I don't really understand what Scavino means by "that was why I selected it." Does he means "that was why I selected the six-pointed star shape"? But he didn't select the star -- it was the original graphic from Twitter user FishBoneHead1. Is he saying that he was not sure whether the graphic was worthy of Trump's Twitter feed, but then he noticed that the star was, as he alleges, the same shape as a sheriff's badge, and so he said to himself, "That makes it truly worthy of Mr. Donald J. Trump"? Um, that's ... implausible.
Above: Trump tweet. Below: FishBoneHead1 tweet.
Scavino has demonstrated in the past that he could stand to learn a few things about Judaism. Let's go back to December 2015, just after the San Bernardino massacre:
A senior campaign adviser to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump suggested that President Barack Obama‘s Sunday night address was “disrespectful” to American Jews since it interrupted the first night of Hanukkah. Instead, he suggested Obama’s address should have occurred on Friday or Saturday -- smack-dab in the middle of Shabbat.So what's the problem? BuzzFeed's Adam Serwer explains:
Daniel Scavino, Jr., ... tweeted his comments the hour before the White House’s rare live address from the Oval Office. Per his logic, Scavino thought the broadcast’s timing was “disrespectful” because it fell on “the first night of Hanukkah.” Instead, he thought the address should have occurred “on Friday or Saturday evening.”
Disrespectful. Should have addressed the nation on Friday or Saturday evening. Not the first night of #Hanukkah. https://t.co/bxIlPLzgIe
— Daniel Scavino Jr. (@DanScavino) December 7, 2015
Hanukkah is a holiday of minimal religious significance to Jews -- its cultural importance in the United States is largely due to its proximity to Christmas. (It helps Jewish kids not feel left out when their Christian friends are getting a whole bunch of presents.)He was informed of this on Twitter:
On the other hand, Shabbat, which begins on Friday night and ends on Saturday night, is very important to Jews.
Keeping the Sabbath holy is one of the Ten Commandments, and many Jews refrain from using technology during Shabbat.
So…they wouldn’t be able to watch the speech.
On Shabbat, when observant Jews wouldn't watch TV/listen to radio? Versus on a night when they can? https://t.co/jzFUauylbv
— Jennifer Epstein (@jeneps) December 7, 2015
Trump adviser thinks it would be more respectful to Jews to schedule a speech on Shabbat pic.twitter.com/AR19emUlZ8
— John Tabin (@johntabin) December 7, 2015
Perfect. Thx to @thehotchkid, cc @DanScavino. pic.twitter.com/uIfSU3poey
— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) December 7, 2015
Scavino eventually deleted that tweet, though his embarrassed walkback is still up:
Yes. Wife/in-laws are Jewish, I am not. Right, definitely not Friday -- however last night would have been more appropriate. #Opinion
— Dan Scavino Jr. (@DanScavino) December 7, 2015
I suppose some of you will argue that this was a dog whistle to anti-Semites, too, but it's hard to see why anti-Semite would appreciate an attempt to be culturally sensitive to Jewish concerns, even if it was extremely inept attempt.
I think the Trump campaigns's ongoing flirtation with white supremacists has happened because Team Trump thinks steering clear of flagrant bigots is a thing other campaigns do as a sop to "political correctness" -- which in Trump World is regarded as the worst thing in the world. Beyond that, I think Trump's aides are just plain ignorant. Even a guy whose wife is Jewish hasn't bothered to learn basic facts about Judaism, not even when his job requires him to do outreach to Jewish voters, because, hey, who cares what people who aren't like us think?
There is a long history of bigotry in regards to Jewish people and money. The use of the six-pointed star as a Jewish symbol on a background of money and a comment about corruption all ties together as a revolting but common slur on Jewish people and Clinton.
ReplyDeleteA sheriff's star, emblazoned with a comment about corruption, on a background of money means what, exactly? It links law enforcement, corruption, Hillary, and dirty money? Meaning? His campaign's explanation makes no sense. Oh, and there's the provenance of the nasty thing also.
Trump, as usual, is trying to weasel out his stupid bigoted statement.
This latest outburst of antisemitism from the Trump campaign raises a lot of questions, such as: where did they find this artwork? The originating twitter account was a sewer of bigotry, one the campaign shouldn't even be looking at, much less taking material from. The neo-Nazi forums that broadcast the image, more so. And since then the handling has been worse, with dumbassery and patent dishonestly coming from Trump's personal twitter account (Sheriff's Stars?) and from Scavino: he claims in the same passage to have used the image as he found it, and personally to have selected the six-pointed star as a standard option in PowerPoint.
ReplyDeleteStating the obvious: Scavino needs to go. To resign, or to be fired. Between the antisemitic tweet and the incompetent response to criticism, whoever was in charge of Social Media is automatically for the high jump. The question is: how did the tweet happen, and what can we infer from Scavino not already having been fired? Because there's only really three possibilities:
1) An underling of Scavino's selected and used the artwork. This underling needs to take some of the blame (be fired, possibly be named), and Scavino needs to go for the poor hiring/supervision and the incompetent handling of the response.
2) Scavino selected and used the artwork, and has to go tout suite.
3) Trump himself selected and used the artwork. Problem is, you can't fire Trump from his own campaign; you can't even reveal the tweet was his personal doing.
The longer Scavino isn't fired, the more likely option (3) looks. About the only possible explanation Scavino still has a job, other perhaps than it having been a holiday weekend so maybe he's cleaning out his desk even now, would be if Trump tweeted the antisemitic image personally, and Scavino is being kept on out of fear he'd spill the beans.
I think you're spot on, Warren.
ReplyDeleteTrump is the first candidate at the top of a GOP ticket who's primarily a consumer of right-wing propaganda, not a producer. (Palin was the first running mate.) It used to be that high-level GOP pols generated right-wing memes, but didn't get the majority of their information from sources that specialize in creating those memes. In other words, old-school GOP pols didn't get high on their own supply. Palin did. Trump does. And Trump takes it further, by sourcing his campaign communications to guys in their pajamas who generate even dumber versions of memes from right-wing media.
ReplyDeleteI would be more open to Scavino finding that graphic at the Fishbonehead twitter feed if it had been the opening response to the discovery of the graphic at the anti-Semitic website. "God, no, we didn't get it from those numbskulls, we got it from THIS numbskull." The Fishbonehead site is still pretty rank, but I didn't see anything out of the ordinary from any other Trump fanatic. It was only after the twitter feed became public knowledge that I heard anything about it from Scavino. So, no, I still think they got the graphic from the anti-Semitic website.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Scavino can start running these kinds of things past his wife and her family?
Forrest tRUMP:
ReplyDelete'Bigoted is, as bigoted does...'
It's too damned amateur to be amateur.
ReplyDeleteYou see this all the time with the Retards:, "I didn't know, it's just a John Wayne star, you're the anti-Semite racist for bringing it up". It's a calculated act, they teach classes in it at bible colleges.
I would be more open to Scavino finding that graphic at the Fishbonehead twitter feed if it had been the opening response to the discovery of the graphic at the anti-Semitic website. "God, no, we didn't get it from those numbskulls, we got it from THIS numbskull."
ReplyDeleteBut that would be deference to the dread POLITICAL CORRECTNESS!!!!, which is the worst thing imaginable in Trump Land. (I'm sure the walkbacks now are being ordered by Manafort, or demanded by Ivanka and her husband.)
Does anyone actually know the identity of Trump's Jewish voter? Someone should check to see if she's upset bout this.
ReplyDeleteFeud, FOR THE WIN!
ReplyDeleteHe's lying.
ReplyDeleteSix-pointed Sheriff's stars have little balls at the tip of each star-point.
https://www.google.com/search?q=sheriff+star&num=30&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiwsuKT5tzNAhVKz2MKHVJYCnsQ_AUICCgB&biw=879&bih=502
Yeah, well the guy whose wife is Jewish who hasn't learned about Judaism much is part of an intergenerational trend indicating offspring who will care even less, and their offspring who indeed are "one of us" if you check the history.
ReplyDeleteTo the best of my knowledge, the hexagram only became a predominantly Jewish symbol in the late 19th century with the rise of Zionism. Pentagrams and hexagrams have long had magical interpretations, and the earliest American flags had stars with various numbers of points. The great seal of the United States has thirteen five-pointed stars arranged in a six-pointed star.
ReplyDeleteSorry, I just thought this thread needed more silly erudition.