Rep. Lou Barletta’s (R-PA) Senate campaign and Brexit leader Nigel Farage slammed Sen. Bob Casey’s (D-PA) campaign for claims that Farage is an “anti-Semitic white nationalist.”
Multiple local Pennsylvania leaders wrote critical articles reporting that British politician Nigel Farage will headline a fundraiser for Rep. Lou Barletta next month. PennLive reported that critics have labeled Farage an “extremist.”
Farage is a former leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) and Britain’s strongest and most enduring advocate for Brexit.
John Micek, an opinion editor for PennLive, also called Farage an “anti-Semite” on Thursday.
Micek tweeted, “Waiting for the part where you justify it being okay for Barletta to campaign with an anti-Semite”:
Max Steele, Casey’s campaign spokesman, said, “While it’s unsurprising that Congressman Barletta, who has associated with neo-Nazis and Holocaust deniers in the past, is raising money with an anti-Semitic white nationalist, certainly marks a new low for his campaign.”
Steele said Barletta should cancel the fundraiser with Farage “to send a clear message that anti-Semitism has no place in our politics.”
Barletta campaign spokesman David Jackson fired back at Casey’s campaign in a statement on Thursday, saying:
If the Casey campaign thinks that calling everyone they disagree with a racist is a winning strategy, then they really haven’t learned anything over the last two years. Lou Barletta will continue to be a problem solver and leader on the issues important to Pennsylvania voters, while Bob Casey continues to lose support with his wild accusations, fear mongering, and agenda of obstructionism.
Breitbart News’s Joel Pollak noted in November 2017 that Farage fell victim to false anti-Semitism accusations from political opponents Newsweek and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL).
Throughout his career, Farage has consistently rebuked hate within his ranks and chastised the Labour Party for its longstanding anti-Semitism. Farage wrote an op-ed for Breitbart London in 2016:
As the leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), I have for years faced smears and accusations levelled at my party because of the odd comment from very junior local officials. Whenever people have said nasty things in UKIP, we have got rid of them.
Their [Labour] extremists are not local branch members or parish Councillors. Instead anti-Semitic comments are being made by figures such as the former Mayor of London Ken Livingstone and the former Mayor of Blackburn Salim Mulla.
Farage also noted that the Labour Party suspended at least 50 members in 2016 alone for anti-Semitism and racism. The Telegraph reported in 2016 that the suspensions were merely the “tip of the iceberg.”
In 2017, Farage slammed London Mayor Sadiq Khan for courting anti-Semites. Farage said that Khan “was at a reception and he invited 11 ambassadors from countries who are part of the 16 countries who ban Israeli Jews from even visiting their countries on holiday.”
“I am sick of this prejudice,” Farage added:
Farage continues to rebuke critics who suggest his comments last year on the American Jewish lobby were anti-Semitic.
Nigel Farage told Breitbart News in an exclusive comment Friday, “Twisted rubbish, I said the Jewish lobby had not influenced the U.S. elections. I have many high profile Jewish supporters. In soccer terms, the Democrats are playing the man not the ball, foul play.”
On Thursday, Pennsylvania Jewish leaders wrote a letter to Pennsylvania voters, condemning Casey’s “outrageous and inaccurate attacks” against Rep. Barletta.
The Jewish community leaders described the Pennsylvania congressman as a man of “high character who is committed to protecting religious freedom, combating racist ideologies, and supporting Israel and the Jewish people.”
The leaders suggested that Sen. Casey’s accusation against Barletta serves as a “desperate attempt to deflect attention away from Senator Casey’s own record, including his vote for the disastrous Iran Deal.”
Barletta has also faced criticisms of racism and anti-Semitism from leftist and mainstream media outlets such as CNN.
CNN ran a hit piece on Barletta in January, claiming Rep. Barletta did an interview with American Free Press, a publication that disputes the Holocaust, as well as several other controversial groups.
In response to the hit piece, Jon Anzur, Barletta’s deputy campaign manager, told Breitbart News in January, “These politically motivated attacks from Senator Bob Casey and the DNC are as baseless as they are outrageous.”
Anzur added, “Lou Barletta has always stood up for racial equality and continues to condemn hate, bigotry, and racial supremacy in all its forms.”
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