Lightning rod billionaire George Soros doesn’t publicly defend his actions too fervently, evidently preferring to let the results of his philanthropy speak for themselves. But Soros will clap back when he believes an accusation made against him is untrue in an acutely pertinent way that impacts the larger public discourse.
Recently, for example, having been accused by MAGA Republicans of covertly funding Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg‘s prosecution of former president Donald Trump, Soros pointed to a relevant article he penned last summer to set the record straight.
“While I didn’t contribute to Alvin Bragg’s campaign,” Soros wrote on Twitter on March 31, as the MAGA uproar grew due to Donald Trump’s arraignment, “I have supported many other reform-minded prosecutors. Anyone who wants to know why should read this article I wrote in the Wall Street Journal.”
While I didn’t contribute to Alvin Bragg’s campaign, I have supported many other reform-minded prosecutors. Anyone who wants to know why should read this article I wrote in @WSJ. https://t.co/GBOwlrCkO9
— George Soros (@georgesoros) March 31, 2023
Notably, Soros chose Rupert Murdoch‘s News Corp-owned Wall Street Journal as the platform on which to tell his side. It’s notable because the rumors and innuendo Soros is always combatting are given their most abundant life chiefly through Murdoch’s other properties — especially Fox News but also in the New York Post, the incendiary tabloid famous for Page Six gossip and catchy headlines.
The latest action at Soros’s Twitter account — assumed to be official but no longer wearing its blue check — goes at Murdoch directly with a retweet of a powerfully argued refutation, composed by former U.S. Ambassador to South Africa Patrick Gaspard, of a New York Post editorial that blames Soros for myriad societal ills, especially big city crime it attributes to Soros’s support of liberal policies.
Soros retweeted the thread, tacitly backing Gaspard’s arguments. Gaspard, who now runs the Center for American Progress, takes apart the Post’s “tired tropes” — as he characterizes them — in a thread containing 15 tweets.
Written by the Post‘s editorial board, the editorial target of Gaspard’s retort is titled: “A green light for anarchy: Criminals face no consequences under George Soros-backed soft-on-crime DAs.”
Gaspard begins by roping in the more famous Murdoch enterprise, too, and pulling no punches: “Like Fox News,” he writes, “NY Post can’t stop lying to its readers. Rather than grapple with complexities of crime in the US, they duck meaningful argument, preferring to fall back on tired trope of blaming George Soros and reformers.”
Thread – Like Fox News, NY Post can’t stop lying to its readers. Rather than grapple with complexities of crime in the US, they duck meaningful argument, preferring to fall back on tired trope of blaming George Soros and reformers. Let’s look at facts: https://t.co/xkgJtsRpxh
— Patrick Gaspard (@patrickgaspard) April 27, 2023
Gaspard is below presented in full as he attempts to add context to what he calls the Post‘s “fearmongering” tweet by tweet:
In case you are tempted to skip some of his detail, Gaspard concludes that: “Voters are, to be sure, concerned about crime. But they are hungry for solutions. The Post, of course, discusses none of that. The paper’s editors excel at fearmongering and the blame game. Look elsewhere for the truth about crime—and the best ways to make communities safer.”
Crime rates rose alarmingly, during the pandemic, in red states and blue, in cities and urban areas, regardless of the philosophy of the prosecutor in charge. As the country shut down, mental health challenges surged, and one in five Americans purchased firearms.
— Patrick Gaspard (@patrickgaspard) April 27, 2023
Murder rates soared. But it was far higher in red states that supported Donald Trump, and in cities with Republican mayors, according to a 2022 study by Third Way. Since the country began to recover from the darkest days of COVID-19, crime rates have declined somewhat.
— Patrick Gaspard (@patrickgaspard) April 27, 2023
But according to a study of trends in 35 cities by the nonpartisan Council on Criminal Justice, homicides, gun attacks and reports of domestic violence all dropped somewhat in 2022, while robberies and theft rose. Nationwide crime has been steadily declining for the last 25 years
— Patrick Gaspard (@patrickgaspard) April 27, 2023
George Soros is as concerned about public safety as anyone else. But he recognizes that our criminal justice system is badly broken, and in need of new ideas and new approaches—a view that enjoyed bipartisan consensus in the before times.
— Patrick Gaspard (@patrickgaspard) April 27, 2023
The Post and the hard-right conservatives it promotes love to cherry pick horrifying anecdotes to scare people into believing that pouring millions into mass incarceration is the answer. We tried that for decades, at enormous expense, with little impact on actual public safety.
— Patrick Gaspard (@patrickgaspard) April 27, 2023
“We found no evidence to support the claim that progressive prosecutors were responsible for the increase in homicide during the pandemic or before it.”
— Patrick Gaspard (@patrickgaspard) April 27, 2023
Soros’ contributions allow reformers to get their message out to voters, who apparently like what they are hearing and the results that are oriented to the needs of hard pressed communities.
— Patrick Gaspard (@patrickgaspard) April 27, 2023
It would hold people who break the law accountable, but hold police who use excessive force accountable as well. It would boost trainings to help police de-escalate conflicts. It would look for ways to expand affordable housing, and grapple with the challenge of guns.
— Patrick Gaspard (@patrickgaspard) April 27, 2023
