EXTREMISMMar-a-Lago Search Sparks Antisemitic Conspiracy Theories Online
Antisemitic conspiracy theories circulated widely on social media after the search at Mar-a-Lago. Extremist groups and influencers have used the faith of the judge who signed the search warrant, Bruce Reinhart, as ammunition to promote unfounded claims that Jewish individuals are controlling the FBI and other government entities in order to take down Donald Trump and defend the “deep state.”
Antisemitic conspiracy theories circulated widely on social media after Florida magistrate judge Bruce Reinhart was identified as the signor of the warrant that granted FBI agents access to former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home on August 8, 2022. Extremist groups and influencers have used Reinhart’s faith as ammunition to promote unfounded claims that Jewish individuals are controlling the FBI and other government entities in order to take down Donald Trump and defend the “deep state.”
In general, there has been a significant amount of antisemitic hate speech and conspiracy theories permeating in online spaces in response to the Mar-a-Lago search. For example, Andrew Anglin published a piece on his neo-Nazi website The Daily Stormer, positing the various ways that America’s “Jew government” is plotting their revenge – against either Trump or Russia – as evidenced by the FBI’s recent actions in Mar-a-Lago. In the article, he states that “extremist pro-war Jews are currently arguing with extremist political Democrat Jews.”
In another neo-Nazi publication, National Vanguard, an article responding to the Mar-a-Lago search includes hypotheses about why “the Jews hate Trump.” The author incorporates aspects of the Great Replacement conspiracy theory, claiming that “Jews viscerally hate, and are wiping them from the face of the Earth. Despite Trump not caring about Whites any more than they do, Jewry’s hotheaded linkage proved fatal to him.”
Some antisemitic Telegram channels shared similar theories, claiming that Jews are simply afraid of Trump accessing power and that Mar-a-Lago is evidence of “just how tenuous the Jewish stranglehold on power is right now.”
However, a notable portion of the post-Mar-a-Lago search antisemitic conspiracy theories have been directed specifically at Reinhart. These narratives incorporate other public figures as well as general paranoia about his perceived involvement in an all-powerful “Jewish cabal.”
Misleading headlines and social media posts initially claimed that Reinhart was a lawyer for Jeffrey Epstein, who was charged with sex trafficking underage girls before committing suicide in 2019. In reality, reports say that Reinhart legally represented associates of Epstein, not Epstein himself. A doctored image showing Reinhart with Epstein affiliate Ghislaine Maxwell has also been misinterpreted as genuine on social media and in the news, despite a number of fact checks debunking it. Yet false claims that Reinhart both represented and supported Epstein have persisted, often alongside antisemitic hate speech. On Telegram, one user wrote, “Reinhart is J*wish just like Epstein! They seem to take care of their own at all costs.”
