Politician Accused Of Anti-Semitism Bailed On Private Holocaust Museum Tour
Trayon White Image by Facebook
By Aiden Pink April 19, 2018
The Washington, D.C. lawmaker who was accused of anti-Semitism after accusing a Jewish family of controlling the weather was invited to a private tour of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum — which he reportedly bailed on halfway through.
Trayon White, a 33-year-old Democrat who began serving on the D.C. Council last year, posted a video to his Facebook page last month blaming a recent snowstorm on climate technology controlled by the Rothschild family — which has been at the center of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories for centuries.
Local Jewish groups were outraged by the incident, but also saw an opportunity for education. White was invited to multiple Passover Seders, and Rabbi Batya Glazer of the local Jewish Community Relations Council had arranged a private tour of the Holocaust Museum for White and his staff.
The tour was meaningful, though at one point, according to The Washington Post, one of White’s aides asked whether the Warsaw Ghetto was a “gated community.”
“Yeah, I wouldn’t call it a gated community,” Glazer responded. “More like a prison.”
But halfway through the 90-minute tour, White disappeared.
When Glazer texted White to ask him where he had gone, White responded that he had to leave soon for an event in his district, even though his staff stayed for the whole tour.
A Post reporter found White standing on the sidewalk outside the museum.
The reporter asked White why he left early. White did not respond and held his cell phone to his ear.
When asked whether he had reevaluated his views on the Rothschilds, White did not respond and began walking away on foot.
“This opportunity has given me the chance to meet a lot of great Jews, a lot of people. A lot of good Jews that I’ve never had the chance to meet before,” he responded after a long silence. “It’s an awesome experience.”
“I do not know what happened, and I find it confusing,” Glazer told the Post.
Contact Aiden Pink at pink@forward.com or on Twitter, @aidenpink
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