Emily Cunningham

Came across this news story. Six candidates took money from the U.S. Immigration Reform PAC. It’s an important story for those following the mainstreaming and weaponizing of anti-Semitism but misses some of the undertones. I’m adding a couple below. 1/3 https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/election-2018-usir-pac-tanton-republicans-campaign-donations-n931401 …

One of the visionaries behind the U.S. Immigration Reform PAC is John Tanton. He once argued Hitler’s reign “did little to advance the discussion of eugenics among sensitive persons.” 2/3

When asked about hate crime laws in Europe, he wrote “These have generally been pushed by Jewish interests who are offended by those who have challenged the received version of the Holocaust.” 3/3

All to say, when you wonder how did an antisemite come to believe that Jews were THE conspiracy behind a caravan of refugees. The answer is that the process started with irresponsible propaganda of organizations founded by Tanton and the elected officials who work with them.

It’s not that we don’t see the antisemitism underlying these organizations, it’s that we and elected officials choose to ignore it.

Then there was that time when one of his organizations, the Center for Immigration Studies accidentally allowed a white nationalist and Holocaust denial newspaper permission to reprint its article, cause you know, “oops.” http://imagine2050.newcomm.org/2009/09/13/tanton-network-caught-in-bed-again-with-anti-semites-and-holocaust-deniers/ …