Donald Trump’s campaign manager has criticised the behaviour of a man who chanted “Jew-SA” at journalists at a Trump rally in Arizona on Saturday night.
In video footage of the incident, the man, who was wearing a “Hillary for Prison” T-shirt, can be seen turning around to the press, as the rest of the crowd chant “U-S-A”. While making a series of hand gestures, he shouts “Jew-SA” at people in the press area, subsequently adding, “we’re run by the Jews, OK.”
Speaking to CNN, Kellyanne Conway, the Trump Campaign manager, called the man’s conduct “deplorable.”
“His conduct is completely unacceptable and does not reflect our campaign or our candidate.
D“And had I been there, I would have asked security to remove him immediately. Clearly, he doesn’t speak for the campaign or the candidate.”
The Billionaire realtor’s campaign has been mired in racism controversies since it began. These controversies have included accusations of antisemitism, despite Mr Trump’s own daughter, Ivanka, having converted to Judaism to marry her husband Jared Kushner.
Guy chants "Jew-S-A" in front of press pen pic.twitter.com/2yqgA6dD4k
— Nick Corasaniti (@NYTnickc) October 29, 2016
In September Donald Trump tweeted a picture of Hillary Clinton together with money, a six-pointed star and the words “the most corrupt candidate ever”.
Despite the image having previously been shared on a Neo-Nazi web forum, Mr Trump denied that the star was a Jewish Star of David, making the suggestion that it could have been a “Sheriff’s star, or a plain star”.
Earlier, in February, Donald Trump had seemed confused over his own feelings towards David Duke, a former Imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan and antisemitic conspiracy theorist.
While disavowing Duke’s support on the Friday February 26, during a CNN interview on Sunday 28 Mr Trump declined to disavow Duke, saying “I don’t know anything about David Duke… Certainly I would disavow it if I thought there was something wrong.” He later reiterated his previous disavowment.
While many bystanders at Saturday night’s Trump rally appeared to ignore the man shouting at the press, one member of the audience did come up with a memorable comment to illustrate the unpleasant affair.
Ashley Killough, a CNN journalist who was one of those who filmed the incident, then tweeted:
Man who witnessed it said this to press: "That’s why you get your kids an education--so they don’t sniff paint the rest of their lives." https://t.co/NLu8WmSCS6
— Ashley Killough (@KilloughCNN) October 30, 2016