The antisemitic trope that Jews are the "puppet masters" behind major world developments has been in existence for thousands of years. It's often on display in American politics, with right-wing politicians citing a " globalist" deep state or accusing Democratic megadonor George Soros of installing handpicked politicians in positions of power.
It's sadly no surprise that this same antisemitism has crept into discourse regarding the lifesaving COVID-19 vaccines, which have been proven safe and effective at minimizing the spread and severity of a virus that's killed more than 800 thousand Americans.
Now, the CEO of Utah based tech firm Entrata—and a major donor to the Republican party—has resigned due to his own antisemitism.
In a deranged email sent to his colleagues, Entrata CEO David Bateman absurdly claimed the COVID-19 vaccines were developed and distributed by Jews in an effort to commit genocide against the American people.
The unhinged email read in part:
"For 300 years the Jews have been trying to infiltrate the Catholic Church and place a Jew covertly at the top. It happened in 2013 with Pope Francis. I believe the pandemic and systematic extermination of billions of people will lead to an effort to consolidate all the countries in the world under a single flag with totalitarian rule. I know, it sounds bonkers. No one is reporting on it, but the Hasidic Jews in the US instituted a law for their people that they are not to be vaccinated for any reason."
Not a single sentence of that was true.
Bateman later
told FOX 13 that he has "nothing but love for the Jewish people" and that some of his closest friends are Jews, but he remains under the delusion that "Scottish Rite Freemasons" whom he claimed are "overwhelmingly Jewish" were behind the pandemic.
Among those included in the recipients of Bateman's original anti-semitic email was Utah's Republican governor, Spencer Cox.
Cox joined the chorus of voices decrying the unhinged diatribe.
These irresponsible comments are hurtfully anti-Semitic, blatantly false, and we completely reject them. https://t.co/ZDylmNaidM
— Utah Gov. Spencer J. Cox (@GovCox) January 5, 2022
Social media users agreed with Cox's assessment.
But given that Cox was CC'd on the original email, others want answers about what will happen going forward—especially with the money Bateman has donated to the state's GOP.
Cox is far from the only person condemning Bateman's comments.
Hopefully Bateman can get the help he needs to come back from such dangerous delusions.
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