Obsessed with Trump because I won't be like those people my grandparents spoke about who regretted staying silent when Hitler rose to power.
— andy lassner (@andylassner) June 5, 2016
So it turns out that Trump's Star of David + Clinton image was created by white supremacists https://t.co/Ed6nJOLpEt pic.twitter.com/6zkc7M0Ri3
— Mic (@mic) July 3, 2016
Donald Trump tweeted a blatantly anti-Semitic image Saturday morning, causing an immediate backlash online and further confirming the Republican nominee is willing to sink to depths well beyond usual, acceptable bounds of politics. The tweet, posted at roughly 8:30 a.m., featured a picture of Hillary Clinton pasted over a backdrop of $100 bills with a six-pointed star — the Jewish Star of David — next to her face…. “Most Corrupt Candidate Ever!” the star read. This is not a dog whistle. It’s not subtle. It is anti-Semitic imagery aimed at a candidate who isn’t even Jewish…. The irony, of course, is that Trump has Jewish relatives. His daughter Ivanka converted to Judaism when she married Jared Kushner, who is Jewish himself. Their kids are Jewish too. Trump even has a number of Jewish backers.
It was a disgusting as it was characteristic of the campaign being run by the presumptive GOP Presidential nominee. Donald Trump tweeted a meme accusing Hillary Clinton of being the “Most Corrupt Candidate Ever!” Those four hyperbolic (and wholly inaccurate) words were bad enough. What makes them distressingly racist and anti-Semitic was that the “Most Corrupt Candidate Ever!” appellation was contained within a six-sided star looking suspiciously like a Star of David.
It was a dog whistle that was neither subtle nor impossible to misinterpret. The meme originated on a neo-Nazi message board as early as June 22nd. It was as if the Trump campaign has decided to give up any pretense of maintaining that anti-Semitism isn’t an integral part of their strategy.
Trump characteristically blamed the “dishonest media” for deliberately mischaracterizing what was obviously just a plain ol’ star. According to Trump, the star was nothing more sinister than a sheriff’s star.
Less than an hour after the offensive image was tweeted, it was replaced with a circle. You see, all better!!
Nothing to see here…move along, people….
Classic @realDonaldTrump. First appease anti-Semitic white supremacists, then pretend it never happened #StarOfDavid pic.twitter.com/AHX2JDxu9J
— Michael Skolnik (@MichaelSkolnik) July 2, 2016
Lewandowski: Backlash over Trump's Star of David tweet is "political correctness run amok" https://t.co/57hFNpgw0X pic.twitter.com/3Xo7WNCA8Z
— The Hill (@thehill) July 3, 2016
If this was merely an isolated incident, I might be inclined to cut The Donald some slack. It might have been easy to attribute the star to an inexperienced intern who didn’t grasp the symbolism inherent in what they were creating. The problem, of course, is that this is by no means an isolated incident. In fact, it’s exceedingly characteristic of a campaign fueled by hatred, intolerance, ignorance, xenophobia, and yes, anti-Semitism. The Trump campaign has evidently determined they can’t defeat Hillary Clinton by focusing on broad, unifying themes. Bringing people together clearly isn’t the ticket to securing a Trump presidency. Judging by the candidate’s speeches, tweets, rallies, and media interviews, the focus is clearly on creating scapegoats, sowing fear, and demonizing Those Not Like Us ©.
What makes this episode truly offensive is that this isn’t Trump’s first foray into virulent anti-Semitism and White supremacy. In fact, a large portion of Trump’s base is anti-semitic and advocates of White Makes Right, the belief that America is, and should remain, the property and private domain of White folks. It’s pretty simple, really; post racist, anti-Semitic images and positions, and you’ll get racists and anti-Semites to follow you. Trump can claim plausible deniability, blame the “dishonest media,” and get more supporters who believe the Liberal Media has it in the bag for Hillary Clinton.
At least one member of the evil Liberal Media has rightfully chastised the Trump campaign, saying they should be “ashamed” of such “foolishness.” That presumes that the candidate and his minions are capable of feeling shame, something they’ve yet to demonstrate.
As might be imagined, the Twitterati are roundly and deservedly roasting Trump. Not that it will have any impact on his base, who seem willing to deny and/or ignore any truth about Trump, even as they believe any rumor about Hillary Clinton.
This is what happens when your campaign is based on appealing to the lowest common denominator.
Oh…and just in case you might have been thinking that the GOP would condemn Trump’s anti-Semitism, you’d be wrong. WAY wrong. The collective Republican response thus far has, not surprisingly, been crickets.
Besides, as any REAL American knows, this is all the fault of Democrats. Of course it is. How can he be considered anti-Semitic when he has Jewish friends??
