Kimberly Guilfoyle invokes ‘cosmopolitan elites’ in RNC speech
Kimberly Guilfoyle and Donald Trump, Jr. Image by Getty Images
By Helen Chernikoff August 25, 2020
Kimberly Guilfoyle, a Trump campaign executive and the girlfriend of Donald Trump, Jr., used the phrase “cosmopolitan elites” — which invokes an anti-Semitic dogwhistle — in her speech during the Republican National Convention on Monday night.
. @kimguilfoyle invokes “cosmopolitan elites” in her #RNC speech. “Do you support the cancel culture, the cosmopolitan elites of Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer and Joe Biden who blame America first?” pic.twitter.com/VNzuuzfqWU
— Johnny Kunza (@johnkunza) August 25, 2020
In its most anti-Semitic usage, the word “cosmopolitan” appears as a noun paired with the adjective “rootless,” wrote Forward columnist Aviya Kushner in a 2017 piece on the term, after Trump official Stephen Miller used it to criticize bias in the media.
According to the YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe, Kushner wrote, “anticosmopolitan campaign” was a “euphemism for the victimization of the Jewish intelligentsia in the late Stalin years.”
Guilfoyle was making an argument that Democrats wanted to control the average person — “how they think and how they live.”
I’m personally matching all gifts to the Forward, up to $36,000. Can I match your gift now?
Hello, fellow Forward reader! I’m Joel Brown, a Forward reader and supporter for more than 15 years, and currently the chair of the board of directors.
I’m an avid Forward reader because it ticks so many of my essential boxes: excellent journalism, Jewish focus and diverse viewpoints. In today’s political climate, what I most appreciate is the Forward’s independence — made possible by the generosity of its membership.
The Forward is committed to bringing you unbiased, nuanced Jewish news. From my position as board chair, I see an exciting future as we expand our position as the definitive independent voice of contemporary American Judaism.
— Joel Brown, Forward board chair
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
