A Democratic lawmaker is under fire after he promoted a conspiracy theory claiming Jewish financiers manipulate the climate and are to blame for the weather.
Trayvon White, a Washington, D.C., councilman who represents Ward 8, published a video to his Facebook page Friday as snow began to fall in the nation’s capital.
“Man, it just started snowing out of nowhere this morning, man,” White can be heard saying in the video as he drives west on interstate 695. “Y’all better pay attention to this climate control, man, this climate manipulation. And D.C. keep talking about, ‘We a resilient city.’
“And that’s a model based off the Rothschilds controlling the climate to create natural disasters they can pay for to own the cities, man. Be careful.”
White was referencing the Rothschild family, a European banking dynasty, and a conspiracy theory that claims the family and other Jews secretly control global events.
When the Washington Post questioned White about his video, he sent a text to reporters saying his “video says what it says.”
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Rabbi Daniel Zemel of Temple Micah in Northwest Washington blasted White’s video in statements reported by the Washington Post.
“This kind of anti-Semitism is unacceptable [from] any public official,” Zemel told the paper. “This so diminishes what America is about and adds to the oppressive feeling going on in the country right now. We all have to be better. Public officials have to learn not to say the first ignorant thing that comes to their head.”
But White later apologized for making the claims in an Instagram post.
“I want to apologize to the Jewish Community and anyone I have offended,” White wrote. “The Jewish community have been allies with me in my journey to help people. I did not intend to be Anti- Semitic (sic), and I see I should not have said that after learning from my colleagues.”
The Democratic councilman said he has learned from Jews United for Justice, a group that endorsed him in 2016, about “the history of comments made against Jews.”
On Sunday evening, Jews United for Justice tweeted: “We spoke with @trayonwhite tonight about how his comments played into the long history of antisemitism. We look forward to working with him toward deeper understanding of antisemitism and toward our collective liberation.”
We spoke with @trayonwhite tonight about how his comments played into the long history of antisemitism. We look forward to working with him toward deeper understanding of antisemitism and toward our collective liberation.
— JUFJ (@jufj) March 19, 2018
Concerned individuals may contact Councilmember Trayvon White by email or by phone.Â
