Roseanne Retweets Claim: Valerie Jarrett ‘Wants Jews Chased Into The Sea’

Image by Getty Images
Just five minutes after claiming on Twitter “I’m making restitution for the pain I have caused,” Roseanne Barr endorsed a statement from another user that alleged that former Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett has genocidal aspirations towards Israelis and Jews everywhere.
That Barr retweeted this inflammatory accusation is ironic, since the “pain” she caused was an outrageous racist and Islamaphobic tweet about Jarrett, which resulted in the cancelation by ABC of the “Roseanne” TV reboot. Barr showed little contrition, claiming that her hateful comments about Jarrett’s appearance were a result of taking the insomnia medication Ambien (the company that makes Ambien has refuted this).
Unlike that earlier tweet, Barr’s retweet goes after Jarrett for being anti-Jewish and Israeli, even genocidal. But like the original tweet about Jarrett’s looks, it contains dogwhistles of anti-Arab sentiment — the idea of “throwing Jews into the sea” references threats against Jews by Arab leaders in Israeli history.
You didn’t cause any pain. Those people always hated you. Valerie Jarrett wants Israelis and Jews chased into the sea, and she’ll celebrate.
— Ghost of Bull Moose (@BullMooseGhost) June 5, 2018
Jenny Singer is the deputy Lifestyle editor for the Forward. You can reach her at [email protected] or on Twitter @jeanvaljenny
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
