Donald Trump’s social media director slammed the accusations of anti-semitism that have dogged Trump’s presidential campaign as repugnant on Tuesday.
“For the MSM [mainstream media] to suggest that I am antisemite is AWFUL,” tweeted Dan Scavino, Trump’s social media director. “I proudly celebrate holidays w/ my wife’s amazing Jewish family for the past 16 years.”
Scavino’s comments come three days after Trump tweeted an image attacking Clinton with the words, “Most Corrupt Candidate Ever!” inscribed inside a six-pointed star on top of a pile of cash. The star closely resembles the Star of David, a Jewish symbol, leading Hillary Clinton’s campaign and other political observers to argue that Trump’s tweet smacked of anti-semitism. The image was deleted from Trump’s twitter account, but is still viewable here.
The presumptive GOP nominee then released a statement defending the star’s posting and said it was a basic star used by sheriffs. The Trump campaign later issued a statement from Scavino contending that the image was lifted from a Twitter user — not a white supremacist website — and that the star was created via Microsoft’s “shapes.” The statement claimed the tweet was deleted so as not to offend anyone.
Scavino, however, seemed less apologetic on Monday night. Reflecting on his rise from Trump’s golf caddy to leading the social media efforts of the GOP’s presumptive presidential nominee, Scavino tweeted “Yes, I am the guy behind the scenes who defeated 16 other candidates’ social ‘TEAMS’.” He later deleted that tweet.
The kerfuffle surrounding whether Trump’s tweet intentionally disparaged Jews has distracted the public’s attention from other issues on the campaign trail, including the FBI’s questioning of Clinton. An analysis by the Washington Post showed searches relating to the star matched searches for Clinton and the FBI on Saturday morning as both stories broke.
While Clinton prepared to campaign with President Obama for the first time in 2016 on Tuesday, Trump’s campaign has continued to do damage control regarding the tweet. Trump will also campaign in North Carolina on Tuesday alongside Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker, whose name has been floated as a potential running mate for Trump.
