WaPo Fact-Checker Who Reported On Influential Jewish Donor Now Says It’s Antisemitic

Glenn Kessler, a fact-checker known for needing fact-checking himself, is facing accusations of anti-Semitic behavior after he criticized Republicans for pointing out that the Manhattan District Attorney who indicted former President Donald Trump was backed with funds from George Soros, a billionaire financier. Kessler called it “incendiary” and “conspiratorial” to refer to Alvin Bragg as Soros-funded.

Some Republicans, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, have referred to Bragg as “Soros-backed.” Kessler, however, stated that such language plays into anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, alluding to Soros’s Jewish heritage as a wealthy “puppet master” who uses his wealth to manipulate politics.

However, this raised questions about The Washington Post’s coverage of Sheldon Adelson, a Jewish billionaire donor who supported Republicans before he died in 2021. Kessler, himself, also previously reported on Adelson’s political contributions in a way that some argue is not dissimilar from Republicans referring to Bragg as “Soros-backed.”

Kessler’s fact-check was also flagged as “disinformation” by Twitter users, and his response to critics was dismissed as “trolls.”