Image by getty images

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.

Forwarding the News

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

Terms(Required)

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

Email(Required)

“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]

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

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. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

2X match on all Passover gifts!

$90 → $180 $180 → $360

$360 → $720

Other amount