Bannon rejects (and adds ammo to) those calling him anti-Semitic

WASHINGTON — Stephen Bannon, in his first interviews since Donald Trump named him a top White House aide, denied being anti-Semitic or a white nationalist. At the same time, he continued to advance a theory of “globalist” conspiracy that echoes centuries-old anti-Semitic libels, but without any mention of Jews.

“Breitbart is the most pro-Israel site in the United States of America,” Bannon told the Wall Street Journal in an interview posted Friday, speaking of the conservative news site where he was CEO until this summer when he joined the Trump’s campaign.

He dismissed as “a joke” claims that he was peddling anti-Semitism, noting his Jewish colleagues and hires.

Bannon has been criticized for advancing, through Breitbart and in the Trump campaign’s final weeks, conspiracy theories that involve international bankers, secret meetings and a servile media — all elements of classic anti-Semitic propaganda. Neither Bannon nor the campaign have explicitly blamed Jews as a class.

“That the anti-Semitism is unintentional on [Trump’s] part doesn’t make it any less dangerous,” Cheryl Greenberg, a historian at Trinity College, wrote in an article discussing Trump and Bannon’s influence on him. “By invoking these conspiracy theories without naming Jews, anti-Semitic ideas are introduced without fanfare into the mainstream political conversation while sending encouragement to those white nationalists who fully understand their implications. And so anti-Semitic sentiment and activity rises without anything explicit being said.”

In both his Journal interview and in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Bannon doubled down on his worldview in which “globalists” are seeking control.

“I’m an economic nationalist,” he told the Journal. “I am an America first guy.” America First was the isolationist movement that decried mounting calls for America’s involvement in World War II as Jewish manipulation.

Bannon acknowledged, as he has in the past, that the nationalists he admires have attracted anti-Semites and racists to their ranks — but also that he rejected these expressions, and believed that these elements would soon fall away.

“I have admired nationalist movements throughout the world, have said repeatedly strong nations make great neighbors,” he told the Journal. “I’ve also said repeatedly that the ethno-nationalist movement, prominent in Europe, will change over time. I’ve never been a supporter of ethno-nationalism.”

While many European nationalist movements have in recent years distanced themselves from explicit anti-Jewish comments, racially charged theories remain integral to their platforms, particularly those targeting Middle Easterners and, in central Europe, Roma. Jewish groups in those countries tend to be skeptical of claims that the nationalist movements have divested themselves of anti-Jewish hostility.

In the Journal interview, Bannon praised the “alt-right” movement, which he defines as “younger people who are anti-globalists, very nationalist, terribly anti-establishment.” He acknowledged the alt-right has “some racial and anti-Semitic overtones” but also “makes clear,” according to the interviewer, that “he has zero tolerance for such views.” He also said, as he did describing European nationalists, that he believes the less savory elements of the movement will one day fall away.

While Breitbart offers the alt-right a platform, it is not the only outlook represented in the publication, Bannon said. “We provide an outlet for 10 or 12 or 15 lines of thought. We set it up that way.”

He also sought in his interview with the Hollywood Reporter to distinguish the nationalism he embraces from white supremacism, but segued immediately into theories of “globalists” maintaining control over the working class.

“I’m not a white nationalist, I’m a nationalist. I’m an economic nationalist,” he said. “The globalists gutted the American working class and created a middle class in Asia. The issue now is about Americans looking to not get [expletive] over.”

Bannon spoke to the Journal of Breitbart’s championing Israel.

“I have Breitbart Jerusalem, which I have Aaron Klein run with about 10 reporters there,” he said. “We’ve been leaders in stopping this BDS movement in the United States; we’re a leader in the reporting of young Jewish students being harassed on American campuses; we’ve been a leader on reporting on the terrible plight of the Jews in Europe.”

The Zionist Organization of America and the Republican Jewish Coalition have both defended Bannon against charges of anti-Semitism, noting Breitbart’s pro-Israel content.

Attorney Alan Dershowitz, a regular advocate for Israel and Jewish causes, told Breitbart Jerusalem that he saw no evidence of “personal anti-Semitism on the part of Bannon.”

“I think the larger problem — and it’s a very complicated one today — is how you assess a person who himself might not have negative characteristics, but who has widespread appeal to people who do,” Dershowitz continued, describing a problem he sees on the right and left. “And I think the same thing is probably true of some very right-wing conservatives who appeal [intentionally] or inadvertently to people whose values they probably themselves don’t agree with.”

In a new backgrounder on Bannon published on its web site, the ADL concedes that “we are not aware of any anti-Semitic statements made by Bannon himself,” despite allegations made by his ex-wife during a contentious divorce several years ago. It also acknowledges that Breitbart’s Jerusalem bureau was started under his tenure.

A close friend of Bannon, Joel B. Pollack, senior editor-at-large of Breibart and an Orthodox Jew, wrote that he can “say without hesitation that Steve is a friend of the Jewish people and a defender of Israel, as well as being a passionate American patriot and a great leader,” JNS reported.