Donald Trump Waves Anti-Semitic Graphic Tweeted by David Duke

Image by Getty

By Ari Feldman August 15, 2016

Donald Trump used another graphic initially published by an anti-Semitic site last week at a rally in Sunrise, Florida. He held up a chart that purported to show the amount of money several countries in North Africa and the Middle East had paid in order to receive money from the State Department, calling it a “Pay to Play” system. The graphic showed a twenty dollar bill with Hillary Clinton’s face in the center.

The graphic, however, had been tweeted last month by former Klu Klux Klan member and candidate for senator of Louisiana, David Duke. That image had an Israeli flag where the stamp of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York would be. The graphic Trump held up at the Florida rally, on a large piece of poster board, did not display the Israeli flag or a Star of David.

Nathaniel Meyersohn, a reporter for Buzzfeed, first noticed that Duke had originally tweeted the graphic.

David Duke in July | Donald Trump yesterday pic.twitter.com/Ld32FCWu0c

— Nathaniel Meyersohn (@nmeyersohn) August 12, 2016

The graphic was published on BeforeItsNews.com, a community-sourced conspiracy theory site that has an active UFO search section, warnings of the “coming civil war” and an article stating that Bill Clinton may die from AIDS within a year. In its original form the graphic does not seem to have depicted the Israeli flag. It is likely that Duke added that himself.

Last month Trump tweeted a graphic depicting a Star of David and referring to Hillary Clinton as the “Most Corrupt Candidate Ever!” Trump was roundly criticized for the tweet, which originally came from an online neo-Nazi forum. Trump then changed the Star of David to a circle, before defending the original graphic by saying it was meant to be taken as a sheriff’s star.

“These false attacks by Hillary Clinton trying to link the Star of David with a basic star, often used by sheriffs who deal with criminals and criminal behavior, showing an inscription that says ‘Crooked Hillary is the most corrupt candidate ever’ with anti-Semitism is ridiculous,” Trump said in a statement released by his campaign.

Contact Ari Feldman at [email protected] or on Twitter @aefeldman.

Ari Feldman is a staff writer at the Forward. He covers Jewish religious organizations, synagogue life, anti-Semitism and the Orthodox world. If you have any tips, you can email him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @aefeldman.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO