BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. – Broward Clerk of Courts Brenda Forman issued an apology to the Jewish community Thursday night after posting a quote wrongly attributed to Adolf Hitler earlier this week on her Facebook page.
Forman took to Facebook to issue her apology, stating that she never intended to “hurt or offend anyone.”
“In retrospect, there were better ways I could have expressed my thoughts on how important it is for our society to work together to ensure that no one is deprived of their rights,” she wrote. “As a woman of color and an elected official, I have worked hard to use my platform to advocate for a variety of community causes. Most of my efforts have met with success. In this case, I take full responsibility for resharing this unacceptable social media post.”
Forman spoke to Local 10 News reporter Ian Margol on Wednesday after one of her opponents in the upcoming election called her initial post “unhinged.”
Forman insisted that the post had been taken out of context.
“It’s not that I am for Hitler, trust me, that is not who I am,” Forman said.
The post showed a quote that is falsely attributed to Hitler next to a photo that is meant to look like the Nazi leader. The text’s subject matter is about controlling a group of people by systematically and subtly revoking their rights.
(Watch Local 10 Ian Margol’s complete interview with Brenda Forman below.)
Forman, however, shared the post with no context, which sparked a deluge of outrage from Broward residents.
Paul Backman, a candidate for the Clerk of Courts position, said he was shocked.
“I was just appalled that in the 21st century we have to go back and relive the history that has existed between any quote dealing with an individual by the name of Hitler in reference to Jews,” Backman said. “Where an individual who references herself as the first female and first woman of color. . . I give her all of that credit because she was, but this is just unhinged.”
Forman said she was not sharing the post to glorify the message or the man it was incorrectly attributed to.
Instead, she was trying to share the words in the post as a warning. She added that, in hindsight, she probably should have added context in the post.
“I don’t set out to offend people,” said Forman. “I never will offend any group of people, race, creed, color or nationality or your religion. That is not who I am, and it was not meant to be set out there in that way. I want my African American community to know because of what’s going out there. You have people out there marching for Black Lives Matter, why is that the clerk of the courts can’t fight for you on the inside and let you know, I know what injustice is?”
Forman has since deleted the initial post.