Adapted from The New York Times, January 26, 2020, by
Among the media organizations given credentials for the Trump trip to the recent World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, one stood out: TruNews, a website aimed at conservative Christians, whose founder, a pastor named Rick Wiles, recently described Trump’s impeachment as “a Jew coup” planned by “a Jewish cabal.”
Five employees of TruNews, based in Florida, received formal credentials from the White House to cover the president’s trip. Now, White House officials, in this and previous administrations, tend to be flexible in choosing which news organizations receive press credentials: Reporting is a form of free speech and there are no legal restrictions on who can declare themselves journalists.
But Wiles’s ability to secure credentials after his anti-Semitic remarks — which prompted a formal rebuke from two members of Congress — has left civil rights groups deeply troubled. “It’s a validation of their work,” said Kyle Mantyla, a senior fellow at the progressive group People for the American Way, which has tracked Wiles’s work. TruNews, he said, “sees it as the White House being on their side.”
In thanking the White House for its “invitation,” Wiles said, “We are honored to be here, representing the kingdom of heaven and our king Jesus Christ.”
In thanking the White House for its “invitation,” Wiles said, “We are honored to be here, representing the kingdom of heaven and our king Jesus Christ.”
TruNews, which Wiles founded as an online radio program in 1999 called America’s Hope, has a history of spreading conspiracy theories and proclaiming an imminent apocalypse. It drew more scrutiny in November after Wiles, in an online video, accused Jews of orchestrating Trump’s impeachment.
“That’s the way Jews work,” Wiles said. “They are deceivers. They plot, they lie, they do whatever they have to do to accomplish their political agenda. This ‘Impeach Trump’ movement is a Jew coup, and the American people better wake up to it really fast.” Wiles also warned his listeners that “when Jews take over a country, they kill millions of Christians.”
“That’s the way Jews work,” Wiles said. “They are deceivers. They plot, they lie, they do whatever they have to do to accomplish their political agenda. This ‘Impeach Trump’ movement is a Jew coup, and the American people better wake up to it really fast.” Wiles also warned his listeners that “when Jews take over a country, they kill millions of Christians.”
Asked in an interview if he understood why his “Jew coup” comments prompted charges of anti-Semitism, Wiles replied: “I coined a phrase. It came out of my mouth: ‘It looks like a Jew coup.’ All I pointed out was many of the people involved were Jewish.”
Pressed if such rhetoric could be reasonably interpreted as anti-Semitic, Wiles said: “It’s hard to say. I don’t know. I can tell you from my heart there is no ill will toward the Jewish people, with all sincerity.”
Ted Deutch, the representative from Florida who criticized the comments, learned of TruNews’s presence in Davos while on a congressional trip to Jerusalem to commemorate the Holocaust. “I can’t believe the day before I attend an event at Yad Vashem [the Israeli Holocaust memorial] marking 75 years since the liberation of Auschwitz, anti-Semites were given White House credentials to broadcast from European soil,” Deutch wrote on Twitter.
Wiles … said that he had been unfairly attacked by “the self-appointed gods and goddesses of the news media, who do not think we should be permitted to attend any event.” He went on to blame George Soros, the Jewish financier often cited in anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, for coordinating a campaign against him.
Wiles, in the interview, said that he had been unfairly attacked by “the self-appointed gods and goddesses of the news media, who do not think we should be permitted to attend any event.” He went on to blame George Soros, the Jewish financier often cited in anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, for coordinating a campaign against him.
“I don’t think anybody can find fault with our news coverage at these events,” Wiles said. “They may not agree with our analysis and conclusions. But our behavior at these events — we’re professional, we’re respectful.”
Good people on both sides, right?
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