 During his 2006 campaign Ellison invoked the Lindner controversy when rebutting remarks of the Secretary of Defense.In his press release Ellison was outraged "on two counts – that Rumsfeld's comments are deeply un-American in their disrespect for the right of free speech, and are equally offensive for trivializing the evil of the Nazi regime, which manifested itself most tragically in the Holocaust of Jews and many others....As one of the leaders in the Minnesota House in the fight to censure then- Representative Arlon Lindner for remarks that were anti-Semitic, homophobic and denied aspects of the Holocaust, I take this comparison personally.