Image by Getty Images

(JTA) — Three rabbis and three Christian clergymen have called on a Republican candidate for governor to apologize for making derogatory statements about billionaire businessman George Soros while noting he is a “Hungarian Jew.”

State Sen. Scott Wagner at a campaign event during the Pittstown Tomato Festival a day after the deadly Charlottesville rally confronted a tracker that he says works for Soros, a Democratic supporter.

The Allentown Morning Call reported that the tracker works for the Pennsylvania Democratic Party and is a regular at Wagner campaign events.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis of the crisis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

Wagner said on camera that it is great that America allows such trackers to follow him and went on to slam Soros, including accusing him of “hatred of America.”

“You know what’s amazing is that a guy who came from Hungary, a Hungarian Jew, and made a fortune, and think where he came from, and he has an opinion of America that he does,” said Wagner, a millionaire businessman working in waste management. “It’s just amazing to me.”

“Because of his ethnicity?” the tracker asks.

“No, because his hatred of America,” Wagner replies.

When the tracker asked Wagner why he mentioned that Soros is Jewish, the senator replied that “I have a lot of friends who are Jewish friends,” among them relatives of concentration camp survivors.

A message from our CEO & publisher 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.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount