Sorry, Stephen Miller: Calling Out Your Bigotry Is Not Anti-Semitic
Senior Advisor to the president Stephen Miller is seen during an immigration event with President Trump in the South Court Auditorium, next to the White House, on June 22, 2018 in Washington, DC. Image by MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images
Carly Pildis December 24, 2019
An increasingly loud chorus of voices has been calling for the resignation of Stephen Miller, a senior advisor to President Trump and the architect of his family separation policy. The calls have come in light of emails he sent a former Breitbart reporter, which included links to articles on the white nationalist site VDARE. In response to the calls for his resignation, Miller took to Fox News this weekend to accuse his critics of anti-Semitism.
The left accusing White House Senior Adviser #StephenMiller of being a “WHITE SUPREMACIST” and, demanding his resignation. I asked him straight up, “Are you?”
TONIGHT at 8pm E- his ENTIRE interview plus reaction to impeachment & immigration – only on #FoxBusiness #Trish pic.twitter.com/RLDdYUi4hO
— Trish Regan (@trish_regan) December 20, 2019
Miller claimed that Democrats are deeply and institutionally anti-Semitic, and portrayed the criticism of him as just another manifestation of that anti-Semitism.
But rather than proving the anti-Semitism of the Democrats, what Miller actually did was prove that his relationship to the truth is similar to that of his boss, President Trump: He holds the truth in contempt because the truth is biased against him.
It hardly bears saying, but holding Stephen Miller accountable is not anti-Semitic; calls for Stephen Miller’s removal are based on the cruel and racist policies he has advocated for and crafted, not his Jewish background.
It is not anti-Semitic to be disgusted by the policies that Stephen Miller has advocated for from his position as Senior Advisor the President.
It is not anti-Semitic to be horrified at his attacks on the U.S.refugee resettlement program (Stephen Miller has been quoted as saying he would be happy if not a single refugee ever touched American soil again), or point out that Stephen Miller’s own family came to America as asylum seekers who spoke only Yiddish.
It is not anti-Semitic to be haunted by the screams of children who are separated from their parents at our southern border. It is not antisemitic to want the man responsible for crafting that policy — a policy he continues to defend — out of the White House.
It is not anti-Semitic to believe that the man who helped craft the Muslim Ban, which is institutionalized Islamophobia and has destroyed countless lives, is a bigot. He has clearly demonstrated that he is.
It is not anti-Semitic to be deeply troubled not only by his ties to White Nationalists but by how White Nationalist ideology has clearly shaped his view on immigration policy. It is simply a fact to state that Stephen Miller advocates for policies that treat black and brown people viciously and promote a whiter America.
In a time when anti-Semitism is rising across the globe, spurious accusations like Stephen Miller’s are deeply irresponsible. In the past two weeks, we have seen an anti-Semitic terror attack in Jersey city that claimed three lives, a Jewish woman attacked on the New York City subway, a Los Angeles synagogue broken into and desecrated, an alleged anti-Semitic attack at Indiana University and an attempted arson at Yeshiva University. Anti-Semitism is a serious issue, and it shouldn’t be used to hide from accountability for one’s actions.
Worse, Miller has been noticeably silent about rising anti-Semitism. There have been no reports of him using his position in the White House to advocate for action on rising hate crimes. Miller seemingly has no interest in fighting hate, and his claims of victimhood are merely an attempt to whitewash the hateful policies he pushes — policies that White Nationalists applaud.
25 Jewish Members of Congress have called for his removal, as have over 50 civil rights groups and Jewish groups such as The RAC, URJ, the Central Conference of American Rabbis, and the Rabbinical Assembly. I will join them.
Stephen Miller has created and crueler and more racist America. The White House is the people’s house and Miller is unfit to be a public servant. He does not serve America well and he does not believe in the American dream. His attempt to politicize and appropriate rising anti-Semitism only proves his critics right: This man does not belong in the White House.
Carly Pildis is an organizing and advocacy professional living in Washington, DC. She is the director of grassroots organizing for Zioness.
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
