George Soros conspiracy theories are back

Right-wing extremists are doing Putin’s work for him. They can never accept the idea that people can protest without being paid to do it. They are trying to delegitimize the very valid reasons for the protests.

I’ve said this before, and it is worth repeating: I don’t think Ginni Thomas should be doing any political activism, let alone sharing bigoted tropes. We don’t hear about this stuff from any of the other justices’ spouses. https://t.co/T5Yv5NztPn
— Brian Rosenwald (@brianros1) October 14, 2020

Newt Gingrich: "The number one problem in almost all the cities is George Soros-elected, left-wing, antipolice pro-criminal district attorneys…"

Fox hos: "I’m not sure we need to bring George Soros into this."

Newt: "Okay… So, it’s verboten?"

Long awkward silence. pic.twitter.com/tl4CgGcrzI
— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) September 16, 2020

Soros is to this era what the Templars were to hermetic and Grail conspiracy: a necessary ingredient. Why? Because QAnon and its predecessors and crazy offshoots are anti-Semitic celebrity-based ravings for people too lazy to learn any history. It’s the Reality TV of conspiracy. https://t.co/xykh2q4aWH
— Michael Marshall Smith (@ememess) July 12, 2020

The George Soros conspiracy theories were first heavily weaponized and leveraged by the Kremlin after Soros publicly criticized Putin in 2014 https://t.co/SdZnbQNMx0
— Brooke Binkowski (@brooklynmarie) June 22, 2020

Experts who study conspiracy theories say the false claims about George Soros, the billionaire investor and philanthropist, are a way to delegitimize the protests and the actual reasons behind them https://t.co/nVuV8twjAt
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) June 22, 2020

The Soros stuff is just a repackaging of anti-Semitic lies going all the way back to the Protocols of the Elders of Zion ruse that spurred on the Holocaust.

It's all part of the same hateful cycle. Protocols. The New World Order. The Deep State. Qanon.

Fascism. It's fascism. https://t.co/ELblxZJgpu
— Jared Yates Sexton (@JYSexton) June 22, 2020

The Shake Shack conspiracy theory

—@nypost with a tick-tock on "how conspiracy theories about the NYPD Shake Shack 'poisoning' blew up" https://t.co/mGKZaekmIV
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) June 22, 2020

Two police unions were behind the false rumor that Shake Shack workers intentionally poisoned three NYPD cops.

One union president initially blamed the disproven milkshake attack on "vicious criminals who dislike us simply because of the uniform we wear."https://t.co/FHFslqXP3L
— julia reinstein 🚡 (@juliareinstein) June 16, 2020

NYPD clears Shake Shack employees against whom two of the city’s police unions had made incendiary accusations late Monday night. https://t.co/bsJsijzdPH
— southpaw (@nycsouthpaw) June 16, 2020

Fun part of the hyped claim that NY police were poisoned is the police union’s immediate/unequivocal declarations that officers were targeted and of the risks they faced. No hesitation. No call to probe further. Basically, the union statement in every fucking police shooting. https://t.co/bTwesdtJAB
— David Simon (@AoDespair) June 16, 2020

After a thorough investigation by the NYPD’s Manhattan South investigators, it has been determined that there was no criminality by shake shack’s employees.
— Chief Rodney Harrison (@NYPDDetectives) June 16, 2020

just updated my piece in the wake of the stunning report today that the three officers at the center of the "poisoning" were never sick and never even felt any symptoms.

the whole tale was invented by NYPD brass—and the press hyped it nonstop; https://t.co/W8FyFv5iBe
— Eric Boehlert (@EricBoehlert) June 22, 2020

NYPD lied. Police lie. All the time. https://t.co/gzFFrQWxV5
— Touré (@Toure) June 22, 2020

Covers: Time Is on My Side

“Time Is on My Side” is best known from the Rolling Stones 1964 but it was preceded by a great Irma Thomas version that year. The original is actually by Kai Winding from 1963.

From the moment the Rolling Stones were slated at Jazzfest, this moment was certain. Queen Irma. https://t.co/QYhATDQni8
— David Simon (@AoDespair) May 3, 2024

🎺🎸At midnight after the show I popped to @PresHall to see the Soul Queen of New Orleans, Irma Thomas, then jumped up to play 'Time Is On My Side' with her and her amazing band!#StonesJazzFest pic.twitter.com/cwCyAjZefI
— Ronnie Wood (@ronniewood) May 3, 2024

Trump’s disgraceful attack on voting by mail

He’s already saying the election is rigged. I don’t expect him to accept the results. This is very dangerous. I don’t expect gutless Republicans to challenge him but I am sure they know he is lying. Barr is backing him up. There is very little fraud with voting by mail.

The legitimacy of our electoral system is under attack by the President of the United States.

Our research on why fact-checks of these baseless claims may not be enough: https://t.co/IRkCs9uPeO

Our report on how to protect the legitimacy of the election: https://t.co/KkCkMGyU9q https://t.co/zgHG2SKA31
— Brendan Nyhan (@BrendanNyhan) June 22, 2020

If you think that a foreign power could simply mail in millions of ballots to influence the election, I regret to inform you that our voting system is a bit more complex than when you voted for class president in fifth grade. https://t.co/nYkaBYi4V8
— Philip Bump (@pbump) June 22, 2020

AG Barr was interviewed this morning and said some dangerously ignorant things about vote by mail.

The truth:
-Mail ballots are secret. No one know who you voted for.
-States code ballots to prevent counterfeits.
-Sigs are on the outer envelop to verify the right voter voted. pic.twitter.com/k6a6G0d2fJ
— Marc E. Elias (@marceelias) June 21, 2020

Good morning Mr. President — co-author of “How to Rig an Election” here. This is a lie. Saying it in all capital letters doesn’t make it any less of a lie. https://t.co/RBDtEvMOdr
— Brian Klaas (@brianklaas) June 22, 2020

This is just not true. State and local election officials have said it is virtually impossible for foreign govts to pull this off. Experts say fraud via mail-in ballot is rare. https://t.co/d8be7S6L6X
— Ellen Nakashima (@nakashimae) June 22, 2020

So Bill Barr is on Fox now claiming that mail-in voting will bring fraud. Good grief. What a hack Barr has turned out to be. He just keeps going lower and lower for Trump.
— Robert E Kelly (@Robert_E_Kelly) June 22, 2020

Trump's laying the groundwork for an election challenge. Barr's corrupt enough to help him do it. That's why the House must impeach Barr. Even if the Senate won't convict it puts down a historical marker that this is not OK and creates a factual record exposing Barr's corruption. https://t.co/tj5bU7gyrr
— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) June 22, 2020

Why Trump is already sowing doubts about November's vote | Analysis by CNN's @JohnJHarwood https://t.co/wFnDb0mstg pic.twitter.com/zw5qVBINjA
— CNN (@CNN) June 21, 2020

Just a reminder that if you see unsubstantiated claims that mail voting is "rigged" or that ballots are being printed in foreign countries, that info is FALSE. There is zero evidence to support it, and states have many protections in place to prevent rigging of mail ballots.
— David Becker (@beckerdavidj) June 22, 2020

Me: “ARE YOU CONCERNED THAT THE PRESIDENT & THE AG ARE CREATING A CASE TO CHALLENGE THE RESULTS OF THE ELECTION IF THEY WERE TO LOSE?”
@NYGovCuomo: “YES, I BELIEVE THIS IS A SETUP… AND THEY’RE GOING TO LOSE THE ELECTION AND I THINK THEY’RE GOING TO CLAIM FRAUD https://t.co/S5pyMFIVXW
— Jim Sciutto (@jimsciutto) June 22, 2020

In addition to the general lie about mail voting being rife with fraud, the claim about wartime voting makes no sense.

Soldiers voted by mail in large numbers — in the low millions — during WWII. A substantial number of soldiers also voted by mail during the Civil War. pic.twitter.com/0Edfzmifo1
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) June 22, 2020

3.2 million military personnel voted during World War II in the 1944 presidential election from overseas.

They voted …. by mail. https://t.co/zZg1p92WVi
— Bradley P. Moss (@BradMossEsq) June 22, 2020

THREAD. The “mail voter fraud” narrative is about more than a fear of increased turnout among Dems. It’s also about facilitating foreign interference, including Russia tampering with voter registrations and actual votes, and distracting the public from that effort. Here’s why: pic.twitter.com/jHqBENvkPQ
— Asha Rangappa (@AshaRangappa_) June 22, 2020

Trump press secretary Kayleigh McEnany has voted by mail 11 times in 10 years https://t.co/wS3nbazBJr
— Maureen Ogle (@maureenogle) June 22, 2020

QAnon update 6/21/20

Eric Trump posting a QAnon graphic on Instagram pic.twitter.com/4U7QX1MIlr
— Jared Holt (@jaredlholt) June 20, 2020

I read this was deleted

Trump just retweeted a QAnon account pic.twitter.com/vq90CpanI6
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 17, 2020

Police officers in Illinois shown supporting QAnon conspiracy theory.https://t.co/RNTETjM8Hg
— Mark Pitcavage (@egavactip) June 15, 2020

Analysis: Why QAnon supporters are winning congressional primaries https://t.co/4TB3nxJesh
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) June 13, 2020

I cannot believe there is a universe where I, as a White House reporter for the wonkiest outlet in existence, am writing about the ancient god Moloch and inter-dimensional spiritual warfare, buthttps://t.co/s1VM6v3rvH
— Tina Nguyen (@tina_nguyen) June 13, 2020

Georgia's overwhelmingly Republican 14th district is on the verge of making history: Electing the first openly pro-QAnon member of Congress in Marjorie Taylor Greene https://t.co/cGSlb0r9wZ pic.twitter.com/iVmygoYfDs
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) June 12, 2020

A QAnon believer is poised to win the GOP nomination in a heavily Republican district, meaning QAnon will likely soon be in Congress. https://t.co/dMTO9naFYA
— Will Sommer (@willsommer) June 11, 2020

Way too many political pundits choose to treat QAnon as an irrelevant fringe movement — as they did with birtherism — in order to avoid the awkwardness of acknowledging how important these movements are within the GOP. https://t.co/OG41HgUCIr
— Stan Veuger (@stanveuger) June 11, 2020

1/ QAnon & BLM/Protests thread: Pulled 6 days of QAnon data from Facebook and Twitter to get an idea of what QAnon has been doing in this space, their possible impact on the conversation and the propaganda they are disseminating.
— ouıʇuǝɓɹɐ ǝ̗ɹpuɐ-ɔɹɐɯ (@4ngl3rf1sh) May 31, 2020

QAnoners are already going through the Lori Klausutis police report. It has no mention of foul play, but we know from Seth Rich what's next: demands for release of autopsies, surveillance footage, harassing calls to the Klausutis family. And it'll never be enough to satisfy them.
— Will Sommer (@willsommer) May 26, 2020

Democrats should not be overconfident

Trump will do anything to win.

Biden’s polling lead has swollen, his fundraising clip picked up. He himself is bullish on winning the Senate majority. Democrats love what they see — but with some underlying worries about complacency setting in.

My latest on the presidential race: https://t.co/XjAnUgZivI
— Matt Viser (@mviser) June 21, 2020

The comment I posted on the Washington Post site:

In addition to Republican efforts to suppress voting, I am worried about foreign interference. We know that Trump asked Ukraine and China for help. I assume he will get help from his pal Putin. There may be others.

Trump’s Tulsa rally was a fiasco

Poorly attended

lies and more lies

Enjoy! https://t.co/ftmvHH7udS
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) June 21, 2020

Always read @daveweigel https://t.co/cSBrq0VCDs
— Eric Michael Garcia (@EricMGarcia) June 21, 2020

Tongue in cheek? That’s complete b.s. https://t.co/NbkVvtmJGN
— Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) June 21, 2020

Trump was not telling a joke when he said he slowed down testing for COVID-19 to conceal its spread. No sensible person can watch the video and think he was joking.

The President of the United States killed Americans in an effort to improve his election chances.
— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) June 21, 2020

Trump May 26: If I didn't take swift action, "we would have lost 1 1/2 to 2 Million People"

Trump June 15: "…we would have lost possibly 2.5, 3 million people"

Trump June 20: "…we would have had I would say probably 4 million deaths, 3 million deaths, 2 million deaths"
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) June 21, 2020

Crowd sizes in general elections typically don't indicate much. But when you make them your sole metric, brag about the registrations to attend and it falls short, it becomes the story https://t.co/qLA8HTHlqC
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) June 21, 2020

I didn’t see a single person being blocked from entering the rally and was outside for about 5 hours. https://t.co/O9Tc5qkMpN
— Oliver Laughland (@oliverlaughland) June 20, 2020

Trump, stating his support for the Second Amendment, again seems to suggest BLM protests may require a violent response: “When you see those lunatics all over the streets, it’s nice to have…arms.”
— Eli Stokols (@EliStokols) June 21, 2020

It's just a lie that Trump/Republicans will always protect patients with pre-existing conditions. They have repeatedly pushed bills trying to weaken those protections in Obamacare; the Trump admin is now in court backing a lawsuit to eradicate Obamacare; has no replace plan.
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) June 21, 2020

Trump has been speaking for 90 minutes. No mention of George Floyd. No mention of the 121,000 Americans who died from the coronavirus.
— Colby Itkowitz (@ColbyItkowitz) June 21, 2020

Trump tells his supporters that Rep. Ilhan Omar — an American citizen who was a Somali refugee — would make the government of “our country” like “the country from where she came.” He says: “Now she’s telling us how to run our country.” Omar has been a US citizen since she was 17
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) June 21, 2020

President Trump infront of thousands of people just claimed Rep @IlhanMN, whose father recently died of the coronavirus, wants to turn America into Somalia.

Trump instantly faced backlash from many who see this as a racist statement.
— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) June 21, 2020

This "joking" excuse was predictable, but Trump's comment was precisely in line with his oft-repeated, indisputably serious thoughts about testing being somewhat bad because it makes the US look bad. https://t.co/HJSpPO5Nmb
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) June 21, 2020

POTUS is now criticizing Biden at his rally. He recently tweeted a picture of "Biden's rally," which was not a rally, it was an invite-only speech. Typical Trump deception. pic.twitter.com/T7ZmjNIYGQ
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) June 21, 2020

Trump is, again, wrong that “nobody” was “even asking” for NFL commish Roger Goodell to make a statement denouncing racism against Black people and saying “Black lives matter.”

A group of prominent Black players had asked. Goodell used two of their suggested sentences verbatim.
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) June 21, 2020

A lot of people suspect Trump is a racist.

Today Trump used the term “kung flu” to describe coronavirus to remove any doubt on the matter.
— Renato Mariotti (@renato_mariotti) June 21, 2020

It's just a lie that Trump ran down the last 10 feet of the West Point ramp.

Trivial subject compared to lots of other stuff he lies about, but it's another example of the president lying about something people can see is not true with their own eyes.
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) June 21, 2020

Holy shit! Trump admitted flat out that he delivered a direct order for fewer tests to be performed, for the express purpose of ensuring that fewer Americans with coronavirus would be identified! https://t.co/41hpt44U3f
— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) June 21, 2020

President Trump just used the term “kung flu” to describe coronavirus.

.@weijia reported weeks ago that a WH aide used the term to her face and the WH tried to hint that she was making it up.

Now, we know the president uses the term which is seen as deragatory and racist.
— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) June 21, 2020

"They want to demolish our heritage" Trump says, referencing the push to remove confederate memorials and symbols. Again, the president speaking directly to his white base with this rhetoric.
— Abby D. Phillip (@abbydphillip) June 21, 2020

Maybe the other 990,000 people went to Tulas https://t.co/ZOh5uiURVT
— Ben Terris (@bterris) June 20, 2020

! Trump says testing is a "double-edged sword" because you find even lots of minor cases, then adds, "I said to my people, 'Slow the testing down, please.'" He has never before said he asked anyone to slow down testing — this has been an allegation by his opponents.
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) June 21, 2020

"These animals literally taking over our cities," he yelled, at the party leader's rally https://t.co/H5MyGiMHSE
— Adam Weinstein (@AdamWeinstein) June 20, 2020

Trump: "Do you ever notice that Biden oftentimes gets the state wrong? … That happens to him all the time. Hasn't happened to me yet."

In February, Trump congratulated the wrong state for the Super Bowl.

In October, he said he was building a border wall in Colorado.
— Aaron Blake (@AaronBlake) June 21, 2020

Trump anticipated a “wild evening” at his Saturday campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, while recommending “people do what they want” when it comes to mask wearing. https://t.co/U9AMRJ8Heo
— Vox (@voxdotcom) June 20, 2020

Edit: Team Trump was defeated by KPop, TikTok fans and a grandma. In so many ways we are witnessing the humiliation of a sitting president in real time. The world is laughing & pitying us, ex-Republican ad makers are eviscerating Trump, the pandemic and economy are uncontrolled. https://t.co/QfsJDopnPN
— Joy Reid (@JoyAnnReid) June 21, 2020

Workers removed thousands of social distancing stickers before Trump’s Tulsa rally, according to video and a person familiar with the set-up https://t.co/XBEucwz2Yk
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) June 27, 2020

Covers: Midnight Special

“Midnight Special” is a traditional song that was first recorded in the 1920s. The most famous versions are probably by Lead Belly.

Creedence Clearwater Revival recorded the best-known rock version.

I have included related songs that have the same music.

a new one in May 2022

Coronavirus stats update 6/20/20

Arizona COVID hospitalization chart pic.twitter.com/TvAWMyZrLP
— Steven Dennis (@StevenTDennis) June 22, 2020

The most important COVID story right now is the age shift.

In Texas: Young adults driving the spike.https://t.co/7LbB7MWBDR

In Arizona: COVID cases growing 2X faster among ages 20-44 than 65+.

In Florida: Median age of new COVID cases fell from 65 in March to 35 this week —> pic.twitter.com/UOcaeMN0fx
— Derek Thompson (@DKThomp) June 22, 2020

JUST IN: The World Health Organization has reported the largest single-day increase of confirmed coronavirus cases, with more than 183,000 cases worldwide reported in the last 24 hours. https://t.co/02lhOrHs87
— Axios (@axios) June 21, 2020

America's disastrous pandemic response, in one picture pic.twitter.com/EDxktnqQos
— Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) June 21, 2020

The #COVID19 pandemic is accelerating. Over 150K new cases were reported to @WHO yesterday – the most in a single day so far. The virus is still spreading fast & deadly. Most people are still susceptible. We call on all countries & all people to exercise extreme vigilance. pic.twitter.com/i6GKobhPWn
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) June 20, 2020

Welp- hospitals across Florida have filled most or all available beds in their ICUs. Sh*t is hitting the fan. #covid19 https://t.co/I7VHabbzJL
— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) June 20, 2020

I've long thought that states would tolerate plateaus. But in Florida and Arizona, these are actual, fairly spiky spikes. And not just caused by more testing: positive test rates are high and growing. https://t.co/7H4ziVHXsP
— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) June 20, 2020

TRANSITION TO GREATNESS!!!

"New daily coronavirus cases in the US exceeded 30,000 for the first time in seven weeks"

'In Tulsa, cases hit a new high on Friday"

'Six Trump campaign staffers working on Tulsa rally test positive"https://t.co/3hNH3KZVUf https://t.co/SvBlhPD05p
— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) June 20, 2020

Florida added 4,049 new coronavirus cases in one day, breaking the previous record for most single-day cases set yesterday. The state is now approaching 94,000 infections since the first recorded case in March. 28 percent of the cases have come in the past 10 days. @TB_Times
— Romy Ellenbogen (@romyellenbogen) June 20, 2020

With today’s TX results, the trio of TX FL & AZ, each led by a GOP governor who opened early and widely following Trump’s cues, passed 10,000 cases in a single day. Will their voters accept that as a new normal? Or will Trump & GOP pay a price, espec in the metros hit hardest? https://t.co/4Z2OMqbk4c
— Ronald Brownstein (@RonBrownstein) June 19, 2020

BREAKING: Florida added 3822 new COVID-19 cases overnight. Another new record.
— Daniel Uhlfelder (@DWUhlfelderLaw) June 19, 2020

COVID-19 cases soaring in Arizona and hitting records in Florida https://t.co/XxudvU1AP1
— Steven Dennis (@StevenTDennis) June 19, 2020

You know, I had figured that normal life could resume sometime this fall. But the magnitude of the US failure — and the retreat into denial, which will just extend the crisis — just boggles the mind pic.twitter.com/Q9le7H0uia
— Paul Krugman (@paulkrugman) June 19, 2020

Stunning: More than 20% of Arizona's COVID tests reported today came back positive.

New York is down to around 1%.
— Steven Dennis (@StevenTDennis) June 19, 2020

My opinion on 2020 debates

Trump is pushing for more debates than usual.

Here’s Chris Cillizza’s column.

I hope there are no debates.

This is what I sent to CNN yesterday:

I hope there aren’t any debates for the following reasons.
1) Trump will tell lots of lies. He has more to lie about than in 2016 because he has been in office for almost four years. There have been almost no consequences for him for lying. The media points outs out the lies and he just repeats them. I expect his greatest hits of lies – Veterans Choice, best economy ever, biggest tax cut ever
2) Who will correct his lies? If Biden does it, it cuts in to his time to present his ideas. Biden should state up front that he expects Trump to lie and the Democrats should post the lies online in real time. If the moderator does it, Trump will say they are biased.
3) Trump will make dangerous efforts to undermine the election. He will attack mail-in voting. He will make accusations of fraud and that it will be rigged. Remember, he did that when he won!
I suggest that you talk to a child psychologist. I am sure they have dealt with children that lie often and have ideas on how to stop it. I am sure constantly broadcasting Trump’s lies are not part of the solution.
One question on the Tulsa Trump rally: Will the reporters be required to sign the waiver forms? If they are, I hope they don’t go. In addition to the dangers of a crowded arena with probably few people wearing masks, Trump has attacked the media in his rallies. We have seen instances where Trump supporters yell at reporters at close range when they are incited by Trump.
I appreciate the The Point and look forward to receiving it. Thanks for all you do to keep us informed.
Harris Levy

Once again, amazing number of comments come from people who clearly haven't read the column. Did the word "think" scare them away? https://t.co/vRrYcRwH49
— Karen Tumulty (@ktumulty) June 26, 2020