On the second night of the Republican National Convention, a member of the Trump campaign's advisory board named Mary Ann Mendoza was scheduled to speak. That same day, Mendoza tweeted that her followers should read a thread containing ancient gutter anti-Semitism — including crack-brained allegations that Jews were conspiring to make "The Goyim Destroy Each Other," and a recommendation to read the notorious anti-Semitic forgery The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. (The thread also contained repeated references to the QAnon conspiracy, suggesting this has become a pipeline to flagrant hatred of Jews.) Mendoza's speaking slot was canceled.
Republicans were no doubt confused as to how someone who would endorse such a virulently anti-Semitic message managed to land a speaking slot at their national convention. It's not like President Trump has suggested that American Jews are all obsessed with money, that their political allegiance can be bought, or that they are not really American citizens. It's not like he has said that neo-Nazi terrorists were "very fine people."
It’s truly an astonishing coincidence that some of Trump’s most hardcore followers can’t stop talking about an international Jewish conspiracy to control world media and politics. How could this be happening?
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Fannie Flagg’s 6 favorite books that sparked her imaginationFeature The author recommends works by Johanna Spyri, John Steinbeck, and more
-
Google: A monopoly past its prime?Feature Google’s antitrust case ends with a slap on the wrist as courts struggle to keep up with the tech industry’s rapid changes
-
Patrick Hemingway: The Hemingway son who tended to his father’s legacyFeature He was comfortable in the shadow of his famous father, Ernest Hemingway
-
Graphic videos of Charlie Kirk’s death renew debate over online censorshipTalking Points Social media ‘promises unfiltered access, but without guarantees of truth and without protection from harm’
-
Trump's drug war is now a real shooting warTalking Points The Venezuela boat strike was 'not a mere law enforcement action'
-
Truck drivers are questioning the Trump administration's English mandateTalking Points Some have praised the rules, others are concerned they could lead to profiling
-
Gavin Newsom's Trump-style trolling roils critics while thrilling fansTALKING POINTS The California governor has turned his X account into a cutting parody of Trump's digital cadence, angering Fox News conservatives
-
Costco is at the center of an abortion debateTalking Points The decision to no longer stock the abortion pill came following a pressure campaign by conservatives
-
What does occupying Gaza accomplish for Israel?Talking Points Risking a 'strategic dead-end' in the fight against Hamas
-
Ghislaine Maxwell: angling for a Trump pardonTalking Point Convicted sex trafficker's testimony could shed new light on president's links to Jeffrey Epstein
-
Does depopulation threaten humanity?Talking Points Falling birth rates could create a 'smaller, sadder, poorer future'
