Politics

ProPublica — Without Evidence — Implies Gov. Matt Bevin Is Anti-Semitic

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Mike Brest Reporter
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ProPublica implied Kentucky Republican Gov. Matt Bevin is anti-Semitic on Wednesday after he singled out left-wing, Jewish billionaire George Soros as one of their donors in a video he tweeted.

The accusation came after Bevin pointed out that Soros donates to ProPublica following their announcement of a partnership with the Louisville Courier-Journal, Kentucky’s largest newspaper. The partnership is one of 14 that ProPublica announced on Wednesday in an attempt to support local newsrooms’ investigative teams.

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While it’s not entirely clear what prompted Bevin’s critical video, the Courier-Journal did uncover that the governor hired one of his friends for a government position and then gave him a raise of $215,000.

Bevin labeled ProPublica a “biased, left-wing organization,” and nicknamed Soros, “George ‘I Hate America’ Soros,” in the video.

In response, ProPublica tweeted, “We noticed you mentioned two of our donors — who just happen to be Jewish. So here are a few *facts* about our funding: We had *34,000* donors last year. George Soros provided less than 2 percent of our revenue.”

When asked by The Daily Caller about the implication that Bevin’s comments were under a guise of anti-Semitism, ProPublica’s president, Dick Tofel, stated, “Singling him out in this context — Gov. Bevin used the phrase ‘the likes of George Soros’ — is classic anti-Semitic dog whistling.”

He did add that criticizing Soros is not inherently anti-Semitic and that he was unsure if Bevin had expressed anti-Semitic views previously.

Despite the claims, he signed an executive order to become the 26th state to pass legislation against the Boycott, Divest and Sanction (BDS) movement last month. It prohibits state contracts to be awarded to organizations that partake in the movement.

The BDS movement describes itself as one trying to uphold “the simple principle that Palestinians are entitled to the same rights as the rest of humanity,” but many accuse the movement of being anti-Semitic because it “rejects Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state,” according to the Anti-Defamation League. (Ocasio-Cortez Spox Refuses To Divulge Where She Stands On BDS Movement)

Further, he also signed the Ann Klein and Fred Gross Holocaust Education Act, which officially requires Kentucky public schools to teach about the Holocaust and other acts of genocide.

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