(JTA) — Jewish billionaire Tom Steyer, a major donor to Democratic candidates, denounced as anti-Semitic a tweet by House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy that accused him, George Soros and Michael Bloomberg of trying to “buy” the upcoming elections for Democrats.
McCarthy, R-Calif., last week tweeted a video of himself making the comments and temporarily pinned it to the top of his Twitter feed before deleting the post.
On Sunday, Steyer said on CNN of the tweet: “In terms of interpreting what he said, that seems, to me, like a straight-up anti-Semitic move. I think that there — that is a classic attempt to separate Americans. I think that absolutely falls into the category of what I’m describing as political violence.”
Steyer, who has taken out ads calling for the impeachment of President Donald Trump, also said that while he does not blame Trump for Saturday’s attack on a Pittsburgh synagogue that left 11 dead, “I’m absolutely associating and blaming him for creating the atmosphere that exists.”
McCarthy’s tweet said that “We cannot allow Soros, Steyer, and Bloomberg to BUY this election! Get out and vote Republican November 6th. #MAGA,” and contained audio from that interview and images of the three billionaires. The three donate heavily to liberal causes.
Many Twitter users objected that McCarthy’s tweet attacking Soros appeared a day after an explosive device was found at Soros’ suburban New York home.
On Oct. 14, McCarthy also said on Maria Bartiromo’s Fox News show that Soros, Steyer and Bloomberg are “funding the Democratic Party” and said of Steyer “his main goal is trying to impeach President Trump.” He noted, too, that Bloomberg “re-registered as a Democrat”; Bloomberg was the Republican mayor of New York for two terms before winning his third as an Independent.
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