Julia Ioffe Connects Trump to Synagogue Shooter: Flames of Hatred Fanned by Caravan Rhetoric

Julia Ioffe expounded on her recent Washington Post column on Morning Joe today and reinforced her thesis that President Donald Trump’s anti-immigration rhetoric fanned the flames of hatred for the crazed gunman that took 11 lives at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh this weekend.

The GQ columnist — and avowed critic of the President — asked in her column “How much responsibility does Trump bear for the synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh?” which took a very tough look at Trump’s rhetorical relationship with those who do evil deeds which she answers: “His role is just to set the tone. Their role is to do the rest.”

“This isn’t just an attack on Jews, this is an attack on immigrants,” Ioffe noted, adding “This man, the flames of his hatred were fanned by a president who kept talking about this caravan of refugees, as if they were terrorists or as if they were coming to commit atrocious crimes in our country, which they’re not.”

Pro-Trump media outlets have presented the caravan of migrants currently near the Mexico-Guatemala border as invaders, and provided constant coverage of a story often claim as an immediate threat of national security. Critics have seen this as irresponsible fear-mongering, and in fact, the murderer of 11 worshipers in a Pittsburgh synagogue appears to have been a firm believer in the “invader” narrative.

Ioffe continued in agreement with host Joe Scarborough went on to broaden the critique to Republicans in Congress who, in their eyes, have irresponsibly played a dangerous game of dog-whistle anti-Semitism. Ioffe pointed to a tweet deleted by Rep. Kevin McCarthy that criticized the buying of the midterm election by rich billionaires of Jewish heritage (Mike Bloomberg, Tom Steyer, and George Soros.)

Watch the clip above courtesy of MSNBC.

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