Republicans are attacking Jewish candidates all over the country with the same anti-Semitic stereotype

Republican candidates across the country are attacking their Jewish opponents with anti-Semitic stereotypes,
The candidates are depicted as holding a fistful of cash, playing into the stereotype of Jews being nefarious with money.
Republicans have used attacks that appear anti-Semitic on a national level as well.

Republican candidates across the United States are attacking their Jewish opponents with the same anti-Semitic stereotype: depicting them with bundles of cash.

The stereotype of Jews being crafty and greedy with money is hundreds of years old and pervasive in history and media, appearing in everything from Shakespeare's "Merchant of Venice" to The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

According to a Washington Post analysis of advertisements in the 2018 midterm elections, it's a recurring theme in Republican campaigns as well.

The Post tracked six different ads depicting Jews with cash Photoshopped into their fists.

The ads sometimes go further than just that image. In an ad targeting California state assembly candidate Josh Lowenthal, Lowenthal was tinted green and appears to have an enlarged nose.

And in an advertisement in Pennsylvania, targeting state representative candidate Sara Johnson Rothman, she's referred to as only "Sarah Rothman." The advertisement uses her husband's name, which appears to be more recognizably Jewish.

Related content

Pamela Nadell, the director of Jewish studies at American University, said the advertisements echo anti-Semitic propaganda that's existed throughout history.

"What’s stunning is that these are old images that are very similar to those from other eras and other places," Nadell said. "But I will say I have not seen images like this in 21st-century America before."

Republicans have used similar anti-Semitic tropes on a national level as well.

In the closing ad of President Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, Trump singled out three well-known Jews to advance the conspiracy theory that they control the financial markets. It suggested that Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen, Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein, and liberal activist George Soros were controlling "the levers of power in Washington" to run a "global power structure that is responsible for the economic decisions" to take money from American workers and put it in the pockets of corporations.

In advance of the midterm elections, Republicans and the party's media allies have pushed the unfounded conspiracy theory that Soros is funding a migrant caravan to reach the United States. The theory inspired Robert Bowers to allegedly kill 11 worshippers in a Pittsburgh synagogue in October.

Republicans are attacking Jewish candidates all over the country with the same anti-Semitic stereotype

JOIN OUR PULSE COMMUNITY!