Donald Trump on Saturday tweeted an image accusing Hillary Clinton of being “corrupt” with a six-pointed star, before deleting it hours later after a loud chorus of backlash.
{mosads}The presumptive GOP presidential nominee’s image showd the words “Most Corrupt Candidate Ever!” on a red six-pointed star that many have pointed out resembles the Star of David, a symbol that appears on the Israeli flag and is commonly associated with Judaism.
The star was superimposed over an image of $100 bills and an image of Clinton often used by her campaign that reads “History made.”
Two hours after the initial post, Trump tweeted a different version of the same image, this time with a circle under the words “Most Corrupt Candidate Ever!” instead of the star.
Shortly after the second tweet, Trump deleted the original.
Social media users captured a screenshot of the original tweet before it was deleted, and many people shared the two side-by-side:
lol pic.twitter.com/tlAJfsOhef
— andrew kaczynski (@BuzzFeedAndrew) July 2, 2016
You KNOW this is coming in 3…2…1… pic.twitter.com/tiRm0CNe6D
— (((Charles Gaba))) (@charles_gaba) July 2, 2016
The original image drew immediate backlash on Twitter. Josh Schwerin, a communications staffer for Clinton’s campaign, asked why a Star of David was used on the image.
Why is there a Star of David? https://t.co/CMidmfHbjg
— Josh Schwerin (@JoshSchwerin) July 2, 2016
Political columnist Ana Marie Cox said the “Symbolism here is pretty… unsubtle.”
Symbolism here is pretty… unsubtle. https://t.co/VRWun8bnmg
— Ana Marie Cox (@anamariecox) July 2, 2016
Several anti-Trump Republican analysts and staffers have responded to the post, including GOP strategist Patrick Ruffini, who called the tweet “anti-Semitic.”
Using Star of David symbol with the word “corrupt” –> https://t.co/YWT9vCDQBa
— (((PatrickRuffini))) (@PatrickRuffini) July 2, 2016
19 minutes after Trump’s anti-Semitic dog whistling tweet, and it’s still up. #NewTrump
— (((PatrickRuffini))) (@PatrickRuffini) July 2, 2016
Idiot who panders to bigots tweets antisemitic image suggesting Hillary is bought by Jews (that’s a Star of David). https://t.co/NzLdQF3TOh
— (((AG))) (@AG_Conservative) July 2, 2016
Putting “corrupt” in the Star of David. Totally not anti-Semitic though. #NeverTrump https://t.co/O9fWXnZ1y9
— Kyle Foley (@KFoleyFL) July 2, 2016
Many journalists have also taken to Twitter to question or criticize Trump’s post.
Cool Star of David bro https://t.co/1ud2ziDNkn
— David A. Graham (@GrahamDavidA) July 2, 2016
Star of David on a bed of dollars FTW! https://t.co/07LN21lR3C
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) July 2, 2016
Why is there a Star of David where it says “most corrupt candidate ever” ??? https://t.co/MsOJ6m1vjR
— Jeremy Diamond (@JDiamond1) July 2, 2016
– Updated at 12:10 p.m.
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