Presumed GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump sparked backlash on Saturday when he tweeted an image calling Hillary Clinton the “most corrupt candidate ever,” with the words emblazoned on a Star of David. The background was a pile of $100 bills.
The tweet, sent from his official account at 9:37 with the words “Crooked Hillary – – Makes History!”, was later deleted, but not before screenshots tore through the Twitterverse. At 11:19 a.m., Trump’s account tweeted the same image, except the Star of David had been replaced by a circle. Two hashtags were added: #ImWithYou and #AmericaFirst.
At the bottom were recent numbers from a Fox News poll in which a majority of respondents described Clinton as corrupt.
Critics quickly denounced the use of the Jewish symbol as anti-Semitic and denounced the revision: two points of the star were still visible.
Https://twitter.com/Max_Fisher/status/749244090584272896
Crooked Hillary — Makes History! #ImWithYou#AmericaFirstpic.twitter.com/PKQhYhMmIX
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 2, 2016
Josh Schwerin, a spokesman for Clinton’s campaign, questioned the use of the star. Others more specifically accused Trump of anti-Semitism.
Classic @realDonaldTrump. First appease anti-Semitic white supremacists, then pretend it never happened #StarOfDavidpic.twitter.com/AHX2JDxu9J
— Michael Skolnik (@MichaelSkolnik) July 2, 2016
19 minutes after Trump's anti-Semitic dog whistling tweet, and it's still up. #NewTrump
— Patrick Ruffini (@PatrickRuffini) July 2, 2016
A Star of David over a pile of money, Mr. Trump? THIS is textbook anti-Semitic imagery. #louderthanadogwhistlehttps://t.co/XXZ5MtfSde
— Marc Lamont Hill (@marclamonthill) July 2, 2016
https://twitter.com/EWErickson/status/749267123856302081?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/EWErickson/status/749267983629824001?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
This article was originally published on Time.com