, 8 tweets, 2 min read Read on Twitter
Trump Labor official Leif Olson has resigned due to a putatively anti-Semitic Facebook post. But if you read the post, it appears to be mocking anti-Semitic conspiracy theories: news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-re…
Let's walk through it. The context for the post is a primary challenge to Paul Ryan by anti-Semitic right-winger Paul Nehlen.
In the post that got him fired, Olson was mocking Nehlen and the logic of his supporters:
"suffered a massive, historic, 70-point victory" is obvious -- I think undeniable -- sarcasm. The standpoint of the post is a defense of Ryan and mockery of Nehlen.
Then when a commenter misses the sarcasm, and calls Ryan a "neo-con," Olson sarcastically points out that "neo-con" is often used as a code for Jewish.
(It's possible the commenter was playing along with his sarcasm). S then Olson extends the absurdity of the joke by insisting it "must be true" because it hasn't been reported.
You might say this instead shows Olson endorsing absurd anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. But the standpoint of the post is established from the start as pro-Ryan.
I'm not endorsing Olson or his policies, and I'm sure he has all kinds of objectionable beliefs. But firing him as an anti-Semite over this post strikes me as terribly unfair.
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