* The Illinois Policy Institute confirmed this week it no longer supports 56th House District Republican candidate Ed Lapinski.
Lapinksi, who is the Elk Grove Township Republican Committeeman and is the Executive Secretary of the Cook County Republican Party, has been fending off accusations for months that he is a Holocaust denier, or worse.
The IPI has for years recruited Republican candidates to run in overwhelmingly Democratic districts. Lapinski is up against Rep. Michelle Mussman (D-Schaumburg) in a district won by Gov. JB Pritzker two years ago by almost 22 points.
Oops.
The group did not respond to a follow-up question about how Lapinski slipped through its vetting process. A House Republican Organization official flatly denied any role whatsoever in Lapinski’s recruitment. They have much bigger general election races to deal with than the safe incumbent Democrat Mussman.
Lapinski was never gonna win that House race (he kicked his primary opponent off the ballot), but he was mentioned as a possible county Republican Party Chair last year, and he’s on the party’s exec committee, so he’s worth watching.
* This started coming to light last year when New Trier Republican Committeeperson Julie Cho heard rumors that Lapinski was a Holocaust denier. Lapinski had asked her for an endorsement, but when she heard the chatter, she reached out to him. Cho tried to get the word out about Lapinski via a clunky Facebook video ad, but had no luck.
Somebody else put the two of us together and Committeeperson Cho shared with me the following text exchanges with Lapinski, who confirmed their authenticity.
Cho started with a question about “Consequences For The World Of The Holocaust Narrative,” a video posted by some guy named Father James Mawdsley. The video’s intro…
This video stands alone, but it is far more powerful once you realize that the Holocaust narrative is an evil myth. The Germans ran no homicidal gas chambers. There was no genocide against the Jews. The final solution was actually the intended expulsion of Jewry from Europe.
* To the text exchange…
When “View all” is clicked on both of Lapinski’s responses…
Uh-oh.
* But wait, there’s more…
* So, I reached out to Committeeman Lapinski…
Rich Miller: Hello, Mr. Lapinski. This is Rich Miller with Capitol Fax. This text exchange was sent to me by Julie Cho. Did you indeed send those texts to her? [Images sent.]
Ed Lapinski: Hello Rich. I’m assuming she sent you the entire thread? Julie has been paying for an ad claiming I’m a holocaust denier, however twice in the same text thread I had stated that atrocities/genocide had occurred. Assuming you’re talking about these same texts between Julie and I, on the subject for which Julie was persistent talking about, yes those had taken place between the two of us.
Rich Miller: Yes, I saw those
Ed Lapinski: You can believe whatever you’d like
Rich Miller: That might be your department. Has the Illinois Policy Institute told you they no longer support you?
Ed Lapinski: Well, why don’t you invest your time in reporting on actual news?
Rich Miller: A republican house candidate who spouts holocaust denier rhetoric is not your everyday story
Ed Lapinski: I’m telling you now, unequivocally, I’ve never once denied the holocaust.
* I sent all of the above to Vlad Khaykin at the Simon Wiesenthal Center with this request…
What I am asking from you is a confirmation that what follows is classic Holocaust denialism. Seems to be just that based on my own research.
From Mr. Khaykin…
Such rhetoric will be immediately familiar to anyone who studies Holocaust denial. Specifically, it is what some scholars call “soft-core Holocaust denial.” Unlike hardcore denial, which claims the Holocaust never happened, soft-core denial undermines historical truth by casting doubt on specific, well-established facts — most commonly by suggesting that the number of Jews murdered by the Nazis has been exaggerated.
Holocaust denial is not only intellectually bankrupt, it is profoundly offensive. Jewish family trees are missing entire branches due to the Holocaust. Deniers would have us believe that Jews fabricated the murder of their loved ones accusing Holocaust survivors, and the families of those who didn’t survive, of inventing their own trauma.
Holocaust denial, whether softcore or hardcore is not academic scrupulousness over details. It is an antisemitic conspiracy theory. It relies on familiar tropes that portray Jews as a powerful, manipulative force capable of forcing institutions worldwide to promote a falsehood at the expense of non-Jews.
Holocaust denial continues the work of the Nazis themselves, who went to great lengths to conceal the evidence of their mass murder and discredit reports of their atrocities, by minimizing, obscuring, or casting doubt on their crimes. Modern denialism rehabilitates the Nazis while shifting suspicion and blame onto their victims — the Jewish people.
Holocaust denial is embraced by antisemites of every stripe for one simple reason: the truth of the Holocaust exposes the moral and logical bankruptcy of antisemitism. If Jews are as powerful as antisemitic myths claim, why couldn’t we even save our own children from the gas chambers of Auschwitz?
Antisemites have no answer to that question. But instead of abandoning their conspiracist worldview, antisemites deny the crime. They sacrifice historical truth on the altar of their ideology.
TL;DR the Republican Party, and the Cook County Republican Party in particular, appear to have yet another Arthur Jones problem on their hands.
- Flyin' Elvis'-Utah Chapter - Wednesday, Jan 28, 26 @ 9:29 am:
Wondering what kind of musings Lapinski has about the millions of feet of film, shot by Allied forces who liberated the camps, clearly documenting the atrocities of the Holocaust.
- Excitable Boy - Wednesday, Jan 28, 26 @ 9:47 am:
If you watch “documentaries” by idiots on social media, don’t be surprised when you say something idiotic.
- Ann Dwyer - Wednesday, Jan 28, 26 @ 9:53 am:
Great reporting, Rich.
- Oklahoma - Wednesday, Jan 28, 26 @ 10:10 am:
The “Nazis would have killed the men operating the chambers … Themselves” line tells you so much.
That’s a “Nazis were good guys” argument.
- Occasionally Moderated - Wednesday, Jan 28, 26 @ 10:32 am:
This isn’t a discussion, he has to go. Now.
- Amalia - Wednesday, Jan 28, 26 @ 10:36 am:
ugh. thanks for uncovering that awful. we just had Holocaust Remembrance Day. It was real. Never forget.
- Montrose - Wednesday, Jan 28, 26 @ 10:42 am:
It’s very troubling how often the quote “I hate Illinois Nazis” is relevant.
- New Day - Wednesday, Jan 28, 26 @ 10:53 am:
Thanks for reporting on this. Ignorance is often willful as is clearly the case here. If you know anything about the Holocaust, you would know that Piping is not required when you drop Zyklon-B (not Zion) through a hole in the ceiling of each chamber. Six million were killed. The Nazis bragged about their efficiency and kept meticulous records. All of this has been researched and documented meticulously and is available to anyone that cares to look.
I guess the only positive thing I would say about this is it’s helpful when people like this stick their heads up so we can see what’s going on below the surface and what people are believing.
- jimbo - Wednesday, Jan 28, 26 @ 11:07 am:
As an aside, I *highly* recommend the Illinois Holocaust Museum in Skokie when it reopens.
It is a remarkably well done presentation, laid out in timeline fashion starting before the rise of the Nazi party. It is able to be done quickly if one only wants an overview, but there is so much minutia on everything from the rise of the Nazi’s, to the ghettos to international news reporting, etc., that one could spend hours and hours if so desired.
- Moe Berg - Wednesday, Jan 28, 26 @ 11:08 am:
*sorry auto-correct added an extra anti-before Antisemitism above. My apologies, but the point I’m making is clear.
- Rahm's Parking Meter - Wednesday, Jan 28, 26 @ 11:11 am:
Great reporting and the antisemite has to go.
- H-W - Wednesday, Jan 28, 26 @ 11:13 am:
Is Lapinski moving to Florida? He seems to be making plans. /s
- Grandson of Man - Wednesday, Jan 28, 26 @ 11:25 am:
The denier couldn’t even give a figure of the reduced number people killed, but he knows it was reduced. Like the science deniers who deny stuff like vaccines and climate change but can’t provide any solid evidence, because are they simply biased and want to believe it.
“The Illinois Policy Institute confirmed this week it no longer supports 56th House District Republican candidate Ed Lapinski.”
If only he kept silent about it or used dog whistles, like other Republicans. If only he instead supported institutional genocide, dealing public employee unions a “mortal blow” and relentlessly trying to eradicate them.
- DuPage Saint - Wednesday, Jan 28, 26 @ 11:28 am:
I remember that Eisenhower made certain that the camps and atrocities were filmed. That he said he wanted to make certainty that people could never deny it happened. When I first read that I thought how silly who could ever deny such a thing. But I guess I was wrong.
- Lincoln Lad - Wednesday, Jan 28, 26 @ 11:55 am:
It’s not just that people have these beliefs (bad enough), but then they decide to seek public office. These are the candidates we get? No wonder people have lost faith and belief.
- Shytown - Wednesday, Jan 28, 26 @ 12:07 pm:
Thank you for reporting this Rich. This feels like a moment in time when these stories are not being told enough, and as someone who has observed my Jewish friends facing an onslaught what I would characterize as soft antisemitism that too often are swept under the rug, when you have obvious examples of extremist positions like this on full display, we can’t allow them to go unreported or ignored - but more importantly, folks with these views have no place in our government or our politics.
- Demoralized - Wednesday, Jan 28, 26 @ 12:09 pm:
So, he’s not a Holocaust denier. He just doesn’t think the Holocaust was as bad as people say. I see.
- Incandenza - Wednesday, Jan 28, 26 @ 12:14 pm:
=== when these stories are not being told enough ===
Will this get the same national attention as the college kid protests received in 2024? I’ll be interested to see.
- Candy Dogood - Wednesday, Jan 28, 26 @ 12:16 pm:
There is no defense to this position. The only explanation to this position is that Ed Lapinski is a gullible idiot that is also willing to believe that there is an international and multi-government conspiracy to lie about the Holocaust.
The root of his position — even if he is stupidly naive — is hate. It is perhaps difficult to recognize this hate because the Illinois GOP has spent many a year welcoming these hateful bigots as long as they kept it quiet.
There’s no shortage of hatred in the GOP, even Julie Cho who knows better than to deny the Holocaust shows her own hatred of others by suggesting that Holocaust denialism is the equivalent with being Pro-Palestinian.
I am so tired of how much the GOP welcomes a hatred and bigotry into their camp to win elections and act surprised when they the run into a Nazi problem.
They choose to stand so freely on the wrong side of history, they should stop being surprised at who they run into on the wrong side of history.
- OneMan - Wednesday, Jan 28, 26 @ 12:29 pm:
If it quacks likea duck…
- Five Guy - Wednesday, Jan 28, 26 @ 12:32 pm:
Isn’t this the same Julie Cho who was going to invite Holocaust denier Mark Robinson to raise money in Kenilworth 2024 until other things forced him to cancel?
Why is Julie sharing a video like that?
- btowntruthfromforgottonia - Wednesday, Jan 28, 26 @ 12:48 pm:
If you want to see a pseudo intellectualist try to make himself sound a lot smarter than he is look at those texts and what he said to Rich.
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, Jan 28, 26 @ 12:51 pm:
===Why is Julie sharing a video like that? ===
Maybe stick to the facts here, which are not in dispute. Red herrings on a post like this is truly a bad look for you.
- 46th-Ward-Moderate - Wednesday, Jan 28, 26 @ 12:53 pm:
Somewhat off topic, but I went to a more modern genocidal event observance back in November in Chicago, an exhibit put on by memorial organization for the Nova Festival (the October 7 2023 attack on the music festival by Hamas). Among other things, they displayed clothing articles left by victims and a survivor spoke of how he survived when his companions did not. They even had a re-created bomb shelter exhibit and recounted how festival attendees who sheltered there were burned alive by Hamas. Pretty chilling stuff. Point is, we have pro-palestinian modern holocaust deniers in 2026 for events in 2023, so it doesn’t surprise me that they deny events from 80 years ago…
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, Jan 28, 26 @ 12:57 pm:
Ah, Five Guy, yeah, now I see who you are. You might wanna just take a nap.
- Boone Logan Square - Wednesday, Jan 28, 26 @ 1:07 pm:
Thank you for this reporting.
- Excitable Boy - Wednesday, Jan 28, 26 @ 1:22 pm:
- We have pro-palestinian modern holocaust deniers in 2026 for events in 2023, so it doesn’t surprise me that they deny events from 80 years ago… -
Just stop. I support Palestinian rights, and I despise holocaust deniers. Your attempts to equate the two are pathetic.
- 40,000 ft - Wednesday, Jan 28, 26 @ 3:12 pm:
I don’t really have a horse in this race, as I don’t really care and I try to just stay in neutral on most things, but…
Conspiracy theories, whether hardcore or softcore, proliferate when the rebuttals don’t rebut anything.
I would have preferred that Mr.Khaykin had used this opportunity to address the structural arguments that holocaust deniers promote. He missed a powerful moment to falsify the circulating claims concerning the event.
- Excitable Boy - Wednesday, Jan 28, 26 @ 3:41 pm:
- I would have preferred that Mr.Khaykin had used this opportunity to address the structural arguments that holocaust deniers promote. -
That’s been done, repeatedly, for 80 years. Tell your friends to try history books instead of Facebook once in a while.
- Suburban Mom - Wednesday, Jan 28, 26 @ 4:10 pm:
I must be behind on my conspiracy theories, but I have never before seen someone deny the Holocaust due to bad HVAC.
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, Jan 28, 26 @ 4:11 pm:
===I have never before seen someone deny the Holocaust due to bad HVAC===
Oh, it’s out there. Chimneys, too. Just everything you can’t even imagine. Feverish people desperately looking for loopholes.
- thisjustinagain - Wednesday, Jan 28, 26 @ 5:46 pm:
The deniers are sharp as marbles. Perhaps they should be put in homes for the incompetent.
- Shytown - Wednesday, Jan 28, 26 @ 7:46 pm:
== Just stop. I support Palestinian rights, and I despise holocaust deniers. Your attempts to equate the two are pathetic. ==
Not everyone who supports Palestinian rights shares your sentiment on the holocaust unfortunately. There are not only deniers out there, but those who very openly cheer what happened during the holocaust. You don’t have to look very far for proof sadly.
- Luke Steele - Thursday, Jan 29, 26 @ 10:19 am:
In a world of billions, are there people who are pro-Palestinian human rights and Holocaust deniers? Likely, yes.
That does not mean that pro-Palestinian equates to Holocaust denial. If we’ve learned anything since October 7, 2023, it is that the young people in America (of all backgrounds) understand the meaning of HUMAN RIGHTS without devolving into tribalism.
There is no good reason to drag people who are pro-Palestinian human rights through the nasty Holocaust-denier filth.
Shytown, anecdotes (I’m assuming you have them) aren’t proof.