July 27, 2020

The Illinois Jewish Legislative Caucus welcomes the report that the Chicago Tribune may finally have had enough of the bigoted and anti-Semitic rants of John Kass, and is ending his 23-year reign as “lead columnist” for the paper.

Kass authored a winding, conspiracy-filled diatribe blaming George Soros for violence in Chicago and other major cities. “The Soros-funded prosecutors, not the mayors, are the ones who help release the violent on little or no bond,” he wrote on July 22, 2020. Kass knows, as most journalists know, that Soros-themed conspiracy theories have proliferated amongst the fringe white supremacist and Twitterazi’s. Kass knew about the rise in anti-Semitism, he just didn’t care.

The Anti-Defamation League and others have chronicled the rise of anti-Semitic tropes based on the Soros theories. On June 2, 2020, the ADL noted: “Although the vast majority of Soros-related conspiracy theories do not mention his Jewish heritage, the concern remains that they can serve as a gateway to the antisemitic subculture that blames Jews for the riots. This type of content can be found on mainstream platforms; a Twitter user wrote, “George Soros is paying for this he is a Jew America bows to the Jew [sic],” while another tweeted, “Antifa are on the payroll of the Jewish financier George Soros who often uses these paid thugs to intimidate any opposition towards the status quo that he and his Zionist allies have set up to control us.” Yet another claimed, “Soros is every bit the subversive, parasitic conspirator these people make him out to be. The problem they always neglect to mention is the fact that he’s a Jew.” Not to be outdone, the Tribune Editorial Page Editor doubled down on support for Mr. Kass following his editorial and removal as lead columnist. Ms. McQueary also knows about the devastation of the anti-Semitic Soros fear-mongering, but cannot be bothered to apologize for it on her own editorial page. What message does this send to your Jewish readers? To your Jewish reporters?

Words matter, Mr. Kass and Ms. McQueary, so do a better job and stop peddling anti-Semitism. We assure you - we will hold you accountable to do just that.

Sincerely,

Illinois Jewish Legislative Caucus

Illinois State Representative Jonathan Carroll Illinois State Representative Kelly Cassidy Illinois State Representative Daniel Didech Illinois State Representative Robyn Gabel Illinois State Representative Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz Illinois State Representative Will Guzzardi Illinois State Representative Mark Kalish Illinois State Representative Bob Morgan Illinois State Representative Yoni Pizer Illinois State Representative Sam Yingling Illinois State Representative Anna Moeller Illinois State Senator Sara Feigenholtz Illinois State Senator Laura Fine Illinois State Senator Julie Morrison Illinois State Senator Ram Villivalam