"Puppet master": Beck's attacks on Soros are steeped in anti-Semitic stereotypes
Glenn Beck has repeatedly attacked financier and philanthropist George Soros with anti-Semitic stereotypes, referring to Soros as a "puppet master" and accusing him of controlling the media, the political process, and the global economy.
Beck: Soros is "the puppet master"
Beck portrays Soros as "the puppet master" during ads for his Soros episode. On his Fox News show, Glenn Beck has repeatedly referred to Soros as a "puppet master" while promoting the November 9, 2010, edition of his Fox News show, which he claims will "expose" Soros. During one ad for the program that referred to Soros as a "puppet master," an on-screen image of the Star of David faded into an image of Soros:
Beck called Soros the "king" and President Obama a pawn. On the September 15, 2010, edition of Glenn Beck, Beck displayed a large chess board, which he claimed would illustrate "how far the establishment will go to protect the power that they have built up." Beck assigned various figures roles based on the pieces of the chess game. Beck said, "Now, who are the king and queen and the advisers and the knights, the protection of the castle?" Grabbing the king piece, Beck continued, "Well, if I may -- I think you've got Soros." Beck later said that Barack and Michelle Obama were "pawns."
Beck: "I'm going to introduce the puppet master, George Soros." Appearing on the November 5, 2010, edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, Beck displayed a puppet that he said "isn't just any puppet" and that it "is George Soros." Beck went on to say, "On Tuesday, I'm going to introduce the puppet master, George Soros, and -- and all of the stuff the spooky dude does" (transcript from the Nexis database).
Beck: "A special hour on the puppet master, George Soros. ... [Y]our republic's at stake." In a November 6, 2010, ad on Fox News, Beck said, "One of the most important shows I've ever done. Tuesday night on the Glenn Beck program, a special hour on the puppet master, George Soros. It's something you won't hear on any other network. Your republic's at stake -- set your DVR now. Five p.m. Eastern."
Beck: "Will the George Soroses of the world control everything?" From the October 27, 2010, edition of Glenn Beck (from Nexis):
BECK: November 2nd will determine which road America will take. Will we start on the path to restoring honor and trust and common sense in Washington? Or will we continue down the road where anything goes, the ends justify the means and people can just look at you and lie to your face and there's no repercussions? Will we continue to live in a world where political games and the political allies and the George Soroses of the world control everything?
Have you noticed Nancy Pelosi and President Obama and his administration keep talking about the economy and how it's recovering, it's on the right track, and how they're saving jobs left and right? Watch.
Beck: Soros "is the head of the snake." During the October 15, 2010, edition of his Fox News show, Beck claimed that "most everybody in the early progressive movement, their father or somebody involved, was a preacher. And they hated it." Guest David Barton then said, "The ACLU was headed by a preacher in the progressive movement; Americans for Democratic Action, headed by a preacher in the progressive movement -- it is amazing how many of these progressive organizations were headed by preachers." Beck then invoked Jim Wallis, who guest Calvin Beisner said "takes money from George Soros." Beck then said Soros "is the head of the snake."
Beck: Soros controls the economy
Beck cited anti-Semitic smear that Soros pursued a Jewish "agenda" to collapse Southeast Asian currencies. On the October 5, 2010, edition of his Fox News show, Beck continued his smear campaign against George Soros, saying that "many, including the Malaysian prime minister, believe it was billionaire speculator George Soros who helped trigger the [Southeast Asian] economic meltdown" in 1997, a reference to former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's false and anti-Semitic claim that Soros was part of a Jewish "agenda" to collapse Southeast Asian currencies. In an October 10, 1997, report from the Malaysian newspaper Berita Harian (excerpted by BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, accessed via Nexis), Mahathir was quoted as saying: "We do not want to say that this is a plot by the Jews, but in reality it is a Jew who triggered the currency plunge, and coincidentally Soros is a Jew. It is also a coincidence that the Malaysians are mostly Muslim." From the report:
Kuala Terengganu, 10th October: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad has said that the government suspects that the Jews have an agenda to destroy the economy of this country and other Muslim countries. Also Dr Mahathir did not reject the possibility that the attack on the local currency was to shut his mouth so that he would stop criticizing George Soros, a Jew who hailed from Hungary. "We do not want to say that this is a plot by the Jews, but in reality it is a Jew who triggered the currency plunge, and coincidentally Soros is a Jew. It is also a coincidence that the Malaysians are mostly Muslim."
"Indeed, the Jews are not happy to see Muslims. If it were Palestine, the Jews would rob Palestinians. Thus this is what they are doing to our country," he said when referring to Soros' involvement in the depreciation of the ringgit.
According to an October 11, 1997, Agence France-Presse article (from Nexis), Mahathir later denied that he was suggesting a Jewish agenda resulted in his country's economic crisis:
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad Saturday said he did not accuse the Jews of undermining the economy of Malaysia and other Moslem countries.
"I merely stated that this person (American financier George Soros) is Jewish," Mahathir was quoted as saying by Bernama news agency in the Moslem dominated eastern coastal state of Terengganu.
As AFP reported in an October 15, 2006, article, Mahathir met with Soros and said of their meeting: "Mr Soros said he was not involved in the devaluation of the Malaysian currency and that other people were involved. And I have accepted that."
Beck: Soros is a "puppet master" looking to create a "new world order." During the November 3, 2010, edition of his Fox News show, Beck said that Soros was the "puppet master" who was "on the other end of Barack's BlackBerry." Beck went on to suggest Soros was using the Federal Reserve to create a "new world order" (transcript from Nexis).
Beck: Soros and his "minion, Al Gore" have "been preparing this new world order for a long time. They helped create it."
Yet Beck and libertarian-conservatives claim they are not anti-Semitic.
