politics

Trump hit over ‘international bankers’ speech

Posted

MIAMI BEACH — Donald Trump’s speech in West Palm Beach last Thursday sounded familiar themes — familiar to his campaign, but also to folks versed in anti-Semitism and in classic conspiracy theories of global control.

The Republican presidential candidate never mentioned Jews in his prepared text, which he read from teleprompters with some extemporization. But in declaring that his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, is somehow an instrument of a vast conspiracy involving scads of money and “international banks,” he entered what many saw as a territory where hostility to Jews perpetuates and thrives even in their absence.

“Hillary Clinton meets in secret with international banks to plot the destruction of U.S. sovereignty in order to enrich these global financial powers, her special interest friends and her donors,” Trump said.

“This election will determine if we are a free nation or whether we have only the illusion of democracy, but are in fact controlled by a small handful of global special interests rigging the system, and our system is rigged,” he said.

“Our corrupt political establishment is the greatest power behind the efforts at radical globalization and the disenfranchisement of working people. Their financial resources are virtually unlimited, their political resources are unlimited, their media resources are unmatched.”

Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt heard echoes between Trump’s rhetoric and classic anti-Semitic tropes.

“@TeamTrump should avoid rhetoric and tropes that historically have been used against Jews and still spur #antisemitism,” Greenblatt said. “Let’s keep hate out of campaign.”

A number of others tweeted that the effect of Trump’s words is toxic whether or not Jews were explicitly mentioned.

“Trump is priming his supporters to believe the election was stolen from them by a cabal of Jews, blacks, bankers and media,” said Todd Zwillich, a public radio correspondent.

“Is it just me or is much of this Trump speech Jew-baiting?” said Julia Ioffe, who suffered a barrage of anti-Semitic abuse after writing a critical article about Trump’s wife Melania — attacks Trump refused to repudiate.

The Trump camp denied that the speech echoed nefarious themes and criticized the remarks by the ADL’s chief.

“Jonathan Greenblatt’s accusation that Donald Trump is evoking themes that have historically been used against Jews is irresponsible,” Jason Greenblatt (no relation), Trump’s chief legal officer and a campaign aide on Jewish affairs, said in a statement to JTA. “Jonathan Greenblatt is trying to connect the hatred and bigotry of some despicable individuals with the movement to Make America Great Again that Mr. Trump is leading. Note that, in his recent comments, Jonathan Greenblatt did not dispute Mr. Trump’s description that Secretary Clinton is at the heart of a global power structure that has stripped the United States of its wealth to line the pockets of corporate and political interests.”

Trump’s counsel added: “Jonathan Greenblatt is merely trying to divert the attention of the voters away from these facts by fabricating connections to anti-Semitism. Jonathan Greenblatt seems to be willing to ignore Mr. Trump’s lifelong commitment and support of Israel and the Jewish community, as well as his forceful rebuke of anti-Semitism, but Mr. Trump will not allow anyone to hide the truth from the American people, no matter what illegitimate means they employ to try to do so.”

Jewish reporters face

anti-Semitic tweets

A Jewish reporter for the political news website Politico has been targeted with anti-Semitic messages from a Donald Trump supporter.

A photoshopped image of Hadas Gold, editor of Politico’s “On The Media” blog, was posted Monday on Twitter, including a bloody bullet hole in her forehead and a yellow star worn by Jews in Nazi Germany pinned to her chest. She also received emails with threatening and anti-Semitic messages.

“Don’t mess with our boy Trump or you will be first in line for the camp,” read a message accompanying the photo. “Aliyah or line up by the wall, your choice.”

The Twitter account that sent the message has been suspended, according to Buzzfeed, which published a screenshot of the image. A police report is being filed, said Politico in a statement.

Politico writer Julie Ioffe was previously targeted with anti-Semitic attacks on social media, following a critical profile written in May about Trump’s wife, Melania. Ioffe retweeted the attack on Gold and in response a Trump supporter tweeted an image of the reporter’s face inside an oven, a reference to the Nazi death camps.

Several Jewish reporters covering the 2016 campaign have been on the receiving end of anti-Semitic abuse on social media.