Liars and tricksters and bunk, oh my!
Powered by the anything-goes engine of social media (“antisocial media” might be a better moniker), there have been recent viral posts like one that, four minutes after the attempt on former President Trump’s life, informed the public that “Joe Biden’s antifa shot President Trump.”
Activist Laura Loomer implied that it was President Biden himself who plotted to kill Mr. Trump (quite an impressive effort for someone she considers in the throes of dementia).
Then there were, of course, the usual suspects, like the “deep state” and George Soros.
When Mr. Biden was out of the public eye for several days with COVID, Charlie Kirk of Turning Point USA spread the rumor that the president was dead or dying. Presumably, the subsequent presidential speech to the nation involved a body double. The enemy knows no limits…
One of the most egregious conspiracy imaginers around (and one whose fantasies are often populated by “evil Jews”) is 34-year-old Candace Owens.
She was once part of commentator Ben Shapiro’s news site, The Daily Wire, but was booted after she made a string of anti-Semitic statements. She has defended avowed neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes and called Israel’s campaign to defeat Hamas genocide.
Ms. Owens has also blamed rising anti-Semitism on “political Jews,” alleged that “secret Jewish gangs” are terrorizing Hollywood, and she endorsed a social media post asserting that Jews are “drunk on Christian blood.” On an episode of her podcast titled “Literally Hitler: Why Can’t We Talk About Him?” she complained that his name almost can’t be mentioned. How unfair.
She once said that she would stake her entire “professional reputation” on the claim that France’s first lady, who has birthed three children, is in fact a man. She has promoted Russian President Vladimir Putin’s claim that the Soviet Union created the country called Ukraine.
In short, she’s a nutcase. A dangerous one.
And so, a universe of eyebrows were raised when her photo and name appeared on a flyer promoting a Trump campaign fundraiser this past Shabbos in Nashville, Tennessee. The event was sponsored by a cryptocurrency called “MAGA Again” and its headliner was Donald Trump Jr. A current strong supporter of the senior Mr. Trump, Ms. Owens was touted as a special guest.
More than eyebrows were raised. Protests were, too. Even from the starboard side of the political spectrum. “Unless there is some missing context,” National Review Online editor Philip Klein posted on X, “it’s a disgrace for @DonaldJTrumpJr to appear with one of the leading anti-Semitic conspiracists online.”
To its credit, the campaign subsequently removed Ms. Owens from the lineup. Why she was there in the first place isn’t clear; it seems unlikely that the organizers were unaware of her… controversial comments.
(Ms. Owens denied that she had been dropped, claiming that she had withdrawn voluntarily because she didn’t want to promote a cryptocurrency. She should try selling—cash only, of course—that nice bridge connecting downtown Manhattan to Brooklyn.)
So all’s well that ends well. Or, at least, sort of ends well. The replacement featured guest who appeared at the fundraiser was Tucker Carlson. It was an improvement, one supposes, but, back in April, Mr. Carlson suggested that Republicans in Congress should tell Israel that, while they support her, “if you touch a single Christian, harm a single church, prevent any Christian from practicing his religion, you’re done. Not a single dollar will come from the US Congress for you.”
It’s not clear what exactly generated his suggested threat, but his tone was certainly less than reassuring to some Israel supporters. Pro-Israel Republicans sharply criticized the former Fox News host for his intemperate words.
Former President Trump, for an assortment of reasons, enjoys broad support among Orthodox Jewish Americans. Let’s hope that, if he’s successful in his quest to regain the White House, he will summarily reject the unpleasant sentiments of some of his strong supporters, whether or not they were featured at a fundraiser.
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