- President Biden has announced a new plan to tackle record-high antisemitism in the USA.
- Rep. Boebert said, "When they say stuff like this, they mean they want to go after conservatives."
The Biden administration announced the National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism to protect Jewish communities across the US this week.
Biden released a video about the new strategy, saying hate has been "given too much oxygen" in recent years and has fuelled a "record rise in antisemitism."
But Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert denounced the plan in a tweet to her 2.5 million followers: "When they say stuff like this, they mean they want to go after conservatives."
The gun-rights activist described the newly-announced "tactics" —which include encouraging social media companies to tackle antisemitism and to "build cross-community solidarity" — as "straight out of the USSR's playbook."
—Lauren Boebert (@laurenboebert) May 25, 2023
Boebert did not expand on what she meant or how she believed US conservatives would be affected by the new policies.
Many people challenged the right-wing politician from Colorado on Twitter. One wrote: "Wait, so hate and antisemitism are now the conservative brand? Is that what you're saying?"
In another Twitter response, White House press secretary Andrew Bates said, "Congresswoman Boebert is mistaken; antisemitism is not 'conservative' — it is evil."
—Andrew Bates (@AndrewJBates46) May 26, 2023
Bates added, "If anyone finds opposition to hate threatening, they need to look inward. Congresswoman Boebert should also Google the Soviet Union's long, repulsive history of antisemitism."
In a report published in March, the Anti-Defamation League found that antisemitism against the 5.7-7 million Jews in the US is at an all-time high, with 3,697 antisemitic incidents being recorded in 2022.