Giuliani Doubles Down on Years of Antisemitic Comments About George Soros

Donal Trump’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, doubled down on previous antisemitic comments about liberal Jewish philanthropist George Soros, accusing Soros of using Judaism as a “shield and a sword.”

Giuliani made these comments in a series of exchanges over WhatsApp with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency: "Why would criticism of Soros be anti-Semitic [sic]? My goodness with his history it would be just the opposite.”

In 2018, Giuliani called Soros the "Antichrist.” In a now-infamous interview with New York Magazine that came out in December of 2019, Giuliani asserted that he was "more of a Jew" than Soros. In August of 2020, Giuliani also claimed that Soros — who is also a Holocaust survivor — was "hardly a Jew" and had a "sick background."

Republicans and right-wing figures from Donald Trump Jr. to Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich to Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) have all targeted Soros with antisemitic ads or statements. The philanthropist also faced increased ire from the Right in the wake of Black Lives Matter protests over the summer of 2020.

In the same WhatsApp exchange with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Giuliani said of Soros:

“Just confused on the definition and using a religion you don’t seem to accept as a shield and a sword against all criticism. If he’s an atheist he rejects the religion but accepts the ethnicity, is that it?”

The exchange took place following a press conference during which Giuliani falsely alleged that Soros was involved in a massive conspiracy to rig the 2020 presidential election against Donald Trump. In reality, Trump lost the election by seven million votes, and there is no evidence of any widespread fraud.