Trump fan’s ‘Jew S. A.’ call was just ‘USA with Latino accent’
George Lindell of Phoenix ‘loves Jews very much,’ altered chant to ‘show solidarity with Mexicans’
The man who chanted “Jew-S-A” at a Donald Trump campaign rally told reporters it was all a misunderstanding and that “I love Jews very much.”
George Lindell of Phoenix was caught on video at a rally on Saturday night in the Arizona city chanting at the press pen while the rest of the crowd was chanting “U-S-A.” The following morning, Trump’s campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, called his behavior “deplorable” during an interview with CNN.
Lindell told local media on Monday that he was pronouncing the “U” with a Latino accent, to show solidarity with Mexicans.
“In English, we say U. In Spanish, we say ‘joo.’ It is the way we speak the language, that is it,” he told Fox10 Phoenix. “I was speaking up for the Mexican people and I instinctively said U-S-A. OK, I said it in Spanish and it is nothing about the Jews. I love Jews. I love Jews very much.”
Lindell told the Arizona Republic newspaper that he started the chant because he was standing near a group of Hispanics, including children, who initially started chanting but stopped, apparently when they realized they would not fit in because of their accent.
He said he also likes the way “Jew-S-A” sounds, saying it has more “flair.”
After he chanted “Jew-S-A”, Lindell muttered: “we’re run by the Jews. Okay?.” Lindell said that phrase was “just horsing around.” While he was chanting, he held up a hand sign that supposedly represents the Illuminati, a fictitious organization likened to the Freemasons that conspiracy theorists claim secretly controls America through its political and financial power.
So this just happened near the press pen at Trump's Phoenix rally. Man chanting "Jew.S.A.!" pic.twitter.com/DpG9G6BtqO
— Ashley Killough (@KilloughCNN) October 29, 2016
He also told Fox: “It’s a rally, bro. A rally. You are supposed to have fun.” He questioned why Latinos would be offended by his put-on accent, calling it “ridiculous.”
Lindell gained short-lived fame in 2011 when he was interviewed on local television after witnessing a car accident. He summed up the experience by saying “Reality hits you hard, bro,” a clip that went viral on YouTube. The phrase ended up on T-shirts and coffee mugs, though Lindell said he did not cash in.
