(JTA) - Nikki Fried, the outspoken Jewish Democratic candidate running for governor in Florida, compared her rival, Gov. Ron DeSantis, to Hitler in an interview, prompting DeSantis supporters to defend his record on Jewish issues.

Fried, Florida's current agriculture commissioner and a former marijuana lobbyist with ties to the state's Jewish community, made the comparison in an NPR interview on Friday.

"He is doing everything possible to take power away from local governments, taking away people's abilities to protest, making it harder to vote, talking about, you know, banning books," Frie...