‘SOROS FUNDING ANTI-TRUMP PROTESTS’
DONALD Trump supporters are accusing George Soros of ‘contributing to civil unrest’ in the United States in the wake of the presidential election, says a top-selling newspaper. The Hungary-born billionaire is also causing controversy in Malaysia over his alleged funding of groups to influence the course of elections.
‘USA TODAY’ REPORT: He funded anti-Trump rallies, say supporters
Demonstrators Washington on Nov 19.
SUPPORTERS of United States president-elect Donald Trump have started organising protests against Hungarian-American philanthropist George Soros, who is accused of contributing to civil unrest in the country, a US daily reported.
In an article published on its website on Friday, USA Today quoted several individuals claiming that the billionaire investor had funded antiTrump protests across the US following Trump’s dramatic win in the presidential election.
“At the end of the day, it seems like he (Soros) is sending groups to create chaos and disorder for no reason. I don’t see how that helps anybody,” Rochelle Winther, who circulates information about Soros on social media, was quoted as saying.
The article said while Soros’s philanthropic group, Open Society Foundations (OSF), had denied the claim, it was possible some groups supported by Soros could have been involved in protests against Trump.
Soros was described in the article as a Democratic donor and a Jew who survived the Nazi occupation during World War 2.
In the presidential election on Nov 8, Republican Trump defeated Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton despite losing the popular vote.
USA Today, one of the bestselling newspapers in the US, also said Soros had become the subject of ridicule on social media and Internet bulletin 8chan, which discussed a campaign to expose “all heads of the George Soros Hydra”.
“Members of one Reddit (a discussion website) subgroup devoted to jailing Soros plan protests against Soros on Saturday (Nov 26), demonstrating in front of the Manhattan offices of Soros Fund Management and the New York City and Baltimore offices of his New York-based philanthropic group, the
OSF,” said the article.
Soros is the founder and chairman of OSF, a network of foundations that support “liberal causes” and “human rights” work around the world.
Soros made headlines in Malaysia recently after he was accused of funding three local organisations, which allegedly received RM3.2 billion over several years.
Whistleblower website DC Leaks had released an expose of Soros’s alleged interest in influencing Malaysia’s elections by funding pressure groups and non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
Red Shirts leader Datuk Seri Jamal Mohd Yunos had also claimed that Soros had funded a news portal, an NGO and a research centre to meddle in the country’s affairs.
It is a claim constantly denied by the three organisations.
USA Today cited a news release from public policy advocacy group MoveOn.org, which urged Americans to turn out on Nov 9 in a rejection of Trump’s “bigotry, xenophobia, Islamophobia and misogyny”.
“By the next day, sites such as The Free Thought, sought to connect Soros to the unrest, noting that MoveOn has been a recipient of OSF’s philanthropy.”
It also raised a claim made by a Reddit user that he had found evidence of non-profit groups paying for the anti-Trump protests.
Trump himself had responded to the “professional protesters” rallying against him.
In a tweet on Nov 11, the president-elect said: “Just had a very open and successful presidential election. Now professional protesters, incited by the media, are protesting. Very unfair!”
USA Today said this was not the first time Soros was accused of being a “villain”, saying Soros was the “man who broke the Bank of England” for his high-stakes bet in 1992 that the British pound would be devalued.
It was alleged that Soros had then netted a profit of about US$1 billion (RM4.8 billion) through his currency speculation.
In 1997, during the Asian financial crisis, former premier Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad accused Soros of using his wealth to punish Asean for welcoming Myanmar as a member.
Dr Mahathir had then made specific reference to Soros’s Jewish background and implied Soros was orchestrating the crisis as part of a larger Jewish conspiracy.
However, in 2006, Dr Mahathir said he accepted that Soros was not responsible for the crisis.
George Soros
outside Trump Hotel in Page 1 pix: The report on George Soros in ‘USA Today’ (left) and people protesting against United States president-elect Donald Trump in Seattle, Washington, recently.