the year and is a day set aside to atone for and reflect upon one’s sins.

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