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Far-right figures baselessly claim Alex Soros posted an article from The Atlantic as a “direct threat of violence” against Trump

Written by Kayla Gogarty & Alex Kaplan

Published

After Alex Soros — the son of billionaire philanthropist George Soros, and a frequent target of right-wing attacks and antisemitic conspiracy theories — posted an Atlantic article that featured stock photos of a bullet hole and someone holding cash, far-right figures baselessly alleged that the post was meant as a threat against former President Donald Trump.

  • George Soros’ son posted an article from The Atlantic about inflation and crime that features stock photos of a bullet hole and someone holding cash

  • Jewish philanthropist George Soros and his son have been frequent targets of right-wing attacks and antisemitic conspiracy theories. [The Wall Street Journal, 6/11/23; Media Matters, 10/24/18, 11/15/19, 12/11/19, 12/16/21, 6/12/22]

  • On January 21, Alex Soros posted an article from The Atlantic on X (formerly Twitter) and included text from the article stating, “Last year, the crime and inflation crises largely evaporated. So did the leading theories about what had caused them.” The article, titled “The Great Normalization,” focused on crime and inflation statistics over the past year and featured an “illustration by The Atlantic.” [Twitter/X, 1/21/24; The Atlantic, 1/18/24]

  • The article’s image, which was shown in Alex Soros’ post, was an illustration with two Getty stock photos: one of glass shattered around a bullet hole and one of a hand holding $47 in cash. On X, article previews currently include the article’s image, the source, and the headline of the article. [The Atlantic, 1/18/24; 9to5Google, 1/4/24]

  • The Open Societies Foundation, which Alex Soros chairs, said his tweet had nothing to do with Trump. In a statement to the Daily Dot, an Open Society Foundations spokesperson said, “Alex was sharing the positive news that crime and inflation rates are trending downward—developments that should be celebrated by all Americans. Nothing more, nothing less.” They added, “It’s amazing the lengths to which some people will go to try to distract and divide the country in the face of objectively good news.” [Daily Dot, 1/23/24]

  • Far-right figures have baselessly claimed Alex Soros shared The Atlantic article as a “direct threat of violence” to Trump

  • Far-right conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer said that Alex Soros “is inciting violence against President Trump” with this “assassination threat.” Loomer, a far-right activist and self-described “proud Islamophobe” who is an increasingly close ally of Trump, wrote that the images somehow called for a hitman to kill Trump and thus showed a “direct threat of violence against President Trump.” As part of her explanation, Loomer claimed that “the $47 in cash is a reference to the 47th President of the United States Of America (Donald Trump),” although Trump was actually the 45th president. [Media Matters, 1/12/24; NBC News, 1/14/24; Twitter/X, 1/21/24, 1/22/24]

  • Far-right blog The Gateway Pundit published an article titled “Alex Soros Tweets Out Bullet Hole and 47 — A Direct Violent Threat to Donald Trump!” Gateway Pundit founder Jim Hoft claimed: “The globalist elites are in a panic. Trump is the greatest threat to their power over humanity in the civilized world. Something must be done. Alex Soros tweeted out an obvious threat against President Trump on Sunday evening.” [The Gateway Pundit, 1/21/24]

  • Conspiracy theory outlet Infowars published an article titled “Trump Death Threat? Alex Soros Tweets Image of Bullet Hole and $47.” The outlet claimed that “Alexander Soros, the son of globalist kingpin George Soros, is accused of threatening the life of former President Donald Trump after he posted an image on social media showing a bullet hole and a wad of $47.” It added, “While Soros’ intentions are unclear, assassination may be a viable option for the Deep State as time runs out and the globalists get more desperate to maintain their world dominance.” [Infowars, 1/22/24]

  • Right-wing social media figure Phillip Buchanan, known online as “catturd,” shared The Gateway Pundit’s article on X and wrote, “ARREST ALEX SOROS !!!” [Daily Dot, 7/25/23; Twitter/X, 1/22/24]

  • Conspiracy theorist commentator and former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn replied to Alex Soros on X and said, “WTH [What the hell] is the message you’re sending by posting a bullet hole next to $47 dollars!?” [Twitter/X, 1/22/24]

  • Conspiracy theorist Lara Logan shared The Gateway Pundit article and wrote, “Spoiled, arrogant little prick.” [Twitter/X, 1/22/24]

  • QAnon influencer John Sabal posted on Gab that Alex Soros “posted a pretty DIRECT DEATH THREAT towards Donald Trump.” Sabal, who is known online as “QAnon John,” also wrote that it showed “the Deep State is absolutely TERRIFIED of Trump,” and that “this is something that should NOT be taken lightly, and that should be investigated IMMEDIATELY by the Secret Service.” [Media Matters, 2/8/22; Gab, 1/21/24]

  • QAnon show X22 Report posted on Telegram that Alex Soros’ post “is a direct threat of violence against President Trump and “a call for assassination embedded in the pictures.” [Telegram, 1/22/24; Bug-eyed and Shameless, 12/12/23]

  • QAnon influencer Brian Cates said on X, “Why is Alex Soros posting a pic of money that adds up to exactly $47 next to a pic of a bullet hole?” Cates also wrote, “What do the bills in the hand in the picture on the right add up to? What #? 47? … Anyone got any ideas?” A user on a QAnon message board shared Cates’ post and suggested Soros’ post could be “assassination comms.” [Media Matters, 4/1/22; Twitter/X, 1/21/24; GreatAwakening.win, 1/21/24]

  • QAnon influencer Jordan Sather posted on X: “Alex Soros calling for a hit on Trump? Bullet hole. $47. Is this what they were planning behind closed doors at the WEF [World Economic Forum] meetings?” [Media Matters, 10/28/22; Twitter/X, 1/21/24]

  • On X, QAnon and Pizzagate conspiracy theorist Liz Crokin posted, “Alex Soros and The Atlantic are clearly calling for the assassination of Trump.” Crokin also demanded that law enforcement “should take action against” Soros and the magazine. [Twitter/X, 1/22/24]

  • QAnon figure Paul Furber posted on Gab, “A bullet hole and $47? Real subtle Alex.” [Media Matters, 6/28/22; Gab, 1/22/24]

  • Students for Trump’s Ryan Fournier posted, “If you can’t beat him, kill him. That’s what Alex Soros meant by his veiled tweet.” [Twitter/X, 1/22/24]