I’m on meme patrol again, this time disproving the erroneous theory that President Trump and Roseanne Barr are anti-semites. This time, the offending meme comes from none other than Occupy Democrats, themselves. As you can see above, the meme features actress Roseanne Barr dressed as Hitler, complete with a swastika armband. To make matters worse, Ms. Barr is seen baking and burning cookies, which the meme’s creators liken to Holocaust victims. Look, I don’t make this shit up, but I do comment on it when I see people misrepresenting facts to fit an agenda. Such is the case with this bullshit social media meme.
The Problem With Political Memes
If you’re new to my blog, then I’ll take a moment to explain my position on political memes. It’s not that I don’t like them, per se. What I loath are memes that have a false premise being shared as “proof” of someone’s political position on current issues. I’ve been seeing this from many of my leftist, progressive, and social justice warrior friends on Facebook. The makers of these left-leaning memes deliberately misrepresent fact to manipulate people who already believe in certain wrong-headed notions. In this case, the meme’s creator believes that these pics of Roseanne somehow prove that Trump is an anti-semite.
Here’s a quote from Occupy Democrats that ran with this meme:
- “Don’t forget that Trump’s Rosanne Barr did this photo shoot where she ate ‘burnt Jew’ cookies while sporting a swastika and a Hitler mustache. Now you know why Trump loves her: She’s an avowed racist. They’re a perfect match.”
False Accusation Meme: Exhibit A
There’s more than a little bit of mental manipulation going on with these three sentences. Before I deconstruct it, however, let’s take a look at how this meme affected one of my friends on Facebook. Judging by his overly-emotional reaction, it’s obvious that this meme had its intended effect upon him. But don’t take my word for it. Here’s what he had to say about this political meme:
- “She must be one of those ‘very fine people’ Trump likes to speak of. The Hitler get up is fun all by itself but the really ‘fine person’ part is all about the burned Jew cookies she is pulling out of the oven and proundly [sic] displaying. Taking in the whole scene the only question is how much finer could she be? Trump lavished her with praise so she must not simply be a fine person, she has to be the finest! After all Trump didn’t bother to call the ‘fine people’ from the tiki torch rally like he did Rosanne. No, all they got was a dog whistle. Sad [sic]”
False Info Memes are Fake News
Wow! My buddy got a little worked up there, didn’t he? Upon reading this meme, his emotions caused high levels of adrenaline and cortisol to flood into his brain, causing frontal lobe shutdown. At that point, his ability for reasoning was severely impaired. Sadly, this has been hard-wired into his brain through years of liberal programming and conditioning. It’s sad when you think about it. He became so emotional that he didn’t take a moment to research the meme’s claims. Within five minutes of research, I was able to debunk this meme and my friend’s (and Occupy Democrats’) position.
Here are 10 reasons why this meme does NOT “prove” that Donald J. Trump is a racist/anti-semite:
- First and foremost, Roseanne Barr is Jewish, which casts serious doubt on her ability to be anti-Semitic.
- Roseanne has always been a liberal and a feminist and I believe she still is to some degree. For those paying attention, she cites the Left “leaving her” as her reason for voting for Trump. (Pro Tip: You can learn a lot about why people vote the way they do simply by asking them and listening to the answer without judgement.)
- A quick visit to Snopes.com indicated that these pics were from photo shoot from a now-defunct publication called Heeb. (Note: “Heeb” is a derogatory term for people of Hebrew descent.) The proverbial fly in the ointment here is that Heeb is a Jewish publication. Snopes describes it as a “Jewish satire publication.” Roseanne’s pictures were part of the publication’s focus on Germany.
- The photo shoot took place during 2009, which would place it squarely during the Obama administration. No, I don’t think the photos are “Obama’s fault,” but it’s funny how these “racist” pictures were never an issue when they were actually shot and are only coming up now.
- Although such humor might be of questionable taste, it’s not uncommon for some Jewish people to make the occasional Hitler or Nazi joke.
- Considering all of the above facts, how are these photos of Roseanne “proof” that President Trump is an anti-Semite?
- President Trump’s son-in-law is Jewish, his daughter has converted to Judaism, and his grandchildren are Jewish.
- Trump recently named Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and site of the U.S. Embassy. (A very pro-Israel move.)
- Roseanne Barr doesn’t “belong” to Trump, as the original Occupy Democrats’ text would indicate. (“Don’t forget that Trump’s Rosanne Barr…”) He called her to congratulate her on the ratings of the first episode of her sitcom reboot. This is not odd, considering that her character on the show – much like the actress – finds herself defending her presidential pick to people in her life. In a day and age where other conservative leaning sitcoms have been cancelled amid protest, it’s not surprising that the POTUS would give Roseanne a call. This does not prove the claims of “racism,” however.
Beware False Political Memes!
Bottom line: Occupy Democrats dug these eight-year-old pictures up and weaponized them in their ongoing war against Donald Trump. And despite the meme’s deliberate lies and outright falsehoods, most left-leaning people who see this will believe it. This will be one of many “smoking guns” that supposedly “proves” Trump’s complicity in whatever made up crime they’re accusing him of this week. Considering how deliberately misleading this meme is – and how easily I was able to debunk it – I have but one question for my left-leaning friends: Are you tired of being taken for a fool by your rather dishonest political party?
About J.P. Ribner, Indie Author
J.P. Ribner is the author of the Viking fantasy adventure series, The Berserker’s Saga. Currently, the saga features three novels – Legacy of the Bear, Prophecy of the Bear, and The Berserker’s Return. He’s also in the process of editing Wasted Youth: A Flint Punk Rock Memoir. Born and raised in Flint, Michigan, J.P. now lives in the Metro Detroit area with his wife and three sons.
