Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

Giuliani: Soros wants to destroy America because of his ‘sick background’

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani stepped up his criticism of George Soros on Monday, saying in a Fox News Channel interview that the billionaire financier and political megadonor “is intent on destroying our government, for some sick reason of his that goes back to his sick background.”

It is is unclear what exactly Giuliani meant by Soros’ “sick background,” though Soros, who is a Holocaust survivor, has long been the subject of numerous conspiracy theories, including false claims that he collaborated with the Nazis.

The Anti-Defamation League has said that some anti-Soros conspiracy theories, particularly coming from the political right, have devolved into antisemitism.

Giuliani’s previous criticism of Soros has also been accused of bordering on antisemitism, which the former mayor has denied. In 2018, the former mayor called the Jewish philanthropist “the antichrist.”

“Don’t tell me I’m anti-Semitic if I oppose him,” Giuliani said in a December interview with New York Mag’s Olivia Nuzzi. “Soros is hardly a Jew. I’m more of a Jew than Soros is, … He doesn’t belong to a synagogue, he doesn’t support Israel, he’s an enemy of Israel.” Giuliani then went on to accuse Soros of controlling the U.S. media and diplomatic corps.

Born Gyorgy Shwartz in 1930, Soros was the son of an upper-class Jewish family in Budapest. Soros was only 13 years old when the Nazis invaded his home country. He and his family managed to survive the Holocaust by purchasing false documents identifying them as Christians.

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.

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

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.