Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

Miller’s Spat Over Statue Of Liberty Poem Recalls ‘Alt-Right’

When Stephen Miller fought with CNN reporter Jim Acosta over the poem on the Statue of Liberty, was he echoing an ‘alt-right’ talking point? It looks like it might be the case, after an argument about immigration that touched on the famous Emma Lazarus poem, “The New Colossus.”

According to ThinkProgress, white nationalists have been complaining for a while about the pro-immigration poem, written by a Jew and inscribed on the base of the statue. On the neo-Nazi site StormFront, there’s a discussion thread titled: “Give Me Your Huddled Masses — The Jewess who tried to destroy the US!”

Another discussion forum on Reddit is titled: “Does everyone realize that the poem inscribed beneath the Statue of Liberty is not, in fact, law?” It’s also a common trope to observe that “The New Colossus” was added to the statue’s base after the initial structure’s installation.

Miller pointed that out during his clash with Acosta, leading to a favorable call-out from ‘alt-right’ founder Richard Spencer. “It’s offensive that such a beautiful, inspiring statue was ever associated with ugliness, weakness, and deformity,” he wrote on Twitter.

Contact Daniel J. Solomon at [email protected] or on Twitter @DanielJSolomon

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.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.