Obama Condemns 'Vile Antisemitic Conspiracy Theories' Promoted by Kanye West, Kyrie Irving
Irving and West have been accused of promoting antisemitic conspiracy theories on social media in recent weeks. 'We have to call it out and put an end to that kind of mindset. But unfortunately it seems that this kind of poison gets more and more attention,' the former president said
Former U.S. President Barack Obama on Saturday sharply condemned "big celebrities" for posting antisemitic conspiracy theories, alluding to recent controversies centering around Kanye West and Kyrie Irving.
"It's not just politicians. Whether it's out of malice or ignorance, we've seen recently big celebrities reposting vile, antisemitic conspiracy theories online," Obama told a Pennsylvania rally in support of Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman.
"You don't have to be a student of history to understand how dangerous and unacceptable that is. I don't know when we decided we were going to believe everything we read on the internet," the former president told the Pittsburgh crowd.
"Here's a tip: if you read or see something online that has some grand theory about how some particular group – whether black folks or white folks or Jews or Catholics or immigrants or gays – if it says they are the cause of all your problems, it's safe to say it's garbage, a lie, dangerous poison," he continued.
"We have to call it out and put an end to that kind of mindset. But unfortunately it seems that this kind of poison gets more and more attention," Obama added.
Irving, an all-star NBA point guard, was suspended indefinitely by the Brooklyn Nets for failing to unequivocally condemn antisemitism after sharing a link to an antisemitic film. Irving, who has since posted a more thorough apology on his social media, will have to meet with Jewish leaders before being reinstated.
Nike has also suspended its relationship with Irving and will not launch the next version of his signature sneaker.
West, who has continued to promote antisemitic conspiracy theories following his hateful social media postings over the past several weeks, shared an image of Irving in solidarity in his first Tweet since being reinstated to the social media platform.
Obama is a huge rabbit hole, if anyone cares to dig.
BUT, Obama did us one big favor, which was to keep HILLARY OUT of office.
They never thought she would lose, in 2008, or 2016