THE TRUMP BRAND:

Experts said the climate is the product of a stew of forces including a digital culture that spreads misinformation and hate and right-wing political forces focused on protecting White Christians' status. [...]

Benjamin Lorber, a longtime researcher of antisemitism with Political Research Associates, said the latest rush of antisemitic rhetoric "fits into that broader political project," and he is not surprised to see it in the lead-up to the midterms this year. "The right is trying to regain power it felt it lost in 2020, so it makes sense, in addition to virulent anti-LGBTQ bigotry, that antisemitism is in the mix again," he said.

He and other experts noted that the 2018 Tree of Life massacre came just before the 2018 midterm elections and that the suspect had posted on the far-right social media site Gab that he was angry about "filthy" Jews who work to resettle refugees, especially Muslims. [...]

Trump earlier this month attacked American Jews in a post on his Truth Social platform, saying Jews in the United States must "get their act together" and show more appreciation for the state of Israel "before it is too late." Trump has multiple times raised the old antisemitic trope that U.S. Jews hold, or should hold, a secret or dual loyalty to Israel rather than the United States. He said evangelicals are "far more appreciative" of actions on Israel than Jews.

Most Republicans said nothing about Trump's Truth Social post. Trump also defended Ye in an Oct. 18 interview with Salem News Channel, and other conservatives also rallied to support Ye, most commonly by portraying him as a victim of supposed efforts by Democrats, in combination with the media and corporations, to suppress opposing viewpoints.

Fox News host Tucker Carlson, in clips released by Vice News, didn't challenge Ye during an interview when the performer repeated a belief held by some that today's Jews aren't the legitimate Jews of the Bible. This is part of the doctrine held by the movement known as the Black Hebrew Israelites: that African Americans are the true descendants of ancient Israelites, a belief that is often blended with accusations that mainstream Jews aren't the legitimate Jews.

"When I say Jew, I mean ... the people known as the race Black," Ye told Carlson.

In the interview, Ye also said there is some "financial engineering" to being Jewish.

Antisemitism has also become a prominent issue in the Pennsylvania governor's race between Republican Doug Mastriano, who promotes Christian nationalism, and Democrat Josh Shapiro, who is Jewish. Mastriano's campaign has advertised on Gab. In a September campaign speech, Mastriano attacked Shapiro's attendance of a private Jewish day school in Bryn Mawr, in remarks that were criticized as coded antisemitism. An adviser to Mastriano, former Trump lawyer Jenna Ellis, responded to the backlash by dismissing Shapiro as "at best a secular Jew."

Lorber said that, in a period of rampant misinformation, economic insecurity and alienation, such comments fit into the narrative of a segment of Americans looking to identify internal enemies, groups they perceive to be not sufficiently American or, in the case of Jews, part of some invisible power structure keeping them from success or censoring them. When Adidas ended its partnership with Ye on Tuesday over his antisemitic remarks, some conservatives were quick to cast him as a victim of "woke capitalism."

"They're like: 'Maybe Kanye is on to something,'" Lorber said.

Tweet   @brothersjudd