On Hannity & Colmes on June 3, Washington Times editorial page editor Tony Blankley joined the show's co-host Sean Hannity and other right-wing pundits in attacking financier, philanthropist, and political activist George Soros. Blankley's attacks on Soros included calling Soros a “left-wing crank,” “a Jew who figured out a way to survive the Holocaust,” “a robber baron,” “a pirate capitalist,” and “a reckless man.” As Media Matters for America reported on June 4, attacking Soros as a means of discrediting Senator John Kerry has become a key strategy of the Republican National Committee.
From the June 3 edition of FOX News Channel's Hannity & Colmes:
HANNITY: George Soros, who is described by some as “Daddy Warbucks” of the Democratic Party, was introduced by Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton at an event in Washington, and he compared the prison abuse pictures in Iraq to the attacks of 9/11.
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BLANKLEY: Look, if he wasn't a multi-billionaire, he'd just be another ignored left-wing crank, but we all tend to pay more attention to people who have several billion dollars.
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BLANKLEY: This is a man who has blamed the Jews for anti-Semitism. ... This is a man who, when he was plundering the world's currencies, in England in '92, he caused the Southeast Asian financial crisis in '97 --
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BLANKLEY: He said that he has no moral responsibility for the consequences of his financial actions. He is a self-admitted atheist, he was a Jew who figured out a way to survive the Holocaust.
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BLANKLEY: When a man is worth this kind of money, and he's spending it on trying to influence the American public in an election, trying to buy the election, he's not going to, we have a right to know what kind of an unscrupulous man he is.
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BLANKLEY: He's buying influence all over the world. He's a robber baron, he's a pirate capitalist, and he's a reckless man.
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BLANKLEY: He supported abortion in Eastern Europe, in a country that's losing population, he's a self-admitted atheist, I think he's a very bad influence in the world. He's entitled to spend his money, and the public is entitled to know what kind of a man he is.
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HANNITY: Tony, I think you're right. He is trying to buy the election, we have a right to know who he is, and the Democrats who support him are only doing it for money.