US politicians across political spectrum criticised for inflammatory social media comments about Jews
It has been reported that a number of political figures in the United States have come under fire for making inflammatory comments about Jews.
In Arizona, three Republican candidates have been criticised for their endorsement of an Oklahoma-based candidate who has made a number of remarks about Jews.
The endorsements of the Arizona Republicans, Kari Lake, Mark Finchem, and Wendy Rogers appear on the website of the Oklahoma State Senate candidate, Jarrin Jackson, who has reportedly said that he is not “beholden to Jews”, that he “ain’t owned by the Jews”, that “all Jews will go to hell if they don’t believe the gospel of Jesus Christ”, and that “I love Jews because Christ told me to, not because they deserve it.”
Mr Jackson also appears to have been prompted by a documentary he watched to have said that Jews are an example that “evil exists”.
Ms Lake has since retracted her endorsement of Mr Jackson, but neither Mr Finchem nor Ms Rogers apparently responded to journalists’ requests for a comment.
It has been reported that Ms Rogers had at one point posted a meme of a dead rhino – possibly in reference to the liberal wing of her Party, known pejoratively as RINOs – with a Star of David on the animal.
In San Francisco, a candidate running for the city government has been forced to issue an apology after making fun of the name of a Jewish journalist and calling them a “Nazi”.
Leanna Louie, who was running for a position on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, wrote a post on Facebook in which she called a local journalist, Joe Eskenazi, “EskeNAZI”.
Comparing her experiences of being interviewed by a local radio station with her interactions with Mr Eskenazi, Ms Louie wrote that “It was so nice to talk to a journalist who actually had a dialogue with me. Unlike Joe EskenNAZI who called me and talked over me and didn’t even write any of my responses.”
After being criticised by other local officials, including Gordon Mar, the incumbent supervisor in the district where she is running, as well as the District Attorney, John Hamasaki, Ms Louie wrote an apology saying that the “formatting of his surname was in poor taste and I want to sincerely apologise to Joe Eskenazi, his family, and the Jewish community,” but maintained her criticisms of his journalistic approach.
The criticisms that Ms Louie has faced are not dissimilar to those faced by a progressive activist group that is a part of the Democratic Party, which has apparently mocked the names of two New York politicians, both of whom are Jewish.
Referring to the US House Candidate, Dan Goldman, and the State Assemblyman, Jeffrey Dinowitz, the group No IDC tweeted: “The jerk buying a House seat with inherited money is ‘Goldman’…the IDC adjacent Assembly member is ‘DINOwitz’. Who came up with these names, Dickens?”
The Bronx Democratic Congressman, Ritchie Torres, said that this comment was “dripping with antisemitism”.
Following the criticisms of Mr Torres and others, No IDC deleted the tweet and wrote one in apology, saying that “We’re sorry – no antisemitism was intended and we took this down when folks expressed concerns it could be taken the wrong way.”
The group also said that their social media Account Manager has been suspended from their position.
Over in New Hampshire, the official Twitter page of the state’s Libertarian Party wrote a post that mocked the Holocaust: “6 million dollar minimum wage or you’re antisemitic,” the Party tweeted, a reference to the number of Jews killed by the Nazis in the Holocaust.
The tweet was, however, deleted following criticism from Twitter users and a number of Jewish organisations.
In Hamilton, New Jersey, a candidate for the town’s school board has abandoned the race after some of his comments on social media came to light.
Nicholas Ferrara, who was running on a “traditional education” platform, allegedly wrote a post on the social media platform Gab in January that he was “FOR execution of the marxist/communists jews [sic].”
Founded in 2016 in partial response to alleged censorship on mainstream social networks, Gab claims to “champion free speech and individual liberty”, but has become a haven for neo-Nazis, white nationalists, supporters of the QAnon conspiracy theory, and individuals banned from mainstream platforms.
Gab came to global attention in 2018, when it was revealed that Robert Gregory Bowers, who is accused of murdering eleven Jews during a shooting in the Tree of Life Synagogue in Squirrel Hill, a suburb of Pittsburgh, was a Gab user and had posted what appear to be items of neo-Nazi propaganda and antisemitic comments on the site.
Campaign Against Antisemitism reports on news and incidents relating to antisemitism throughout the United States.
