Actor John Cusack is ferociously backtracking and claiming he was confused by a “bot” on Twitter after he retweeted — and then defended a clearly anti-Semitic cartoon late Monday night.
Cusack, who blocks most conservatives on Twitter, apparently thought he was sending a message to a friendly audience when he tweeted a cartoon of a hand, marked with the Star of David, crushing a group of people. The cartoon featured a fake quote, credited to Voltaire, that read, “To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize.”
The implication, of course, is that Cusack is “ruled over” by the Jewish people. And to drive the point home, Cusack added his own commentary, telling his followers to, “follow the money.”
Journalist Yashar Ali was quick enough to grab a screenshot of Cusack’s tweet for everyone on Cusack’s block list.
This is disgusting pic.twitter.com/4b2RlPrNfL
— Yashar Ali (@yashar) June 17, 2019
The tweet, of course, echoes recent anti-Semitic comments made by other rabid progressives, including Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN), who tweeted several months about investigating AIPAC, claiming support among her colleagues for certain policies was, “All about the Benjamins.”
Cusack went on to defend his tweet, accusing Israel of committing “atrocious” acts against the Palestinians, and firing back at any critic of his tweet. Ali also, thankfully, captured Cusack’s crusade to convince his remaining followers that he’s not really anti-Semitic, just a critic of Israeli policy.
3. John Cusack repeatedly defended his tweet before deleting it.
His “bot” excuse is absurd. pic.twitter.com/Jm2NArFVEO
— Yashar Ali (@yashar) June 18, 2019
When he was no longer able to defend his comments, Cusack turned to a different excuse, claiming that he was somehow confused or personally hacked by a “bot” — an action he blamed on the “alt-right,” even though he seems to have no evidence that any actual “bot” manhandled his account.
“A bot got me,” Cusack claimed. “I thought I was endorsing a pro-Palestinian justice retweet of an earlier post. It came, I think, from a different source. Shouldn’t have retweeted.”
4. See what I mean? Why do his tweets look this way? pic.twitter.com/iBC4TNvPPy
— Yashar Ali (@yashar) June 18, 2019
It’s an interesting, if novel, excuse, though Cusack might be hard-pressed to find another instance where a “bot” switched out a meme on a tweet after that tweet was retweeted, screenshotted, and then repeatedly defended.
The good news is, of course, that the rest of Twitter found the excuse eminently believable.
— Comfortably Smug (@ComfortablySmug) June 18, 2019
“A bot is an alt right account – same thing- not a person but an organized agenda,” Cusack tweeted, replying to a follower that, defying all explanation, somehow believed his excuse and felt sorry for Cusack being the target of so much “alt-right” ire.
Others suggested that perhaps progressives under fire elsewhere should adopt Cusack’s bizarre excuse.
Ralph Northman’s like I could’ve blamed a bot? Why didn’t anyone tell my this was an option! pic.twitter.com/vlzmUnLXFs
— Cox (@HOLYSMKES) June 18, 2019
Interestingly enough, the meme itself isn’t even correct. The quote, attributed to Voltaire, perhaps as a way of generalizing a clearly anti-Semitic meme’s message, is actually the work of Kevin Alfred Strom, a famed white supremacist. So not only was Cusack tweeting vile hatred for the Jewish people, he was also referencing a literal Nazi.
It is also worth noting that the quote does not belong to Voltaire. This is a white supremacist meme and the quote came from a white supremacist named Kevin Alfred Strom: https://t.co/3TLH4qSDpF
— (((AG))) (@AG_Conservative) June 17, 2019
Of course, like others who’ve made such “mistakes,” Cusack remains “un-canceled.”