Former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski dismissed the controversy over the candidate’s tweet of Hillary Clinton next to a six-pointed star against a background of cash as “political correctness run amok.”
Lewandowski said Sunday that critics alleging anti-Semitism over the Star of David shape are reading too much into the tweet, which Trump deleted and replaced with a circle.
“The bottom line is this is political correctness run amok. If this were to be a star next to Hillary Clinton without the cash behind it, no one would be questioning this,” Lewandowski said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
The incident began Saturday when Trump posted a tweet with an image of Clinton and the words, “most corrupt candidate ever!” inside a red six-pointed star and hundred-dollar bills in the background. Twitter reaction to the symbol was swift, and a second tweet followed about an hour and half later with the same image and caption but with the red star replaced with a circle. The original tweet remained live for another half hour before it was removed.
Trump’s critics seized on the controversy; “Donald Trump Launches Blatantly Anti-Semitic Attack Against Hillary Clinton,” read a Huffington Post column.
Lewandowski argued, as other Trump defenders have, that the fact that the star had six points did not mean that it was intended to be a Star of David. “This is the mainstream media reading into something,” he said.
Trump has been fighting accusations that he has used crude bigotry and stereotypes throughout his campaign, though it was mostly centered on allegations of anti-Hispanic bias. He has been supportive of the Jewish state of Israel, arguing that the U.S. should adopt some of its security measures.
The image was apparently not created by the Trump campaign, with one report indicating it may have originated on a far-right message board frequented white nationalists and neo-Nazis.
