Jonathan Greenblatt, head of the Anti-Defamation League, the leftist nonprofit that has become infamous for smearing conservatives and opponents of progressivism, has branded its online critics “white supremacists” and “anti-semites.”
Former Obama aide Greenblatt has been defensive recently, due to the popularity of #BanTheADL on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, and sharp critiques from platform owner Elon Musk.
The hashtag represents a tide of popular animus towards the ADL, one long in the making. Hostility towards the organization, which has worked ceaselessly over the past decade to advance the cause of internet censorship and blacklist prominent conservatives, is widespread.
A key charge of the organization’s critics is that it casually labels even the mildest opponents of progressive causes “white supremacist,” “anti-semites,” and purveyors of “hate speech” in its efforts to discredit and censor them.
Greenblatt appeared to confirm those charges in interviews last week, when he applied those same labels to supporters of the anti-ADL hashtag.
“A number of white supremacists [organized] this hashtag campaign Ban The ADL… This campaign went viral very quickly, with white supremacists, hardened anti-semites and other people spreading it across the service.”
The people supporting the hashtag include Blaze columnist Auron Macintyre, former MMA fighter Jake Shields, Jewish conservative influencer Laura Loomer, conservative video producer ALX, BlazeTV personality Lauren Chen, and anti-ESG activist Eva Vlaardingerbroek, amongst many others.
These are the people that Greenblatt lumped in with “anti-semites” and “white supremacists.”
Despite its documented track record of causing enormous financial damage to companies through its encouragement of ad boycotts, Greenblatt tried to portray his organization as powerless compared to Musk and X/Twitter.
“This is the wealthiest man in the world, running one of the most powerful media platforms on the planet. We’re a nonprofit here in New York… I think, figuring out who has the power in this relationship, it’s pretty clear to me.”
In the same breath, Greenblatt acknowledged the massive decline in advertising revenue for X/Twitter, drive in part by his own organization’s pressure.
The ADL used the same tactic against Facebook in the summer of 2020, at the height of the presidential election cycle, complaining that the platform wasn’t doing enough to take down “misinformation,” and was allowing “political advertisements that contain blatant lies.”
When CNBC host Andrew Sorkin asked Greenblatt to respond to allegations that the ADL engages in “shakedown” operations against organizations like X/Twitter Greenblatt said the Jewish TV presenter had brought up an “antisemitic trope.”
Allum Bokhari is the senior technology correspondent at Breitbart News. He is the author of #DELETED: Big Tech’s Battle to Erase the Trump Movement and Steal The Election. Follow him on Twitter @AllumBokhari.