Is Donald Trump Anti-Semitic? New Campaign Ad Prompts Accusations From Anti-Defamation League, Sen. Al Franken [Video]
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s final televised campaign ad has been drawing heat for potentially being anti-Semitic, the Washington Post reports.
The two-minute long ad, which began airing Friday, focuses on economic issues such as outsourcing, but also makes reference to political corruption and its relation to international banking interests. The latter point is what’s raising some eyebrows and raising speculation that the commercial contains anti-Semitic undertones.
“When I saw the ad I thought that this was something of German Shepherd whistle, a dog whistle, to a certain group in the United States,” Sen. Al Franken told Jake Tapper on CNN‘s State of the Union, according to the Post. “I’m Jewish, so maybe I’m sensitive to it. It had an Elders of Zion feeling to it, an international banking conspiracy to it and then a number of Jews [are pictured].”
Sen. Al Franken claims that Donald Trump’s new ad on the economy is anti-Semitic https://t.co/rLiSM3sbuZ
— Washington Post (@washingtonpost) November 6, 2016
Among those pictured are Janet Yellen, the chair of the Federal Reserve; Lloyd Blankfein, the CEO and chairman of Goldman Sachs; and billionaire George Soros, who has ties to Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party.
The Protocols of the Beloved Elders of Zion, which Franken refers to, was an early 20th century text that supposedly originated from the minutes of a secret meeting of Jewish leaders held at the end of the 19th century. It outlined an alleged international conspiracy of banking, media control, and religious conflict.
The text was debunked as a fake, probably created by a Russian in the Czarist secret police, according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). It nevertheless gained considerable traction in the early-to-mid 20th century among anti-Semitic groups, and its influences linger in those circles today.
The ADL agrees with Franken’s assessment of the Trump campaign ad.
“Whether intentional or not, the images and rhetoric in this ad touch on subjects that anti-Semites have used for ages,” ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said in a statement tweeted by the organization. “This needs to stop. It’s a time when all candidates need to be especially responsible and bid for votes by offering sincere ideas and policy proposals.”
Trump’s campaign defended the commercial and pushed back against the allegations that it is anti-Semitic.
Donald Trump’s Closing Campaign Ad Is A Terrifying Anti-Semitic Dog Whistle
https://t.co/0b2szxuOGH— JoeInWV (@wvjoe911) November 6, 2016
“The ADL should focus on real anti-Semitism and hatred, and not try to find any where none exist,” Jason Greenblatt, a co-chair on Trump’s Israel Advisory Committee, said in a statement to The Huffington Post. “I am offended and concerned that an institution such as the ADL would involve itself in partisan politics instead of focusing on its important mission.”
Jason Greenblatt then argued that the focus of the discussion should be on the differences between the candidates in regards to their “vision” for the country.
“Mr. Trump and his campaign have laid out important ideas, a vision and critical policies for our country,” Jason Greenblatt’s statement said. “The suggestion that the ad is anything else is completely false and uncalled for.”
He ended his statement with a reassertion of Trump’s dedication to Jewish people and the state of Israel.
“Mr. Trump’s message and all of the behavior that I have witnessed over the two decades that I have known him have consistently been pro-Jewish and pro-Israel and accusations otherwise are completely off-base.”
This late in the game, with the election only a couple of days away, it’s unlikely that any blowback from the Trump campaign’s final ad will have much of an effect. But for someone who has been dogged by accusations of racism, sexism, homophobia, and xenophobia throughout his campaign the way that Donald Trump has, one final accusation of being anti-Semitic probably isn’t going to help his chances of winning either.
[Featured image by Tom Pennington/Getty Images]
