New reporting from The Washington Post highlights Glenn Youngkin’s continued use of antisemitism to appeal to the far-right after he accused Jewish philanthropist George Soros of backing a shadow campaign to help Terry McAuliffe. 

Glenn’s embrace of anti-semetic tropes to appeal to Donald Trump’s right-wing extremists is disturbing and disqualifying. Republican candidates running for the Virginia House of Delegates should immediately condemn Glenn Youngkin and return his campaign donations for his continued pattern of using antisemitism and hateful rhetoric. 

The Washington Post: Youngkin accused of antisemitism after claiming allies of Jewish donor George Soros ‘inserted’ operatives into Virginia school boards
By Michelle Boorstein and Laura Vozzella 

GOP gubernatorial nominee Glenn Youngkin is facing allegations of antisemitism after accusing allies of Jewish philanthropist George Soros of a shadowy campaign to place secret political operatives onto Virginia school board. 

In an appearance Tuesday night at a rally at the Burke Volunteer Fire Department, Youngkin tried to link Soros, his Democratic opponent Terry McAuliffe, and cultural debates roiling some suburban Northern Virginia public school systems. In particular, some parents are protesting equity initiatives they associate with critical race theory, an academic framework that examines how systemic racism is ingrained in the country’s history. [...]

Youngkin said at an appearance Tuesday night. “But also at George Soros-backed allies, these allies that are in the left, liberal progressive movement. They’ve inserted political operatives into our school system disguised as school boards.”

When Youngkin, who some polls show is tied with McCauliffe, said Soros’s name, some in the crowd of about 700 people hooted and hollered.

Soros is a Hungarian-born billionaire who has given tens of billions to charity, in particular through his pro-democracy Open Society Foundations grant network. His critics sometimes use antisemitic tropes to characterize him, such as the suggestion that Jewish people are secretly pulling society’s strings.

“Evoking George Soros as a shadowy funder is an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory. This is an unacceptable statement from Glenn Youngkin,” U.S. Rep. Elaine Luria (D-Va.) tweeted Wednesday evening. [...]

Asked where Soros has backed school board candidates in Virginia, his campaign sent The Washington Post links to articles about money connected with Soros going to prosecutor races but nothing about school board candidates.

Some Jewish groups had previously expressed concern about Youngkin during the campaign.

Haile Soifer, CEO of the Jewish Democratic Council of America, told Jewish site The Forward earlier this month that “Youngkin is not disassociating himself” from Republicans in the state using antisemitism and bigotry as a political strategy.

The Forward noted that Youngkin had appeared on the radio show of Sebastian Gorka, a former Trump administration official with ties to antisemitic groups in his native Hungary.