Right-wing conspiracy theorists allege that George Soros, seen in June 2019, is backing antifa, which President Trump has blamed for rioting without citing evidence. (Photo/JTA-Georg Hochmuth-AFP-Getty Images) News U.S. There are now 500,000 negative tweets about George Soros every day. Many claim he’s funding George Floyd protests. Facebook Twitter Email SMS WhatsApp Share By Ben Sales, JTA | June 4, 2020 Right-wing conspiracy theorists are increasingly claiming that George Soros is funding recent protests and riots across the United States in the aftermath of the George Floyd killing. According to the Anti-Defamation League, “aggressive language towards Soros has exploded on social media” this week. Negative tweets about the billionaire Jewish philanthropist rose from 20,000 per day on May 26 to 500,000 per day on May 30. The posts, according to the ADL, mostly allege (without evidence) that Soros is funding riots across the country, and that he is backing antifa, decentralized anti-fascist activists whom President Donald Trump has blamed for the violence, also without citing evidence. The ADL says that the Soros theories “can serve as a gateway to the antisemitic subculture that blames Jews for the riots.” People posting about Soros include prominent Trump supporters like Twitter pundit Candace Owens and actor James Woods. #Antifa is merely a pawn in the plan engineered by Soros and the Deep State. The Obama/Ayers/Alinsky/Cloward-Piven/Clinton strategy has always been to provoke, destabilize, and then rebuild a “socialist nirvana” from the ashes. Stay calm, be prepared, but don’t take the bait. — James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) June 1, 2020 Soros, a Hungarian-born financier who funds a variety of liberal causes in the United States and globally, is a favorite bogeyman of the right and conspiracy theorists in particular. Recent Soros conspiracies have alleged that he is driving the spread of Covid-19 in order to profit from a future vaccine and that he pays left-wing protesters. Trump tweeted in 2018 that Soros paid protesters opposed to Brett Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court confirmation. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban also put up a billboard campaign in 2017 opposing Soros that was criticized as anti-Semitic. The very rude elevator screamers are paid professionals only looking to make Senators look bad. Don’t fall for it! Also, look at all of the professionally made identical signs. Paid for by Soros and others. These are not signs made in the basement from love! #Troublemakers — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 5, 2018 Ben Sales Ben Sales is news editor of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. JTA Content distributed by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency news service. Also On J. Books The most Jewish moments from Barbra Streisand’s new memoir Opinion The women's movement is in denial about sexual violence on Oct. 7 Bay Area Bay Area couple raced to Israel after relative’s release Author! Author! Local authors explore ‘rewilding,’ queer Jewish fantasy, Six-Day War Subscribe to our Newsletter Enter Email Sign Up