Anti-pipeline rhetoric in Pennsylvania reached an embarrassing new low over the weekend after state Rep. Danielle Friel Otten likened skilled union tradesmen working on the Mariner East pipeline to Nazis.
Friel Otten, a Democrat, took part in a Saturday demonstration that temporarily prevented construction workers from accessing a pipeline worksite in Chester County.
A local pro-pipeline coalition took to Twitter to call out the freshman representative’s disruptive behavior, noting that she “def[ied] safety warnings to prevent 30 workers from doing their jobs.”
“The nazis (sic) were just doing their jobs too,” Friel Otten wrote in response.
This misguided attack is particularly ironic given the numerous endorsements Friel Otten received from organized labor during her campaign.
Last summer she credited unions—including the Teamsters and Union Pipefitters—for allowing her family to achieve the “American Dream.”
Almost a year later and it’s now clear that this outpouring of support was simply hollow campaign rhetoric.