Brett Kavanaugh and Zina Bash Image by Getty Images

Was it, or was it not a white power sign?

Prominent anti-Trump Twitter figure Dr. Eugene Gu pointed out Tuesday the strange position in which Supreme Court hopeful Brett Kavanaugh’s former clerk rested her hand during the confirmation hearing. He claimed that longtime Republican legal operative Zina Bash was flashing a “white power sign.”

Kavanaugh’s former law clerk Zina Bash is flashing a white power sign behind him during his Senate confirmation hearing. They literally want to bring white supremacy to the Supreme Court. What a national outrage and a disgrace to the rule of law. https://t.co/uQGOpNa6xg

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— Eugene Gu, MD (@eugenegu) September 4, 2018

Bash’s hand appeared to be making the “okay” symbol, which has often been appropriated by white nationalists.

Amid the Twitter storm, Bash’s husband John, currently the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Texas, stepped in to debunk the accusation, which he called “repulsive.” He said she rested her hand in a “random way,” and that the couple wasn’t familiar with the symbol. He also shared that Bash was born in Mexico and her paternal grandparents were Holocaust survivors.

Zina is Mexican on her mother’s side and Jewish on her father’s side. She was born in Mexico. Her grandparents were Holocaust survivors. We of course have nothing to do with hate groups, which aim to terrorize and demean other people — never have and never would. 2/3

— US Attorney John Bash (@USAttyBash) September 4, 2018

Alyssa Fisher is a news writer at the Forward. Email her at [email protected], or follow her on Twitter at @alyssalfisher

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