According to media reports, anti-Semitic memes have been circulated in Montana communities once again. This time it appears that Tim Sheehy’s campaign circulated a meme featuring a darkened photo of Chuck Schumer (who is Jewish) superimposed over a puppet master’s hands manipulating radio, TV and a bag of money.
In May, several national news outlets covering the Schumer meme reported that the Sheehy campaign also employed a 21-year-old man named Caleb Oriet. Oriet has a history of placing bigoted posts on social media. The Daily Beast reported it this way, “The account belonging to the 21-year-old Montanan and self-proclaimed ‘Anglo-Saxon Protestant’ and ‘menace to society’ liked, for instance, a tweet that refers to Black Americans as ‘the most criminal, dependent, and socially destructive part of the population,’ and attacks GOP efforts to connect with Black voters.”
Oriet previously worked for Republican eastern district Congressman Matt Rosendale and gave speeches promoting Christian Nationalism. In 2022 Oriet was the director of a far right organization called The American Populist Union. In an interview with Great Falls Tribune he said, “You look at today’s population, 20.5% of Gen-Z says they’re gay. The political implications of this are disastrous. As people my age start taking power it’s just not going to be a good thing. Our main goal is the replacement of this very elitist American establishment with one that is willing to put America, her citizens and interests over that of foreign interests or international finance.”
The Sheehy campaign refused to respond to requests for information about the incident, instead going on the attack. The campaign said that the Daily Beast was a “trash New York tabloid,” and accused it of “tearing down a 21 year old man.” But after the article appeared, most of Oriet’s social media accounts were closed and his name no longer appeared on the campaign’s website. The Sheehy campaign continues to refuse to respond to questions about his employment status with the campaign.
Gallatin Republican Central Committee
In the middle of June, the Gallatin County Republican Central Committee circulated a similar meme featuring financier George Soros (who is also Jewish) controlling Obama, Biden and Harris. The meme featured a caption saying, “Our situation explained.” Both of these are tropes for anti-Semites promoting conspiracy theories that Jews control the media, banking industry and politics.
Perhaps more troubling is the fact that neither Sheehy’s campaign nor the Republican Central Committee have responded to leaders in the Montana Jewish community when they expressed concern about use of these memes. Nor did either respond to requests for interviews with the media.
Sheehy Has Plenty Of Company In The Republican Party
In the last legislative session, Gallatin County Democratic Legislator Ed Staffman, who is also a Rabbi, was scheduled to give the daily invocation in the Montana House of Representatives. At the last minute, he was informed that his invocation was being canceled by Republican Speaker of the House Matt Regier. Staffman said that he felt he was being shut down because he was not offering a Christian prayer. Another leader in the Jewish community said “The legislature is very single-minded right now. It’s focused on a white, male, Christian agenda.” https://wtf406.com/2023/12/the-oldest-hatred-antisemitism-visits-the-montana-legislature/
Just prior to the last legislative session, Cascade County Senator Jeremy Trebas retweeted a meme about Jewish people conducting child sacrifice. After being confronted about his tweet, Trebas took it down but refused to apologize. https://wtf406.com/2023/12/trebas-fails-to-apologize-for-anti-semitic-tweet/
There is a lot to be concerned about in all of these incidents. First, one has to wonder what kinds of things are being said about Jewish people outside the public eye and what are the beliefs of the officials who apparently tolerate and even defend these actions. The refusal of the officials in these incidents to respond to the leaders of the Jewish community who are rightfully concerned about anti-Semitism in our state and the impact it has on our Jewish citizens. Finally, ignoring inquiries from the media has become the campaign strategy of far too many politicians in our state. A functioning democracy requires an informed citizenry and denying access to public officials is fundamentally anti-democratic.
For more on this https://dailymontanan.com/2024/08/07/jewish-leaders-in-montana-concerned-about-sheehy-gallatin-co-republicans-posting