Image by YouTube/OANN

By Sam Kestenbaum June 23, 2017

Image by twitter

A Jewish lawyer appointed to the Trump administration posted a slew of denigrating tweets -— calling former president Barack Obama a “Kenyan creampuff” and Mark Zuckerberg an “arrogant self-hating Jew.”

William C. Bradford was recently appointed by the Trump administration to run the Energy Department’s Office of Indian Energy. The tweets were sent from his now-deleted account before his appointment, The Washington Post reported Thursday.

Antisemitism Notebook

Your weekly guide through the news and the noise of how rising antisemitism and disputes over how to address it are shaping American Jewish life.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

The tweets include a response to a story about Zuckerberg urging Iowans to vote against Trump in the primaries. “Who is this little arrogant self-hating Jew to tell anyone for whom to vote?” Bradford wrote.

Bradford also described Obama going on a mysterious “mission in Tehran.” Bradford wrote, “How else can a Kenyan creampuff get ahead?”

The reference to Obama as a Kenyan evoked the debunked (but still widespread) conspiracy theory — once championed by Trump — that Obama wasn’t born in America.

Bradford apologized for his comments in an email to the Post on Thursday.

“As a minority and member of the Jewish faith, I sincerely apologize for my disrespectful and offensive comments,” Bradford wrote. “These comments are inexcusable and I do not stand by them. Now, as a public servant, I hold myself to a higher standard, and I will work every day to better the lives of all Americans.”

Email Sam Kestenbaum at kestenbaum@forward.com and follow him on Twitter at @skestenbaum

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount