# Trump's Star of David tweet **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [July 4, 2016, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-star-of-david-tweet/759090 "2016-07-04T19:58:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2016, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-star-of-david-tweet/759090/121 "2016-07-06T17:38:34Z")
When a picture with a 6 pointed star comes from a white supremacist website, then any questions about what the star is meant to represent are kind of moot. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2016, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-star-of-david-tweet/759090/122 "2016-07-06T17:49:20Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > And all the 5/6 point stars have little balls on each point that are associated with LEO badges. I wonder, what is the purpose of the balls? ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2016, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-star-of-david-tweet/759090/123 "2016-07-06T17:50:32Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I wonder, what is the purpose of the balls? You see, when a man and a woman love each other very much, they decide they might want to have a little baby of their own… ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2016, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-star-of-david-tweet/759090/124 "2016-07-06T18:01:45Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > I consider myself reasonably well educated, but had you shown me that tweet and asked me what was wrong with it, I could have spent weeks and never come up with a Star of David. … One can be reasonably well educated and yet be ignorant. Thankfully you have not much exposure to hate group propaganda, and likely not been the target of it yourself. > [@iiandyiiii](#): > > When a picture with a 6 pointed star comes from a white supremacist website, then any questions about what the star is meant to represent are kind of moot. Moot … and stupid and offensive. ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2016, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-star-of-david-tweet/759090/125 "2016-07-06T18:04:09Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I wonder, what is the purpose of the balls? So you’re not wearing a stabby little ornament on your chest while you’re doing a job that can turn physical at any time? ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2016, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-star-of-david-tweet/759090/126 "2016-07-06T18:05:25Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > And all the 5/6 point stars have little balls on each point that are associated with LEO badges. Whenever I think of little balls, I think of LEOs. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2016, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-star-of-david-tweet/759090/127 "2016-07-06T18:24:30Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > One can be reasonably well educated and yet be ignorant. Thankfully you have not much exposure to hate group propaganda, and likely not been the target of it yourself. Yes, but I want to emphasize that this is not to diss UltraVires. Lots of people just never come across images produced by poisonous purveyors of bigotry. Trump took the original offending image down pretty quickly, indicating that someone on his staff realized that it was potentially toxic. In fact, once it was pointed out to him, I’m pretty sure that Trump himself would immediately grasp the situation given his geographic upbringing and residence. Afterwards the campaign executed their longstanding “No apologies” strategy of course. Shoulda sacrificed an intern I say. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2016, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-star-of-david-tweet/759090/128 "2016-07-06T18:24:34Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > First sentence is true enough. Second, not so much. They copied the tweet from a white supremacist site, and the anti-Semite message was very much intended. He could have avoided the whole mess by hiring staff who can do their own research and create their own graphics and not act like our Reich wing Facebook friends and simply forward memes they agree with… Stars come in many shapes and sizes. The first step to understand a situation used to be asking for clarification but it’s now it appears much easier to get one’s exercise by jumping to conclusions. Especially if they’re eViL conclusions. 😉 Or just an attempt to divert attention away from Hillary’s careless/incompetent actions. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2016, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-star-of-david-tweet/759090/129 "2016-07-06T18:31:46Z")
> [@Enginerd](#): > > So you’re not wearing a stabby little ornament on your chest while you’re doing a job that can turn physical at any time? Sounds good to me. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2016, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-star-of-david-tweet/759090/130 "2016-07-06T18:32:01Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > Stars come in many shapes and sizes. The first step to understand a situation used to be asking for clarification but it’s now it appears much easier to get one’s exercise by jumping to conclusions. Especially if they’re eViL conclusions. 😉 Or just an attempt to divert attention away from Hillary’s careless/incompetent actions. This particular star (and the rest of the image) came from a white supremacist website. ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2016, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-star-of-david-tweet/759090/131 "2016-07-06T18:34:26Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > This particular star (and the rest of the image) came from a white supremacist website. And was overlaid on a background of $100 bills. At this point, anybody who maintains that it’s not a reference to Jewish stereotypes is not worth taking seriously. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2016, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-star-of-david-tweet/759090/132 "2016-07-06T18:41:06Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > Stars come in many shapes and sizes. The first step to understand a situation used to be asking for clarification but it’s now it appears much easier to get one’s exercise by jumping to conclusions. Especially if they’re eViL conclusions. 😉 Or just an attempt to divert attention away from Hillary’s careless/incompetent actions. Trump took it down. If it were still up, then, okay, maybe let’s ask for clarification – but the star done got covered up by Trump, for some reason. We don’t need to ask whether Trump should take it down; we can skip straight to asking him to explain _why_ he took it down. And if the answer is _“because it’s objectionable and offensive and implies awful things about Jews, which isn’t my intent and I apologize,”_ then he should look into the camera and say that. And if the answer is something else, then it’s insufficient. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2016, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-star-of-david-tweet/759090/133 "2016-07-06T18:43:55Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > And all the 5/6 point stars have little balls on each point that are associated with LEO badges. What’s this? The 7 point stars don’t have little balls on each point? Are you suggesting that a LEO department can personalize their choice? In America? That’s incredible. :rolleyes: People who wanted to see a Star of David, or needed to see a Star of David, saw a Star of David. _Forget it, Jake. It’s Chinatown/politics. -Lawrence Walsh, one of Gittes’s associates_ ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2016, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-star-of-david-tweet/759090/134 "2016-07-06T18:46:12Z")
> [@Enginerd](#): > > And was overlaid on a background of $100 bills. At this point, anybody who maintains that it’s not a reference to Jewish stereotypes is not worth taking seriously. That’s the nicest thing you could say about them. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2016, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-star-of-david-tweet/759090/135 "2016-07-06T18:49:25Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > Yes, but I want to emphasize that this is not to diss UltraVires. Lots of people just never come across images produced by poisonous purveyors of bigotry. I agree. My wife was not aware of this story a couple nights ago. I showed her the image without any preface. I asked her what she thought of it, and she rolled her eyes at the “most corrupt” label being applied to Clinton. And that was it. The antisemitic content didn’t register with her at all. My wife is super damned smart. She’s a doctor and trained at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, where the majority of her coworkers were Jewish. She doesn’t work there anymore but still encounters Jewish people in the medical profession routinely. We currently live in a predominantly Jewish neighborhood. My wife is very socially liberal and concerned about treating everyone with respect and dignity. But she just didn’t see the symbolism that was so obvious to me. She’s not as cynical as I am. Of course she was horrified when I told her the image came from a white supremacist site. She’s decent and kind and still has the ability to be surprised by hate. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2016, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-star-of-david-tweet/759090/136 "2016-07-06T19:06:51Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > People who wanted to see a Star of David, or needed to see a Star of David, saw a Star of David. For example - the guy who created the graphic in the first place and posted it at a white supremacist web-site. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2016, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-star-of-david-tweet/759090/137 "2016-07-06T19:30:20Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > That’s incredible. :rolleyes: > > People who wanted to see a Star of David, or needed to see a Star of David, saw a Star of David. Donald Trump should apologize on live national television for his tweet, announcing that he finds antisemites to be both monstrous and moronic. Now, you may look at that sentence and see a call for Donald Trump to apologize on live national television for his tweet, announcing that he finds antisemites to be both monstrous and moronic; people who want to see that, or _need_ to see that, will see that. After all, it’s what the guy who created that sentence intended. But _other_ folks may look at that sentence and see an offer to buy Donald Trump a delicious banana split at the local ice-cream parlor; my treat! ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2016, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-star-of-david-tweet/759090/138 "2016-07-06T19:31:05Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > People who wanted to see a Star of David, or needed to see a Star of David, saw a Star of David. Like the white supremacists who created the image and posted it on a white supremacist website. EDIT: Ninja’d… how’d I miss that one? ---
**Author:** ![Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/do_not_taunt/32/2968_2.png) [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Do_Not_Taunt)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2016, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-star-of-david-tweet/759090/139 "2016-07-06T19:32:28Z")
> [@Bayard](#): > > I agree. My wife was not aware of this story a couple nights ago. I showed her the image without any preface. I asked her what she thought of it, and she rolled her eyes at the “most corrupt” label being applied to Clinton. And that was it. The antisemitic content didn’t register with her at all. My wife is super damned smart. She’s a doctor and trained at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, where the majority of her coworkers were Jewish. She doesn’t work there anymore but still encounters Jewish people in the medical profession routinely. We currently live in a predominantly Jewish neighborhood. My wife is very socially liberal and concerned about treating everyone with respect and dignity. But she just didn’t see the symbolism that was so obvious to me. > > She’s not as cynical as I am. Of course she was horrified when I told her the image came from a white supremacist site. She’s decent and kind and still has the ability to be surprised by hate. I’m in a similar boat to your wife and **UltraVires** - I just didn’t see it as a Star of David originally. It was - to use Trump’s term - just a “plain star.” In processing the controversy, it did seem like a stretch - Stars of David are interlocking triangles, right? Then came the news about the origins of the tweet. Now I think it’s completely clear that this is a dog whistle I just didn’t hear. It’s possible neither Trump nor his staff heard it either. But their unwillingness to admit error and back down is extremely problematic. And the context of a campaign that is consistently swimming in some hate-infested waters is also costing them any benefit-of-doubt a normal campaign would get. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2016, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-star-of-david-tweet/759090/140 "2016-07-06T19:34:21Z")
Trump and his campaign reusing and retweeting white supremacist images and posts is more than a trend – it’s routine. And they don’t seem to have a problem with it – just part of their communication strategy. If they wanted to fix it, they would have – that kind of thing is incredibly easy to fix. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-star-of-david-tweet/759090.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-star-of-david-tweet/759090.md?page=8)