Donald Trump Deletes Tweet Showing Hillary Clinton and Star of David Shape
Donald J. Trump at the Western Conservative Summit on Friday in Denver. Credit David Zalubowski/Associated Press
Donald J. Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, came under fire on Saturday for posting on Twitter an image of the Star of David shape next to a picture of Hillary Clinton and calling his opponent the “most corrupt candidate ever!”
While the six-pointed star is used in other contexts, including as a symbol of many Sheriff’s Departments, it has deep meaning in Judaism and the image was overlayed atop a pile of money. It appeared to play into the stereotype of Jews being obsessed with finances. After being derided on social media, Mr. Trump deleted the post and replaced it with one that had a circle instead of the star shape.
Crooked Hillary -- Makes History! #ImWithYou#AmericaFirst
While Mr. Trump has been working to professionalize his campaign, the Twitter post was the latest example of him making remarks many deem offensive. Several weeks ago, he insinuated that a federal judge presiding over a lawsuit against Trump University could not be impartial in the case because of his Mexican heritage.
Mr. Trump apparently realized the problem with the original Twitter post because he rarely apologizes for his remarks or deletes his posts. His campaign did not respond to a request for comment on Saturday.
Before the post came down, Josh Schwerin, a spokesman for Mrs. Clinton’s campaign, asked on his personal Twitter account, “Why is there a Star of David?” Other commenters were more blunt:
@NeilBennun @Brainmage Yes it is.
Finkowska@finkowska All right. OK. Is this a deliberate show of grotesque anti-semitism or an accidental act of grotesque stupidity?
Mr. Trump regularly touts his close ties to Jewish people, noting that his daughter Ivanka converted to Judaism when she married her husband, Jared Kushner. He also has promised to make the security of Israel a top priority if he is elected president.
However, Mr. Trump has frustrated some Jews for initially declining to take a firm stand on the side of Israel when discussing the conflict with the Palestinians. And he angered some last year when he joked about Jews being good with money during a speech to the Republican Jewish Coalition.
Mr. Trump has also been criticized for failing to denounce supporters who have harangued Jewish journalists on social media and at gatherings of white nationalists, and for being slow to disavow the support of David Duke, the former Klansman.