Russian President Putin. Reuters
Washington Post: Putin condemned for saying Jews may have manipulated U.S. election
Jewish groups and U.S. lawmakers condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin’s suggestion that the 2016 U.S. presidential election may have been manipulated by Russian Jews.
Putin’s remarks came during a long and occasionally surreal interview with NBC News on Saturday, in which he speculated that nearly anyone other than the Russian government could have been behind a program to disrupt the election. U.S. intelligence agencies believe Putin ordered the effort to undermine faith in the U.S. election and help elect Donald Trump as president.
“Maybe they’re not even Russians,” Putin told Megyn Kelly, referring to who might have been behind the election interference. “Maybe they’re Ukrainian, Tatars, Jews — just with Russian citizenship.”
He also speculated that France, Germany or “Asia” might have interfered in the election — or even Russians paid by the U.S. government.
But his remark about Jews, which seemed to suggest that a Russian Jew was not really a Russian, prompted particular outrage among those who remember Russia’s centuries-long history of anti-Semitism and Jewish purges. Some groups compared the statement to anti-Jewish myths that helped inspire the Holocaust.
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Update: Putin Criticized for Remarks Insinuating Jews and Other Minority Groups Could Be Behind U.S. Election Interference (Time)
WNU Editor: In the past Russian President Putin has compared allegations of Russian hacking/meddling in the U.S. election to anti-semitism (see video here). So when the issue of Russian hacking came up with Megah Kelly .... Jews were brought up again by Putin but this time as a possible group among many who may be the ones responsible for interfering in the U.S. election. My response to this "accusation" is blunt .... Putin should know better. He has a good history with Russian Jews and Israel .... so why blow-it with such a bigoted response. The Russia of today is not the Russia of a hundred years ago or more .... so why stir the pot? This is going to stick with him for a long time.
