Trump Claims Global Jewish Bankers are Conspiring Against Him

Trump delivered a vindictive and paranoid speech Thursday in West Palm Beach, Florida where he attacked his sexual assault accusers, his rival Hillary Clinton, and the media who he feels are all coordinating to smear his good name in this election, despite his own previous racist, sexist, and violent speech.

But lost in this speech was a line delivered by Trump that, unless you are member of the white supremacist alt-right movement or studied and are familiar with whackjob conspiracy theories, you wouldn’t have realized that he was also referencing a centuries old debunked conspiracy theory still widely used in anti-Semitic circles, that claims a vast global Jewish conspiracy for world domination.

Trump said:

It’s a global power structure that is responsible for the economic decisions that have robbed our working class, stripped our country of its wealth, and put that money into the pockets of a handful of large corporations and political entities…
We’ve seen this firsthand in the WikiLeaks documents in which Hillary Clinton meets in secret with international banks to plot the destruction of US sovereignty in order to enrich these global financial powers, her special interest friends, and her donors…
This is a struggle for the survival of our nation. Believe me. And this will be our last chance to save it on November 8. Remember that.
This election will determine whether we’re a free nation, or whether we have only an illusion democracy but in are in fact controlled by a small handful of special global interests rigging the system, and our system is rigged.

At this point you may snicker and scoff at the idea of a candidate for the President of the United States from a major political party was echoing anti-Semetic conspiracy theories,  but Trump’s statement was not lost on the Jewish press, the Anti-Defamation League, and his alt-right and other white supremacist supports who are all very keenly aware of his meaning.

This article will explain to you, in very clear language, the story behind Trump’s barely coded words that directly echo one of the most ancient of all anti-Semitic libels.

The Conspiracy Theories

Make no mistake, these are all unsubstantiated ideas and any person who makes any of these claims does so without any evidence and are rooted in a history of hate and ignorance. In this racist perspective, Jews are typically painted as controllers of capital and money, “clannish,” and as having an agenda beyond what is visible. These stereotypes constitute a large part of these conspiracy theories.

The first conspiracy we’ll review is the accusation that Jews have long been controlling the global financial system. This loony conspiracy theory goes back centuries, even before the founding of Christianity, and recently has been attached to the Rothschild family, who during the 1800’s amassed the largest private fortune in modern world history.

Usually, the main accusation made by theorists is that the Rothschilds are playing both sides of every conflict, ever. The Napoleonic Wars, the Franco-Prussian War, World War I, World War II, etc. Theorists claim that all sides of each war were merely puppets of the Rothschilds, who would make exorbitant amounts of cash from repeatedly prodding nations into a cycle of endless warfare. People actually still believe this today. Remember when former actor Mel Gibson once said during a 2006 DUI that “The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world“? This is the same conspiracy theory he was referencing.

Jews have also long been accused of controlling the Hollywood and the media. For examples see any comedian in the past 100 years make fun of this.

Another place we see an example of this conspiracy theory is in English literature which depicts Jewish characters as “a monied, cruel, lecherous, avaricious outsider tolerated only because of his golden hoard.” Think Shylock in Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice” or the hooked-nose Judas in “The Passion of the Christ.”

Modern anti-Semitic conspiracy theories depicting an elaborate secret hierarchy of controlling Jewish influences, such as the idea that “the Jews” command the U.S. Federal Reserve System and in effect control the world’s money, largely take their cue from The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion, a 1903 tract purporting to be the manual of a Jewish secret society planning world domination. It is still widely circulated and occasionally cited as “evidence” by various clueless anti-Semites despite being exposed as a fraud as early as 1921.

The Conspiracy Pushers

Donald Trump has surrounded himself with people who are true believers in these archaic and long debunked views, and at times quoted them directly in speeches and interviews.

The most famous example would be nutcase right-wing conspiracy theory pusher Alex Jones, an ally of Trump who he once called “amazing” and someone who Trump regularly quotes, who runs the crackpot Infowars.com site and disputes the idea the The Protocols is a fraud while pushing a New World Order fiction that makes Glenn Beck appear comparatively sane.

According to Jones just about every current event can be tied into the New World Order’s nefarious schemes. In short, he’s making money off of really gullible people who will believe anything, no matter the complete lack of evidence.

Jones frequently invokes “globalists” as the villains behind the various conspiracy theories he discusses on his radio show and included in almost every article and documentary on his Infowars.com website has a reference to the Rothschild conspiracy theory, that there is secretive Jewish family controlling all word events for their personal monetary gain. Some examples of these articles include:

There is also the alt-right white supremacist site Breitbart.com, whose Editor in Chief Steve Bannon is currently working as the CEO of the Trump campaign. BuzzFeed reported that Trump’s speech was co-written by Stephen Bannon. Breitbart.com has long had an anti-Semetic history since Bannon took charge, writing articles like:

Reality

These racist sources that push crazy conspiracies are where Trump is getting his information from, he is personally intertwined with its players, he repeatedly quotes it, and it is wildly insane and completely soaked in racism.

You and I may have not picked up on this racist “dog whistle” at first, but now we know more about the story behind when Donald Trump makes a statement like, “Hillary Clinton meets in secret with international banks to plot the destruction of US sovereignty in order to enrich these global financial powers,” does his anti-Jewish message seem more clear?

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Remarks at 5:15 mark.

Trump Campaign Splits With Top GOP Official in Ohio

Donald Trump’s campaign is cutting ties with Ohio’s Republican Party chairman after the state GOP leader repeatedly and publicly criticized Trump.

On Saturday, Bob Paduchik, a GOP strategist who is directing Trump’s campaign in the must-win swing state, wrote a two-page letter to Ohio’s Republican Party committee informing them that Matt Borges, the state GOP chairman, “does not represent or speak for the candidate and he no longer has any affiliation with the Trump-Pence campaign.”

Paduchik points to as a series of critical comments Borges has made about Trump in recent days. Last week, following revelations that Trump had once bragged about sexually assaulting women, Borges told reporters that he was unsure if he would be voting for the Republican nominee.

“I spoke with Mr. Trump on Thursday and he is very disappointed in Matt’s duplicity. Mr. Trump told me, ‘this is why people have lost faith in the establishment and party leaders.’ I have to agree with him. Too often some leaders of our party have been quick to bail on our party and our principles; it’s why our nation is on the wrong track.”

The letter is particularly surprising because Ohio is key to Trump’s presidential hopes; without winning the state’s 18 electoral votes, most Republicans believe, he has little or no path to winning the White House.

Borges did not respond to a request for comment.

The letter is the latest chapter in a tension-filled relationship between Trump and Republican leaders in Ohio. This summer, Trump’s campaign attacked Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who competed against him in the Republican primary, for refusing to attend the party’s convention in Cleveland. Kasich has refused to endorse Trump, and many of the governor’s top political aides aren’t working for the nominee.

Borges, a close Kasich ally who is considering waging a bid for Republican National Committee chair, has long been critical of how Trump is running his campaign. He has publicly argued that Trump has a tough path to winning Ohio.

In the letter, Paduchik accuses Borges of conducting a “self-promotional media tour with state and national outlets to criticize our party’s nominee. I have no idea what game he is playing. Some Ohio Republicans have described it as disgraceful, I find it utterly bizarre.”

Borges fired back several hours later in a letter of his own to state party members, pointing out that he worked closely with Trump aides and that the nominee’s staffers worked in Ohio GOP headquarters.

He also had harsh words for Paduchik, who he said hadn’t raised any concerns until he “shared them publicly today.”

“Let me be clear, I am never going to allow the bruised ego of a staffer to get in the way of my duty as the Ohio Republican Party Chairman,” he added.

(h/t Politico)

Trump: ‘We Should Take a Drug Test Prior to the Debate’

Donald Trump on Saturday suggested both presidential candidates should take a drug test before the next debate, saying that Hillary Clinton is “actually getting pumped up.”

“At the beginning of her last debate, she was all pumped at the beginning, but at the end she was all ‘take me down.’ She could barely reach her car,” Trump said at a rally in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. “I think we should take a drug test. Anyway, I’m willing to do it.”

The GOP nominee compared the candidates to athletes, saying he “took down 17 senators and governors.”

“We’re like athletes, but athletes, they make them take a drug test. We should take a drug test,” he said. “I think we should take a drug test prior to the debate because I don’t know what’s going on with her.”

The final presidential debate will be held in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Wednesday.

Trump has previously attacked the Democratic nominee’s health and stamina. This past week, Trump’s campaign released an ad arguing Clinton does not have “fortitude, strength or stamina” to lead the country.

Six days ago, Trump ally Roger Stone suggested in an interview with radio host Alex Jones that Clinton was “jacked up on something, I assume some kind of methamphetamine.”

“I don’t think she has the stamina for a campaign,” Stone said. “They managed to prop her up for one debate, she can’t even keep her full schedule because her health is so bad.”

(h/t Politico)

Reality

She’s low energy, she’s high energy, what is it?

Media

Sheriff Supporting Trump Makes Call for ‘Pitchforks and Torches’

In yet another example of the ratcheting up of rhetoric as the 2016 campaign enters its home stretch, a prominent and polarizing Donald Trump supporter, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Sheriff David Clarke Jr., has suggested the time may come for “pitchforks and torches.”

Clarke, an African-American, delivered a fiery address at this summer Republican National Convention, during which he announced the news the acquittal of one of the police officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray to rapturous applause.

He has been very vocal on social media, repeating Trump talking points about the alleged corruption of the Clintons and their foundation, and railing against the Black Lives Matter movement, which he claims is responsible for violence against police officers.

(h/t NBC News)

Trump Refuses to Accept Intelligence Briefing on Russia, Stuns Experts

Former senior U.S. national security officials are dismayed at Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s repeated refusal to accept the judgment of intelligence professionals that Russia stole files from the Democratic National Committee computers in an effort to influence the U.S. election.

The former officials, who have served presidents in both parties, say they were bewildered when Trump cast doubt on Russia’s role after receiving a classified briefing on the subject and again after an unusually blunt statement from U.S. agencies saying they were “confident” that Moscow had orchestrated the attacks.

“It defies logic,” retired Gen. Michael Hayden, former director of the CIA and the National Security Agency, said of Trump’s pronouncements.

Trump has assured supporters that, if elected, he would surround himself with experts on defense and foreign affairs, where he has little experience. But when it comes to Russia, he has made it clear that he is not listening to intelligence officials, the former officials said.

“He seems to ignore their advice,” Hayden said. “Why would you assume this would change when he is in office?”

The Trump campaign did not respond to requests for comment.

Several former intelligence officials interviewed this week believe that Trump is either willfully disputing intelligence assessments, has a blind spot on Russia, or perhaps doesn’t understand the nonpartisan traditions and approach of intelligence professionals.

In the first debate, after intelligence and congressional officials were quoted saying that Russia almost certainly broke into the DNC computers, Trump said: “I don’t think anybody knows it was Russia that broke into the DNC. I mean, it could be Russia, but it could also be China. It could also be lots of other people. It also could be somebody sitting on their bed that weighs 400 pounds, okay?”

During the second presidential debate, Trump ignored what a U.S. government official said the candidate learned in a private intelligence briefing: that government officials were certain Russia hacked the DNC. That conclusion was followed by a public and unequivocal announcement by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Department of Homeland Security that Russia was to blame.

“Maybe there is no hacking,” Trump said during that debate.

“I don’t recall a previous candidate saying they didn’t believe” the information from an intelligence briefing, said John Rizzo, a former CIA lawyer who served under seven presidents and became the agency’s acting general counsel. “These are career people. They aren’t administration officials. What does that do to their morale and credibility?”

Former acting CIA director John MacLaughlin said all previous candidates took the briefings to heart.

“In my experience, candidates have taken into the account the information they have received and modulated their comments,” he said. Trump, on the other hand, “is playing politics. He’s trying to diminish the impression people have that [a Russian hack of the DNC] somehow helps his cause.”

On Thursday, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, said information she received has led her to conclude that Russia is attempting “to fix this election.” She called on Trump and elected officials from both parties “to vocally and forcefully reject these efforts.”

Trump has consistently adopted positions likely to find favor with the Kremlin. He has, for instance, criticized NATO allies for not paying their fair share and defended Russian President Vladimir Putin‘s human rights record.

“It’s remarkable that he’s refused to say an unkind syllable about Vladimir Putin,” Hayden said. “He contorts himself not to criticize Putin.”

Trump’s running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, said in the vice-presidential debate last week that the United States should “use military force” against the Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad.

Trump disagreed. Rather than challenge Assad and his Russian ally, Trump said in the second debate, the United States should be working with them against the Islamic State. “Assad is killing ISIS. Russia is killing ISIS. Iran is killing ISIS,” he said, using an acronym for the Islamic State. Russia and Syria have mostly been targeting opposition groups as well as civilians trapped in Aleppo – not the Islamic State.

“That’s the Syrian, Russia, Iranian narrative,” Hayden said of Trump’s assertions.

(h/t Chicago Tribune)

Trump Made No 9/11 Donations in Year After Attack, Despite His Promise

The New York City Comptroller’s Office has found no evidence that Donald Trump donated to 9/11 charities in the months after the attacks, the agency said.

Trump had promised weeks after the 2001 attack to donate $10,000 to the Twin Towers Fund as part of a charity effort by “The Howard Stern Show.”

“My office has reviewed the donations made in the nearly 12 months following the attacks – and we didn’t find evidence that he contributed a single cent to the victims, our first responders, and to our city through the Twin Towers Fund,” New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer, a Democrat, said in a statement to ABC News today.

“In the wake of 9/11, New Yorkers came together, healed, and rebuilt. If Donald Trump claimed to donate and didn’t, if he claimed to support New Yorkers in a time of crisis and refused, then that would be just plain wrong.”

It’s possible that the Republican presidential nominee donated after the two audit periods reviewed by Stringer’s office. The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.

At the request of multiple news organizations, including the New York Daily News, which first reported the story, Stringer’s office conducted a review of previously sealed records of the Twin Towers Fund and the New York City Public/Private Initiatives Inc., doing business as the Twin Towers Fund, which were set up in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks to raise money to support victims’ families, first responders and first responders’ families.

The New York City Comptroller’s Office confirmed to ABC News that it had manually reviewed about 1,500 pages of donor records, containing the names of more than 110,000 individuals and entities that were collected as part of the audits. The audit of the Twin Towers Fund covered the period from Sept. 12, 2001 to Aug. 31, 2002, while the audit of the New York City Public/Private Initiatives Inc., doing business as the Twin Towers Fund, covered the period Sept. 12, 2001 to June 30, 2002.

Stringer’s office found no record of a donation made by Trump or a Trump entity in the year after the tragedy, contrary to the real estate developer’s claims.

(h/t ABC News)

Ben Carson: It Doesn’t Matter Whether or Not Trump Committed Sexual Assault

Ben Carson says it doesn’t matter whether the women accusing Donald Trump of sexual misconduct are telling the truth because the accusations are far less important than what he believes is the impending fall of our nation.

Before they fall, nations “take their eye off the ball, start engaging in things that really don’t matter that much — not that sexual language and abuse is not important, but when you’re talking about the train going off the cliff you really need to deal with that first,” Carson said in a heated interview with the hosts of MSNBC’s Morning Joe Friday.

Carson — who has been known to veer off talking points when he’s acting as a surrogate for Trump —  did say he had doubts about one of the women’s accounts. Jessica Leeds told The New York Times Trump grabbed her on a plane and tried to stick his hand up her skirt.

“If somebody is sitting next to you on the first class section of the airplane, there are stewardesses, there are people around and there’s this gigantic armrest — what happened to all those things?” Carson asked.

“Are you saying that these women are lying?” BBC News reporter Katty Kay asked. Carson avoided the question and said Kay was trying to characterize him as the bad guy.

When the conversation began to get heated Carson jumped in: “Hey can you turn her microphone off please? Turn her microphone off so I can talk.”

“It doesn’t matter whether they’re lying or not,” Carson said, he then added: “What matters is that the train is going off the cliff and we’re taking our eye off of that and we’re getting involved in other issues that can be taken care of later.”

Carson has repeatedly used the train analogy as an example of what’s at stake in this election. He believes Trump is the only candidate who can stop the train before it plummets off the cliff and he compared the recent accusations about Trump to a fight in one of the cabins, which is a distraction but not the big picture.

As Kay pointed out again that Carson’s description of the first class cabin suggests he thinks the women are lying Carson kept trying to interrupt.

“Listen, listen, would you listen for a moment? Do you guys have a plug please?” Carson asked someone off camera.

“It’s like hitting against a brick wall, getting people and particularly people in the news media, to understand how much trouble we’re in,” Carson said.

When the retired neurosurgeon and former presidential candidate was asked how he felt about the fact that multiple women have accused Trump of misconduct, Carson dismissed it.

“Again, not the important issue,” Carson said.

(h/t USA Today)

Reality

The Republicans ran on a platform of moral authority, and with their defense of Donald Trump’s bragging of sexual assault and comments like Dr. Carson, it shows how thin their morals actually were.

Ben Carson for decades wrote books, gave speeches, and just this year ran for president on a platform of morality and now has chose to turn his back on his own message because it is politically beneficial to him.

Dr. Carson claimed there was a gigantic armrest in the first class seats that would have prevented anyone from invading another person’s space.

However while Dr. Carson chooses to use his “common sense” we’ll use actual verifiable evidence. According to Leeds’ interview with Anderson Cooper the flight was on Braniff Airlines flight, which had seats equipped with reclining armrests at that time.

Other photos at the time of Braniff Airlines first class cabins show very small armrests.

Media

Donald Trump Jr: Women Who Can’t ‘Handle’ Harassment ‘Don’t Belong In The Workforce’

Donald Trump Jr. offered some unsolicited career advice for women concerned about sexual harassment in the workplace: Just quit, already.

“If you can’t handle some of the basic stuff that’s become a problem in the workforce today, then you don’t belong in the workforce,” Donald Trump’s son told The Opie and Anthony Show in a 2013 interview that BuzzFeed just unearthed.

“You should go maybe teach kindergarten,” he said, apparently suggesting that teachers aren’t part of the workforce. “You can’t be negotiating billion-dollar deals if you can’t handle, like, you know.”

Gender-based harassment, both sexual and not, is against the law in the U.S. “It is illegal to harass a woman by making offensive comments about women in general,” according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

So if the GOP presidential nominee’s son can’t handle not being able to make offensive comments about women, maybe he’s the one unfit for the workforce.

Trump Jr. later joked that saying he’d been harassed would be “my get rich quick scheme. I’m now suing you guys because I feel uncomfortable.”

Listen to the full interview here, courtesy of BuzzFeed:

Trump’s father has been hit with a slew of allegations of sexual assault and harassment in recent days ― though it’s far from the first time he’s been accused of such behavior.

Though he brushed off comments he made in 2005 about groping and forcing himself on women as “locker room talk,” his critics aren’t buying it.

“What I found astounding is that he would so publicly—no matter who he was talking to ― that he would acknowledge that he engaged in the textbook definition of sexual assault,” Vice President Joe Biden said.

(h/t Huffington Post)

Trump Supporting “Journalist” Tweets Accusor’s Personal Info

Fox Business Network anchor Lou Dobbs publicized the address and phone number of Jessica Leeds, one of the women who accused Donald Trump of groping her, to his 792,000 followers on Thursday morning.

Dobbs linked to a post from a conservative news site that purported to link Leeds to the Clinton Foundation. The site published Leeds’ address and phone number — taken from public records — and then claimed, falsely, that her phone number is the same as a phone number for the Clinton Foundation.

He also quoted a tweet from a Trump supporter, which has since been deleted, that included Leeds’ phone number and address.

Dobbs’ tweet has been retweeted more than 800 times.

(h/t Politico)

Armed Trump Supporters Protest In Front Of Democrat’s Campaign Office

Two Donald Trump supporters flashed their firearms outside a campaign office in Virginia on Thursday night, in what they said was an effort to protest Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and unite likeminded voters.

For nearly 12 hours, the men lingered in front of the Palmyra-based congressional campaign office of Jane Dittmar, Democratic nominee for Virginia’s 5th Congressional District, according to Newsplex, a CBS affiliate in Charlottesville. Both men reportedly openly displayed handguns, which is legal in Virginia.

Daniel Parks, one of the protesters, said he was peacefully protesting and legally carrying the gun. His intentions were good, he said.

“I’m just trying to provide a voice for someone who might be a closet supporter of Trump,” Parks told Newsplex. “We’re not a threat to anybody, the only threat is ignorance, and ignorance breeds fear.”

But some who observed the men, like Dittmar’s volunteers working nearby, did find their presence threatening.

“He turned sideways to be sure that we would see that he has an open carry gun, which is legal and is fine, but it’s intimidating,” said Dittmar volunteer Su Wolff of Parks. “If he wants to support his candidate, that’s fine, but don’t come here and stare into the office all day.”

The Trump campaign’s recent decision to “pull out” of Virginia — effectively admitting defeat in the battleground state — motivated Park’s protest.

“He might be pulling out, but we’re not pulling out, and I’m gonna stand my ground and speak out for what I believe in,” he said.

Parks said he will consider holding a similar protest again in the state, including a possible appearance in Richmond later this month.

With fewer than 25 days to go until the election, many have expressed concerns about the increasingly hostile tone of the campaign. At Trump rallies this week, reporters and media personnel have been booed and heckled by the nominee’s supporters. One reporter found a sign featuring a swastika left on his desk.

As Trump tries to salvage his floundering campaign and push back against mounting sexual assault allegations, his rhetoric has become increasingly unhinged. To hear Trump tell it, there’s a massive conspiracy to rig this election in favor of Clinton. It should go without saying that this kind of speech has people worried.

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CBS Newsplex

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