Marsha Blackburn Posts an Antisemitic Conspiracy Theory. Again.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) made several false allegations about Jewish philanthropist George Soros on Twitter. First, Blackburn suggested that Soros owns “left wing media outlets” — he does not — and second, she claimed that “George Soros and his left wing media outlets are peddling baseless and absurd attacks” against Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett.

George Soros is a Holocaust survivor and a Jewish philanthropist who donates to liberal causes, making him a frequent villain in narratives from the political right, which regularly casts him as the secret orchestrator of events they oppose. Republicans have falsely claimed Soros was responsible for women-led protests against now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, as well as the Black Lives Matter movement. The basis of those claims is typically the fact that Open Society Foundations, which Soros created, and which helps fund many liberal causes, has given grants to organizations that have supported or helped to organize some protests. Rather than simply address their disagreements with the organizations, right-wing pundits and politicians present Soros as the mastermind behind a plot against Donald Trump, and even against the United States.

The casting of Soros as an evil mastermind influencing political and world events relies on antisemitic tropes about Jewish control and influence. The idea that ‘Jews control the media,’ as Blackburn suggested, is a long-standing antisemitic trope, as are the ideas of deceitful Jewish merchants (which Blackburn’s tweet played into by claiming that “Soros’ media outlets” were “peddling” information she described as “baseless.”

Blackburn has used antisemitic tropes multiple times in the past, including one instance that occurred just two weeks prior to the October 26 tweet.