Donald Trump, in addition to spouting sexist, xenophobic, and racist rhetoric on a near daily basis, has a pretty distinctive habit. He’ll retweet or repeat something that is offensive, and then receive criticism for it. Trump’s next move is to accuse his critics of being “oversensitive” or too “politically correct” or pretend that the comment in question was just misinterpreted by people who don’t want to see him become president. Given that Trump and Hillary Clinton are now the presumptive nominees for their parties, their exchanges are starting to get nastier, and Trump is up to some of these old tricks.

This weekend, that pattern repeated itself. Trump tweeted out a poster accusing Clinton of being corrupt. It contained a picture of her with money in the background, and a Star of David naming her the “Most Corrupt Candidate Ever!” The image’s origin has been traced to a site that contains other neo-Nazi and anti-Semitic content. Check it out for yourself:

Trump puts a Jewish star in an attack ad calling Hillary “corrupt” along with pictures of cash: pic.twitter.com/Q4A9GoRk0D

— logjammin Pete (@LogjamminPete) July 2, 2016

The Star of David juxtaposed with cash screamed not-so-subtle Anti-Semitism to pretty much everyone who saw it. After the backlash, Trump tweeted out a new image that contained a circle instead of the Star of David. Here’s the new tweet:

Crooked Hillary — Makes History! #ImWithYou#AmericaFirstpic.twitter.com/PKQhYhMmIX

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 2, 2016

And of course Trump blamed the media for lying about the image, another move straight out of his playbook. He also claimed that the image didn’t depict a Star of David, but rather a “Sheriff’s badge,” saying: 

These false attacks by Hillary Clinton trying to link the Star of David with a basic star, often used by sheriffs who deal with criminals and criminal behavior, showing an inscription that says ‘Crooked Hillary is the most corrupt candidate ever’ with anti-Semitism is ridiculous.

There are two ways to interpret Trump’s behavior in this case (and the dozens of similar incidents since his campaign kicked off a year ago.) Either he’s feigning ignorance at the socio-political impact of the horrible things he says, retweets, and shares, or he’s truly that ignorant. Either should disqualify him from the presidency. 

Anneliese Mahoney

Anneliese Mahoney is Managing Editor at Law Street and a Connecticut transplant to Washington D.C. She has a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs from the George Washington University, and a passion for law, politics, and social issues. Contact Anneliese at amahoney@LawStreetMedia.com.

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