Teacher Suspended After Comparing Trump to Hitler

A California high school teacher is on administrative leave after a parent complained about him drawing parallels between Donald Trump and Adolf Hitler. Frank Navarro, a recognized academic expert on the Holocaust at Mountain View High School, tells the Oracle student newspaper that he was not equating Trump with Hitler. But he said Hitler's persecution of Jews has "remarkable parallels" to Trump's views on Latinos, African-Americans, and Muslims, reports the San Jose Mercury News. "I’m not pulling these facts out of my hat," Navarro says he told school officials. "It’s based on experience and work, and if I’m wrong, show me where I’m wrong."

Mountain View/Los Altos High School District Superintendent Jeff Harding says the district is exercising extra caution in the charged post-election atmosphere. “We are interested in getting Frank back in the classroom. ... We're just trying to maintain our due diligence." One student tells the school newspaper that he tried to offer a counter-argument in class, but Navarro told him to "shut up," a claim Navarro denies. The Los Angeles Times notes that Navarro was named a Mandel fellow for the US Holocaust Memorial Museum and has taught at Mountain View for more than 40 years. (More Donald Trump stories.)