NRA takes aim at three Jewish billionaires pushing ‘elitist agenda’
Tweet from National Rifle Association accuses George Soros, Michael Bloomberg and Tom Steyer of paying to push anti-gun measures on Americans
The National Rifle Association tweeted that three prominent liberal Jewish billionaires are pushing “their elitist agenda on Americans.”
The tweet came three days after a shooter killed 11 Jews at a Pittsburgh synagogue.
In response, a number of readers charged that the tweet accusing George Soros, Tom Steyer and Michael Bloomberg fed into far-right notions of a Jewish conspiracy.
“Another billionaire is pumping unlimited money into electing anti-gun lawmakers,” Tuesday’s tweet read. “Notorious anti-gunner George Soros joins anti-gun billionaires Steyer and Bloomberg. There is no end to how much they’ll pay to push their elitist agenda on Americans.”
Another billionaire is pumping unlimited money into electing anti-gun lawmakers. Notorious anti-gunner George Soros joins anti-gun billionaires Steyer and Bloomberg. There is no end to how much they’ll pay to push their elitist agenda on Americans. https://t.co/jxFmnc802s
— NRA (@NRA) October 31, 2018
The tweet linked to a CNBC article about Soros donating to liberal candidates ahead of the midterm elections.
Soros, a Holocaust survivor and philanthropist who funds liberal and pro-democracy causes, has been a frequent target of the far right in the United States and abroad who often invoke anti-Semitic tropes to exaggerate his influence in politics and economic affairs.
A Florida man is allegedly behind a pipe bomb sent to Soros’ house.
Republicans, including President Donald Trump, have also criticized Soros for funding left-wing causes.
Michael Bloomberg, a former New York mayor, has funded a variety of liberal causes, and Steyer is a prominent liberal donor from California.
Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., the House majority leader, accused the same three billionaires of buying the election for Democrats in a tweet that he later deleted.
Steyer, whose father was Jewish, called McCarthy’s tweet a “a straight-up anti-Semitic move.”
In February NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre was criticized after a speech accusing Soros, Steyer and Bloomberg of promoting “socialism” and “social engineering.”
“Every time in every nation in which this political disease rises to power,” LaPierre told a CPAC conference, describing socialism, “its citizens are repressed, their freedoms are destroyed, and their firearms are banned and confiscated, and it’s all backed in this country by the social engineering and the billions of people like George Soros, Michael Bloomberg, Tom Steyer and more.”
