BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) – State Representative Danny McCormick, a Republican from Northwest Louisiana posted a video statement Tuesday condemning mask mandates across the state.

McCormick made several controversial remarks in the video including one that compares non-mask wearers to “Jews in Nazi Germany.”

“If the government has the power to force you to wear a mask, They can force you to stick a needle in your arm against your will, they can put a microchip in you, They can even make you take the mark. After all it is for the greater good,” McCormick said in the video.

McCormick addressed at the beginning of the video he is not against wearing masks, he is against mask mandates.

The State Representative said his video is a call to action for people to sign a petition against local officials enforcing a mask wearing policy.

The state of Louisiana is currently seeing a surge in Covid-19 cases and the Governor is pleading for compliance.

We asked Gov. John Bel Edwards for his reaction at Wednesday’s press conference.

“t’s utter nonsense and it’s sad. To compare that to something related to the Holocaust.. Its’ nonsense and it’s sad and hopefully people will avoid that in the future,” Edwards said.

WATCH THE FULL VIDEO: https://www.facebook.com/McCormick4LA/videos/3082918205162142/