<u+201c>i<u+2019>m jewish, so maybe i<u+2019>m sensitive to it, but it clearly had sort of [an] <u+2018>elders of zion<u+2019> kind of feel to it,<u+201d> sen. al franken said. | getty by madeline conway 11/06/16 10:17 am est updated 11/06/16 02:55 pm est minnesota sen. al franken on sunday called a new advertisement for donald trump<u+2019>s campaign <u+201c>something of a german shepherd whistle<u+201d> designed to appeal to his supporters in the so-called alt-right. the tv spot warns of the influence of <u+201c>those who control the levers of power in washington<u+201d> and <u+201c>global special interests,<u+201d> and it raised eyebrows among observers who said it contains anti-semitic overtones. as cnn<u+2019>s jake tapper noted to franken on sunday morning on <u+201c>state of the union,<u+201d> commentators have pointed out that it targets three public figures who are jewish <u+2014> billionaire george soros, federal reserve chair janet yellen and goldman sachs ceo lloyd blankfein. story continued below franken, a democrat and hillary clinton supporter, said his reaction to the ad was: <u+201c>this was something of a german shepherd whistle, a dog whistle, to sort of the, a certain group in the united states<u+201d> and said it speaks to <u+201c>a certain part<u+201d> of trump<u+2019>s base in the alt-right. <u+201c>i<u+2019>m jewish, so maybe i<u+2019>m sensitive to it, but it clearly had sort of [an] <u+2018>elders of zion<u+2019> kind of feel to it,<u+201d> franken said. <u+201c>international banking plot or conspiracy, rather, and then a number of jews.<u+201d> by daniel strauss <u+201c>i think that it<u+2019>s an appeal to some of the worst elements in our country as his closing argument,<u+201d> he added. <u+201c>and i think that people who aren<u+2019>t sensitive to that or don<u+2019>t know that history may not see that in that, but that<u+2019>s what i immediately saw.<u+201d> the anti-defamation league also condemned the trump ad for dangerously flirting with anti-jewish imagery. "whether intentional or not, the images and rhetoric in the ad touch on subjects that anti-semites have used for ages," wrote jonathan greenblatt, the organization's ceo. "this needs to stop," he added. "in the final days before the elections, tensions are extremely high. it's a time when all candidates need to be especially responsible and bid for votes by offering sincere ideas and policy proposals, not by conjuring painful stereotypes and baseless conspiracy theories." the alt-right, generally defined as white nationalists and other fringe right-wing groups, has been attracted to the republican nominee in part for his hard-line message on immigration. by bill scher by thomas wright by joshua zeitz by jack shafer
franken: trump ad is <u+2018>something of a german shepherd whistle<u+2019> - politico
madeline conway daniel strauss jack shafer