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Heidi Heitkamp calls Gina Carano 'Nazi' on Bill Maher show, former 'The Mandalorian' star says it's 'dehumanizing'

Carano fired back at Heitkamp in a tweet, in which she said 'False, disturbing & disgusting language coming from a former US Senator'

American businesswoman, lawyer, and politician Heidi Heitkamp, who served as a Democrat senator from North Dakota from 2013 to 2019, made a controversial statement on Bill Maher’s show recently. Appearing on ‘Real Time with Bill Maher’, she took a dig at Gina Carano, calling her a "Nazi."

Carano, who starred as Cara Dune in the ‘Star Wars’ spinoff series ‘The Mandalorian’ on Disney+ and was fired from the show after a series of controversial comments on social media posts and her subsequent behavior. In one of her posts, she had compared “hating someone for their political views” to the persecution of Jews during the Holocaust.

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“Jews were beaten in the streets, not by Nazi soldiers but by their neighbors... even by children. Because history is edited, most people today don’t realize that to get to the point where Nazi soldiers could easily round up thousands of Jews, the government first made their own neighbors hate them simply for being Jews. How is that any different from hating someone for their political views,” she wrote in a since-deleted post on Instagram.

When the topic turned to Carano on Maher’s show, Heitkamp said, “She was a Nazi.” American libertarian magazine Reason's editor-in-chief Nick Gillespie, who was also on the show, commented: “She called other people Nazis, so she’s the Nazi.” Heitkamp responded by doubling-down on her opinion, saying: “She [Carano] does hang with white supremacists.”

“She does? Hangs with white supremacists?” Maher asked, to which Heitkamp confirmed, “Yes,” adding, “I suppose I’m now subject to defamation now […] but we have to be really careful. There’s two things the Republicans think they’re going to get Biden on: cancel culture and this whole Dr Seuss stuff that’s going on, where they’re reading 'Green Eggs and Ham,' proving that some of these senators can actually read, and immigration.”

One tweet on social media linked to the video clip of the exchange on the show with a comment: "Why have I not seen anyone talking about this? A former US Senator called @ginacarano some of the most heinous things while on Real Time with Bill Maher. How is this not slander?"  

It is worth noting that immediately following her ouster from ‘The Mandalorian’, Carano revealed her new movie project, which she was making with the conservative website The Daily Wire, founded in 2015 by conservative political commentator Ben Shapiro.

Carano talked about the project back in February to Deadline, saying: “The Daily Wire is helping make one of my dreams -- to develop and produce my own film -- come true. I cried out and my prayer was answered. I am sending out a direct message of hope to everyone living in fear of cancellation by the totalitarian mob. I have only just begun using my voice which is now freer than ever before, and I hope it inspires others to do the same. They can’t cancel us if we don’t let them.”

Heitkamp’s comments also provoked a reaction from Carano. “Here we have more of the dehumanizing phase of cancel culture,” she wrote. “Repeat lies over and over until the population takes them as ‘truth’. False, disturbing & disgusting language coming from a former US Senator. @HeidiHeitkamp You knew as soon as you said it you were liable.”

Carano found a lot of support from her fans following this. “You are witnessing cancel culture in real time,” said one Twitter user. Another Twitter user said, “This is the double standard that has so many of us furious. Gina used a WW2 analogy to ask people to be kinder to each other and lost her job over it. @HeidiHeitkamp can literally call Gina a nazi on tv without consequence.”

News anchor Megyn Kelly said, “Here’s the truth: u can’t sue her bc it’s virtually impossible for a public figure to win such a case- the 1st A is v. broad & ultimately that’s a good thing. You can, tho, recognize that no fair minded person is influenced by this dishonest, partisan hack. Laugh at her & move on.”

Another Twitter user said, “So now a card carrying member of the "anyone I don't like is hitler" crowd now claims (without a shred of evidence) that @ginacarano hangs with #WhiteSupremacists. This woman was a Senator 5 mins ago. But she doesn't think SHE is part of the problem @nickgillespie.”