George Soros conspiracy theories

George Soros, Hungarian-born American businessman and philanthropist, is the object of numerous conspiracy theories.
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Hungarian-American billionaire businessman and philanthropist George Soros's philanthropy and support for progressive causes has made him the subject of many conspiracy theories, most of them originating from the political right.[1][2] Veronika Bondarenko, writing for Business Insider said: "For two decades, some have seen Soros as a kind of puppet master secretly controlling the global economy and politics."[3] The New York Times describes the allegations as moving "from the dark corners of the internet and talk radio" to "the very center of the political debate" by 2018.[4] Professor Armin Langer has noted that Soros is "the perfect code word" for conspiracy theories that unite antisemitism and Islamophobia.[5]

One prominent Soros-related conspiracy theory is that he is behind the European migrant crisis or importing migrants to European countries. Under the current second premiership of Viktor Orbán, the Hungarian government has spent millions of dollars on a poster campaign demonizing Soros. According to anthropologist Ivan Kalmar, "[m]any of his most outspoken enemies inside and outside Hungary saw him as leading an international cabal that included other Jews such as the Rothschilds, as well as Freemasons and Illuminati."[6][7]

Soros has become a magnet for such theories, with opponents claiming he is behind such diverse events as the 2017 Women's March, the fact-checking website Snopes, the gun-control activism engaged in by the survivors of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting,[8][9][10] the October 2018 Central American immigrant caravans, and protests against the Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court nomination.[4][11] In a tweet, President Donald Trump also claimed Soros was backing the protests against Kavanaugh's nomination.[12]

American conservatives picked up on the thread in the late 2000s, spearheaded by Fox News. Bill O'Reilly gave an almost ten-minute monologue on Soros in 2007, calling him an "extremist" and claiming he was "off-the-charts dangerous."[9]

  1. ^ Soskis, Benjamin (December 5, 2017). "George Soros and the Demonization of Philanthropy". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on February 20, 2018. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
  2. ^ Rachman, Gideon (September 18, 2017). "Soros hatred is a global sickness". Financial Times. Archived from the original on February 27, 2018. Retrieved March 4, 2018.
  3. ^ Bondarenko, Veronika (May 20, 2017). "George Soros is a favorite target of the right – here's how that happened". Business Insider. Archived from the original on February 27, 2018. Retrieved March 3, 2018.
  4. ^ a b Shane, Scott; Vogel, Kenneth P.; Kingsley, Patrick (October 31, 2018). "How Vilification of George Soros Moved From the Fringes to the Mainstream". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 1, 2018. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
  5. ^ Langer, Armin (2021). "The eternal George Soros: The rise of an antisemitic and Islamophobic conspiracy theory". Europe: Continent of Conspiracies. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-003-04864-0.
  6. ^ Langer, Armin (2021). "The eternal George Soros: The rise of an antisemitic and Islamophobic conspiracy theory". Europe: Continent of Conspiracies. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-003-04864-0.
  7. ^ Kalmar, Ivan (2020). "Islamophobia and anti-antisemitism: the case of Hungary and the 'Soros plot'". Patterns of Prejudice. 54 (1–2): 182–198. doi:10.1080/0031322X.2019.1705014. S2CID 219021241.
  8. ^ Rynbaum, Michael M. (February 20, 2018). "Right-Wing Media Uses Parkland Shooting as Conspiracy Fodder". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 3, 2018. Retrieved March 3, 2018.
  9. ^ a b Brown, Jennings; Steinblatt, Jacob (March 30, 2017). "How George Soros Became The Right's Biggest Boogeyman". www.vocativ.com. Vocativ. Archived from the original on February 23, 2018. Retrieved March 3, 2018.
  10. ^ Streitfeld, David (December 25, 2016). "For Fact Checking Website Snopes, a Bigger Role Brings More Attacks". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 27, 2016. Retrieved December 27, 2016.
  11. ^ Rizzo, Salvador (October 5, 2018). "No, George Soros isn't paying Kavanaugh protesters". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on October 6, 2018. Retrieved October 6, 2018.
  12. ^ Jamieson, Amber (October 6, 2018). "Trump's Lawyer Retweeted That 'Anti-Christ' George Soros Is Funding Anti-Kavanaugh Protests". Buzzfeed News. Archived from the original on October 6, 2018. Retrieved October 6, 2018.