Jewish Billionaire George Soros Drawn As Puppet Master In Florida Campaign Ad
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Jewish billionaire investor and megadonor George Soros is depicted as a puppet master in a Florida campaign ad, which echoed historic anti-Semitic tropes.
The conservative Florida Strong PAC posted on Facebook over the weekend a drawing of Andrew Gillum, the Democratic candidate for governor, as a marionette being controlled by Soros and Tom Steyer, another liberal activist.
The ad was targeted at women, New York Times reporter Kevin Roose tweeted.
“Andrew Gillum’s campaign has taken more than 2 million dollars from California far-left Billionaires George Soros and Tom Steyer,” the ad reads.
Anti-Gillum PAC ran an…interesting ad on Facebook over the weekend, targeted at Florida women. pic.twitter.com/OrwkKtcqmm
— Kevin Roose (@kevinroose) October 22, 2018
Images depicting rich Jews as puppeteers controlling governments and world events have been used by anti-Semites for centuries, including during the Nazi era.
The ad is not currently found on Florida Strong’s Facebook page.
Soros has long been at the forefront of several right-wing conspiracy theories, several of which have been connected to anti-Semitic tropes.
A National Republican Congressional Committee campaign ad in Minnesota depicted Soros as “owning” a Democratic congressional candidate.
Soros and Steyer donated a combined $650,000 to Gillum’s political committee, Forward Florida, in August, the Tampa Bay Times reported. This was in addition to the millions they’ve given since Gillum launched his campaign in March 2017.
Gillum is running against President Trump-backed Rep. Ron DeSantis. This particular PAC didn’t stop at the one anti-Gillum ad over the weekend — it recently shared a video on Facebook that, set to the voice of Gollum from “The Lord of the Rings,” blames Gillum for the increase in murders in his city, according to Politifact.
Alyssa Fisher is a news writer at the Forward. Email her at [email protected]
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