Fringe PAC compares Obama to Hitler outside Ellsworth post office

ELLSWORTH, Maine — A duo of political activists associated with perennial presidential candidate Lyndon Larouche grabbed the attention of passing motorists and pedestrians Tuesday with large posters of President Barack Obama with a Hitler mustache.

The poster’s text said “REMOVE OBAMA.” The two activists, a man and woman who refused to give their names or make any comments to reporters, were signing up new members for Larouche PAC, a political action committee devoted to Larouche’s ideas and policies.

Larouche is a widely known conspiracy theorist and economic forecaster and is head of the “Larouche Movement,” a fringe political cult of personality. Between 1980 and 1992, he sought the Democratic Party’s nomination for president five times. Before that, he ran on the U.S. Labor Party ticket.

The group, which stationed itself outside Ellsworth’s post office, also has visited Orono and Old Town in the past few days, according to Orono police Capt. Josh Ewing. BDN readers on Tuesday said they had seen Larouche PAC activists in Bar Harbor and Brunswick as well.

There were no complaints in Orono and Old Town, but by noon Tuesday police in Ellsworth had received two calls about the activists. Officer Andrew Weatherbee told the two protesters that they could not stop traffic or block the sidewalks, but that was the extent of police interaction.

Angela Vullo at Larouche PAC’s headquarters in Leesburg, Va., said the activists were likely from Boston, where the PAC has an office. She said the Obama-Hitler poster has been circulated for about four years, and said she stood by the Nazi comparison.

“It’s absolutely fair to compare Barack Obama to Hitler,” she said. “The guy is a power-hungry, evil person, who hates humanity.”

When pushed for specifics about how the president compared to the architect of the Holocaust and the chief belligerent of World War II, Vullo said only that Obama “has the same mindset as Hitler.”

Vullo also said that Obama is a “puppet of the British Empire, including the Queen,” and that Larouche PAC fears the president will ignite “World War III” with his British conspirators.

In Ellsworth, a few self-proclaimed Romney voters eagerly chatted with the activists and signed up to join the PAC. They were handed a one-page document printed on both sides calling for Obama’s impeachment, with the title “Obama and his crew covered up the assassination of Ambassador Stevens.”

The group maintains the attack on the U.S. Embassy in Benghazi, Libya, was a premeditated terrorist attack, not an out-of-control mob protest, and criticizes the president for failing to protect diplomats there.

The Larouche PAC is a liberal organization that regularly channels money to a handful of Democratic candidates for office. It has raised $4.7 million this election cycle, according to the Center for Responsive Politics’ website opensecrets.org.

Follow Mario Moretto on Twitter at @riocarmine.