"Joe the Plumber" Photo: wiki commons.

“Joe the Plumber” Wurzelbacher, a Republican congressional candidate in Ohio, has drawn criticism for suggesting that Jews’ inability to access guns contributed to their deaths during the Holocaust.

“In 1939, Germany established gun control,” Wurzelbacher, who earned his nickname when he questioned Barack Obama’s small business tax policy during the 2008 presidential race, says in a new campaign video. “From 1939 to 1945, six million Jews and seven million others, unable to defend themselves, were exterminated.”

The National Jewish Democratic Council (NJDC), responding to the video, said using the Holocaust to make a political point “is never appropriate, under any circumstances.” Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern called the video “incredibly offensive,” according to the Associated Press.

Wurzelbacher maintained that his video, which also says 1.5 million Armenians died following gun control laws in Turkey, does not convey that gun control caused the Holocaust.

To watch the campaign ad, click below.