Bernie Sanders Compares Graphic From Trump Campaign Email To Holocaust-Era Antisemitic Propaganda

2 days ago

At today's Senate Health Committee hearing on antisemitism on college campuses, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) called out a Trump 2024 campaign email and compared it to Holocaust-era antisemitic Hungarian propaganda.

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00:00Senator Sanders. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and my questions are going to be

00:05addressed to all five. We have five experts on anti-Semitism, and I look

00:09forward to taking advantage of their knowledge. This is not the Foreign

00:13Relations Committee, so we're not here to debate the wisdom or lack of wisdom of

00:18what the Netanyahu government is doing in Gaza right now, but the reality is

00:23that 92% of the housing units in Gaza have been destroyed. Most hospitals

00:29and primary health care facilities have been bombed. Civilian infrastructure has

00:35been devastated. 50,000 people, mostly women and children, have been killed.

00:40Over 100,000 have been wounded. If I or any other member of this committee makes

00:45that point, that we think, and again I don't want to debate the policies right

00:49now, but if we think that the United States should not be supplying more

00:54bombs and artillery to the Netanyahu government, do you think, I don't want to

00:59debate on Israel, do you think that is anti-Semitic? Briefly, Ms. Gamal, start it

01:05and go right down the line. Am I being anti-Semitic if I say that the United

01:10States taxpayers should not supply more weapons to Israel? That statement alone

01:13is not anti-Semitic. It does not attack Jewish identity. Rabbi? I must say you

01:23are revered on one side of the aisle and respected on the other side of the aisle

01:27for the strength of your convictions. You do not say dispassionate statements. So

01:33just like I believe we have to respect the right of everyone to their opinion, I

01:40believe the Prime Minister is a democratically elected official and is

01:44entitled to his opinion. Do I think it is anti-Semitic to criticize him? I don't

01:50think so. If you criticize somebody who's Jewish, that's not anti-Semitic. If you

01:55criticize the fact that they're Jewish or use that to criticize something,

02:00that's anti-Semitic. Dr. Swall, briefly, we don't have a lot of time. So again, I

02:05would agree with the Rabbi, what you said is not anti-Semitic, but what I would

02:09say with great respect is that we have to flip the equation. I think instead of

02:15blaming the victim or looking to the victim of Hamas, of the Muslim

02:19Brotherhood, we have to understand the ideology at work that's confronting Israel.

02:22I don't think there's any debate up here that Hamas is a terrorist organization.

02:26What they did on October 7th is beyond disgusting. Rabbi Saperstein.

02:34No, I don't think it is anti-Semitic if you say it or people on college campuses say it, but on

02:41college campuses, there are too many instances in which those kinds of

02:48political statements are mixed with rank hatred against Jews, and that steps over

02:53the line into anti-Semitism. Mr. Cerny. Senator Sanders, just that statement,

03:00that opinion alone is not anti-Semitic. Okay, now I need your help on something else.

03:04I have never met George Soros in my life to the best of my knowledge. I don't

03:12believe I've ever received a nickel in campaign funding from Mr.

03:16Soros, but I think as all of you know, Soros has been a stereotype, a

03:25manifestation of anti-Semitism all over the world. Yes? So when we talk about

03:33anti-Semitism, one of the tropes that has always been used, Prodigals of Zion, is

03:39this mysterious underground group of zillionaire Jews who are manipulating the

03:45whole world, right? Is that the trope? Okay. This from the Holocaust Memorial

03:51Museum is something that appeared in Hungary, a Hungarian anti-Semitic

03:57publication, Jews Puppeteers, right? Familiar with that trope? This is from a

04:05Donald Trump campaign email. George Soros, puppeteer, Biden is the puppet being

04:13manipulated. Okay, I don't want to make a big deal about it.

04:17Ms. Gamble, does that look to you like an anti-Semitic trope? I think that there's

04:21no question that there is a relationship when you look at the two images that

04:26would cause that question to be raised. Again, I think context is key.

04:31Rabbi? Briefly, I want to hear from everybody. Yes or no?

04:36Do you think that has anti-Semitic overtones? I think that George

04:40Soros is Jewish, although he doesn't really identify closely with the

04:45community. One minute. No, you don't have one minute. I got 17 seconds. Okay, 17

04:50seconds. This is anti-Semitic. Very simply, he's being criticized. He's Jewish. I don't

04:55know that he's being criticized because he's Jewish. Dr. Simone? And I would say

04:59very briefly, we're living in a time where the Democratic Center is under

05:02attack from the extreme right, the extreme left, and radical Islam. I ask you a

05:07question. Does this look like an anti-Semitic trope? Yes. Rabbi Saperstein?

05:11Yes. Mr. Stern? Anti-Semitism is two things in essence. A conspiracy theory

05:18that Jews try to harm humanity and giving them an explanation for what goes

05:21wrong in the world. That picture is anti-Semitic. Orban was using it recently

05:27as well. Clearly anti-Semitic. Okay, thank you very much. Senator Collins?

Bernie Sanders Compares Graphic From Trump Campaign Email To Holocaust-Era Antisemitic Propaganda

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