Former England footballer and TV sports presenter Gary Lineker has come under fire after retweeting a post by “Rachael Swindon” - real name Rachael Cousins - who is one of Jeremy Corbyn’s most ardent online supporters and who has posted antisemitic material in the past.
Ms Cousins is singled out in the CST's report, Engine of Hate. Her past tweets include a conspiracy theory linking the Rothschild family to the Syrian Civil War and a demand for Board of Deputies to condemn and apologise for the actions of Israel.
On Tuesday Mr Lineker, who has 7.5 million followers, retweeted a post by Ms Cousins about a 100-year-old Londoner walking 100 laps around his communal garden to raise money for charities including some that distribute aid to Gaza, Syria and Yemen.
When her antisemitic Twitter history was pointed out to Mr Lineker by Anna Turley, the former Labour MP, he refused to delete his retweet, replying: "Never heard of her. Is she some sort of mass murderer?" Ms Turley pressed him further, to which he responded: "Well I won't be retweeting those tweets."
Well I won’t be retweeting those tweets.
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) May 5, 2020
Later Mr Lineker wrote: “I’d never heard of her. I’m not legitimising her, I supported a 100-year-old chap who’s doing something brilliant.”
On Wednesday, however, after the actor and antisemitism campaigner Tracy-Anne Oberman asked Mr Lineker to delete the retweet, he did so, replying: "Deleted. Stay safe."
