MINNEAPOLIS — The chairman of the Minnesota Republican Party has apologized for a campaign video played at last week's state Republican convention by secretary of state candidate Kim Crockett that included an image that depicted liberal donor George Soros as a puppet master, a common antisemitic trope.
In the video, a meme depicted Secretary of State Steve Simon and Democratic elections lawyer Marc Elias as twins from the horror film "The Shining," along with the words "Let's wreck elections forever and ever and ever." The next slide in the video showed Simon and Elias attached to Soros' fingers with strings. All three men are Jewish.
"Yes, I am Jewish, Steve Simon is Jewish and George Soros is Jewish. Not very subtle, @mngop," Elias tweeted.
In his statement, David Hann said he wanted to assure the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas (JCRC) and the Jewish community that anti-Semitism was not the intent.
"It should not have happened. We apologize and are committed to working with the JCRC to educate our staff and candidates on antisemitism," Hann said.
Republican activists endorsed Crockett for secretary of state at last weekend's convention. She does not currently have any opponents in the Republican primary for the seat.
In an email to supporters Friday, Crockett blamed the media for attacks. She did not respond to an email and voice mail seeking comment.
"You want to know how I'm feeling in the face of all the contrived and bogus political attacks?" Crockett wrote, which included a photo of her sitting lakeside, holding a book by Tucker Carlson.
DFL Party Chairman Ken Martin called the video appalling and called for Crockett to issue an apology.
"The anti-Semitic stereotypes Kim Crockett is using to fuel her campaign are centuries old, tremendously offensive and have caused incredible harm to the Jewish community across the nation," Martin said in a statement.
Crockett was suspended in 2019 from her job at the Center of the American Experiment for remarks, widely criticized as Islamophobic, that she made to the New York Times. Crockett later apologized, but in April said her quote was taken out of context.
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