George Soros conspiracy theories

Last updated

George Soros, Hungarian-born American businessman, is the object of numerous conspiracy theories. George Soros - Festival Economia 2012 01 (cropped).JPG
George Soros, Hungarian-born American businessman, is the object of numerous conspiracy theories.

Hungarian-American billionaire businessman George Soros is the subject of numerous conspiracy theories. [1] [2] Veronika Bondarenko, writing for Business Insider said: "For two decades, some have seen Soros as a kind of puppet master secretly controlling the global economy and politics." [3] The New York Times describes the allegations as moving "from the dark corners of the internet and talk radio" to "the very center of the political debate" by 2018. [4] Professor Armin Langer has noted that Soros is "the perfect code word" for conspiracy theories that unite antisemitism and Islamophobia. [5]

Contents

Soros conspiracies first emerged in Russian circles involving "Western anti-Kremlin civil society across the Eastern Bloc from Tbilisi to the Baltic." [6] These conspiracies involved inverting Soros's strengths into weaknesses, a common Russian disinformation technique. [7] Soros, a Holocaust survivor, was accused of being a Nazi. [8] As a supporter of Eastern European democracies, Soros was accused of being behind the European migrant crisis or importing migrants to European countries." [9] [10] Soros, an anti-corruption advocate, was accused of globalist conspiracies to overthrow governments. [6]

The Soros conspiracies quickly spread across Europe and the United States, carrying antisemitic and Islamophobic overtones. [11] This included efforts by the Hungarian government, under the current second premiership of Viktor Orbán, as part of an election campaign demonizing Soros. George Soros is cast as part of an international cabal of Jews that include Rothschilds, Freemasons, and Illuminati. [9] [10] American conservatives picked up on the thread in the late 2000s, spearheaded by Fox News. Bill O'Reilly gave an almost ten-minute monologue on Soros in 2007, calling him an "extremist" and claiming he was "off-the-charts dangerous." [12] Online news organizations, often connected to Russian state media such as Centre for Research on Globalization would also publish and help spread conspiracies. [13]

Background

Antisemitic conspiracies about a Jewish world order [14] or Jewish people as tools of the antichrist [15] have existed for centuries. [16] Scholars agree many of these conspiracies got adapted to a modern era when The Protocols of the Elders of Zion was published in 1905. [17] The fraudulent text was developed by the Tsarists secret police of Russia and claimed to expose a Jewish plot of world domination. [18]

The antisemitic conspiracies that were modernized through the Protocols were then applied to George Soros Narratives. Soros's philanthropy efforts with the Open Society, founded in 1979, supported democracy movements in Eastern Europe and funded liberal causes western democracies. [19] After the fall of Soviet Russia Soros began funding academic and grant programs. In fact, his activity in Russia became so pronounced Russians developed a word "Sorosovat" meaning to seek a grant from any quarter. By the mid-1980s the KGB had sought to discredit George Soros's reputation. [20]

Non-Government Organizations became targets of scrutiny in Russia. In 1995 Nezavisimaya Gazeta published a Federal Counterintelligence Service report which accuses Soros-funded International Science Fund of espionage. [21] In 1999 Dmitry Ryurikov, a foreign affairs advisor to Boris Yeltsin would give a speech at Nixon Center in Washington DC and blame NGOs, and Soros specifically, for being part of the New World Order trying to destroy Russia. [22] In 2015 Russia passed a series of anti-NGO laws. [23] Many of the George Soros conspiracies, and links to antisemitic tropes are tied to the framing of NGOS as being connected to the New World Order, International bankers, or the antichrist. [24]

1990s

George Soros conspiracies emerged from disinformation campaigns in late 1990s. [6] The earliest connection to antisemitic tropes researchers have identified was in 1992 when far-right Hungarian Justice and Life Party leader István CsurkIn used imagery of Soros as being part of Jewish global conspiracy. [13]

As Russian Intelligence began to report that American non-profits, especially George Soros's Open Society, were undermining sovereignty in Russia and Eastern Europe, [25] [26] conspiracy theories about George Soros began to spread. Anthropologist Ivan Kalmar writes that it is "not clear where the Soros Myth began... A likely candidate for the dubious honour of originating it is the Executive Intelligence Review , founded by the far-right American commentator Lyndon LaRouche. An article in the November 1, 1996 edition accuses the financier of manipulating the world's finances in partnership with the Rothschilds, who 'launched Soros's career'", citing a piece by writer F. William Engdahl. [27] Similarly, author Michael Wohlraich identifies Engdahl as the first US populariser of Soros conspiracy theories, noting the same text. [28] This has been described by the anti-fascist group Unicorn Riot as "an example of the anti-Semitic "rootless cosmopolitan" trope. [29]

George Soros conspiracies were often found in the pages of Lyndon Larouche's Executive Intelligence Review. [13] In 1996 articles were published about Soros drug legalization conspiracies while Bill Clinton was negotiating a crime bill. [30] In 1997 LaRouche's publication began to cover Soros as a source of destabilization in Central and South America over critical minerals. [31] Soros was also accused of running secret armies on behalf of the British Government in 1997. [32]

In 1997, during the Asian financial crisis, the prime minister of Malaysia, Mahathir Mohamad, accused Soros of using the wealth under his control to punish the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) for welcoming Myanmar as a member. With a history of antisemitic remarks, Mahathir made specific reference to Soros's Jewish background ("It is a Jew who triggered the currency plunge"), [27] [33] and implied Soros was orchestrating the crash as part of a larger Jewish conspiracy. Nine years later, in 2006, Mahathir met with Soros and afterward stated that he accepted that Soros had not been responsible for the crisis. [34] In 1998's The Crisis of Global Capitalism: Open Society Endangered, Soros explained his role in the crisis as follows:

The financial crisis that originated in Thailand in 1997 was particularly unnerving because of its scope and severity ... By the beginning of 1997, it was clear to Soros Fund Management that the discrepancy between the trade account and the capital account was becoming untenable. We sold short the Thai baht and the Malaysian ringgit early in 1997 with maturities ranging from six months to a year. (That is, we entered into contracts to deliver at future dates Thai baht and Malaysian ringgit that we did not currently hold.) Subsequently, Prime Minister Mahathir of Malaysia accused me of causing the crisis, a wholly unfounded accusation. We were not sellers of the currency during or several months before the crisis; on the contrary, we were buyers when the currencies began to decline—we were purchasing ringgits to realize the profits on our earlier speculation. (Much too soon, as it turned out. We left most of the potential gain on the table because we were afraid that Mahathir would impose capital controls. He did so, but much later.) [35]

2000s

In 2002 CovertAction Quarterly, now CovertAction Magazine, which is known for propaganda and disinformation [36] published a George Soros article by Heather Coffin entitled "George Soros: Imperial Wizard." [37] The article blamed George Soros for the 2000 "coup" in Yugoslavia. [38]

Much of the conspiracies tied to George Soros revolved around him organizing the Color Revolutions in countries formerly occupied by the Soviet Union. [39] Serbia's Bulldozer Revolution in 2000, Georgia's Rose Revolution of 2003, Ukraine's Orange Revolution of 2004 all sparked George Soros Conspiracies. [40]

In 2004 Richard Carlson, father of Tucker Carlson,former US Ambassador to the Seychelles, and lobbyist for Viktor Orbán [41] wrote about George Soros's Potemkin Village approach to Georgia. [42] These series of pro-democracy movements began with OTPOR in Serbia, and quickly spread across Eastern Europe in countries formerly occupied by Russia. [43]

In 2004 FrontPage Magazine, also known as FrontPageMag.com, edited by David Horowitz and published by the David Horowitz Freedom Center (DHFC) began to publish stories featuring George Soros conspiracies. This included a two part series by Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld and Shawn Macomber on Soros, "The Man Who Would Be Kingmaker". [44]

In 2005 George Soros conspiracies about the Color Revolutions spread in Lithuania. The Newspaper Respublika published a series of articles that attacked the non-governmental organizations and civil and human right groups. Activists of Lithuania, got labeled "Sorosologists." [45] In 2006 David Horowtiz began to write about connections of George Soros and a "Shadow Party" controlling the Democratic Party in the United States of America. [46] [47] By 2008 the Freedom Center was publishing articles by Michelle Malkin connecting criticisms of George Soros to globalist conspiracies.

George Soros criticisms connected to conspiracies about Globalism also spread in the United States of America in 2005. Peter Schweizer, who has written other books of debunked conspiracies, [48] published [[Do as I Say (Not as I Do) in 2005. The book purported to uncover liberal hypocrisy involving George Soros. Schweizer made claims, using available public documents as evidence, that Soros used tax shelters to avoid bills and also invested in industries he condemned. [49]

George Soros became a target of Fox News journalists. In April 2007, Bill O'Reilly included a 10-minute segment on "The O'Reilly Factor" about George Soros, who he described as "off-the-charts dangerous" and "an extremist who wants open borders, a one-world foreign policy, legalized drugs, euthanasia." [50]

During the 2008 Presidential Campaign in the United States of America George Soros conspiracies were tied into disinformation campaigns about the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, known as ACORN. [51] These were often tied to labeling Barack Obama as a secret Soros funded communist who utilized the Cloward-Piven Strategy. Glenn Beck first mentioned "Cloward-Piven Strategy" in March 2009, he mentioned the strategy it at least 32 times in the next twelve months, connecting George Soros and other elites to Barack Obama. [51]

In 2008 Michelle Malkin would publish an editorial in the National Review criticizing George Soros. Her article made references to criticism of a "Soros Slush Fund" being the brain child of Barack Obama. [52]

Glen Beck was another Fox News host known to spread conspiracy theories about George Soros. Beck in 2009 used a hand-written chart showing a diagram connecting the alleged left-wing conspiracy that ACORN, Service Employees International Union and its president Andy Stern, to George Soros and the Barack Obama campaign. [51]

In 2008 George Brinbaum and Arthur Finklesetien worked on the Presidential campaign of Viktor Orbán. The pair decided Orbán needed an enemy and conducted survey research. They settled on George Soros, because according to George Brinbaum, "Because enough people in Hungary didn't like the idea of this billionaire behind the curtain, almost like… the Wizard of Oz, controlling politics and policy." [53] Orbán's efforts to redefine Soros as a villain took the Soros conspiracies mainstream. [13]

In 2009, the Canadian online news outlet Canada Free Press, known for making dubious claims, published an article by Jim O'Niel on George Soros that accused him of illegal market manipulation, being a felony Inside trader, and villain. [54] [ non-primary source needed ]

2010s

2017 Hungarian anti-Soros government campaign propaganda NK kerdoiv-page-001.jpg
2017 Hungarian anti-Soros government campaign propaganda
2017 Billboards of national consultation on the Soros plan in Zichyujfalu, Fejer County, Hungary Billboards of national consultation on the Soros plan in Zichyujfalu, Fejer County, Hungary 4.jpg
2017 Billboards of national consultation on the Soros plan in Zichyújfalu, Fejér County, Hungary

In the 2010s the George Soros conspiracies started to grow globally.

George Soros conspiracies played a strong role in Hungarian elections in 2010 with the addition of George Brinbaum and Arhtur Finklestein to the campaign. [53] The Presidential campaign of Viktor Orbán and the Hungarian government spent millions of dollars on a poster demonizing Soros. [9] [10]

Soros conspiracies became more common in Russian official channels. A study of military and academic journals, from 2008 to 2018, found a noted increase of Soros mentions, taking on a more conspiratorial tone. The "Problem of National Security" would mention George Soros 43 times across 23 articles, and the phrase "New World Order" would get mentioned 60 times over 34 articles. The "Military-Industrial Courier" would mention Soros 41 times over 14 articles from 2009 to 2018 and "new World Over" 92 times across 59 articles. [55] Russian television, which came under greater State control [56] also began to reinforce a narrative tying George Soros to a new world order. [57]

The 3 April 2016 release date of the Panama Papers, also called Offshoregate (Russian : "Офшоргейта") was just before Vladimir Putin's largest annual press conference, the All-Russian Popular Front (ONF) "Truth and Justice" in St. Petersburg (Russian : Медиа-форум Общероссийского народного фронта (ОНФ) «Правда и справедливость» в Санкт-Петербурге) which was held 4–7 April 2016. [58] During this press conference, Vladimir Putin stated that Julian Assange's WikiLeaks told him that George Soros and his Open Society Foundations had provided funding for Offshoregate and, on behalf of the Kremlin, Dmitry Peskov stated that Offshoregate was intended to denigrate (Russian : "вброс") "Putin and Russia personally". [59] [60]

After being ousted from office in the wake of the aforementioned Panama Papers scandal, Icelandic Prime Minister Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson accused Soros of having bankrolled a conspiracy to remove him from power. [61] [62] It was later noted that Soros himself had also been implicated in the Panama Papers, casting doubt on the prime minister's theory. [63]

Soros's opposition to Brexit led to a front page on the United Kingdom's Conservative Party-supporting newspaper The Daily Telegraph in February 2018, which was accused of antisemitism for claiming he was involved in a supposed "secret plot" for the country's voters to reverse the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum. [64] While The Daily Telegraph did not mention that Soros is Jewish, his opposition to Britain leaving the European Union had been reported elsewhere in less conspiratorial terms. [65] Stephen Pollard, editor of The Jewish Chronicle , said on Twitter: "The point is that language matters so much and this is exactly the language being used by antisemites here and abroad." [66] [67] In October 2019, the then Leader of the House of Commons, Jacob Rees-Mogg, accused Soros of being the "funder-in-chief" of the Remain campaign, and was subsequently accused of antisemitism by opposition MPs. [68]

In 2018 and 2019, in reaction to a December 20, 1998, 60 Minutes interview of George Soros, [69] [70] in which Soros related his experiences of when the Nazis occupied his native Hungary when he was 13 years old, [71] [72] right-wing figures such as Alex Jones, Dinesh D'Souza, Glenn Beck, Roseanne Barr, [73] James Woods, Ann Coulter, [72] Louie Gohmert, [70] Marjorie Taylor Greene, [74] and Donald Trump Jr., [75] promulgated the false conspiracy theory, [76] [77] which has been described as antisemitic, that Soros was a Nazi collaborator who turned in other Jews and stole their property during the occupation. [78] [79] [80]

In 2018, Black Cube, a private intelligence agency of Israeli origins, supported Viktor Orban's virulently anti-Semitic re-election campaign, acquiring taped telephone conversations of individuals associated with George Soros who was actively opposing Orban's re-election. [81] [82] [83] [84] According to Israeli politician Tamar Zandberg, Hungary was "carrying out an antisemitic campaign against Soros" and that Benjamin Netanyahu, whose Likud party she said has dangerous ties to "extreme right-wing parties in Europe", openly supported Orban's anti-Semitic re-election campaign. [85] She stated that Black Cube's support for Orban is an "Israeli embarrassment." [85]

In October 2018, Soros was accused of funding the Central American migrant caravans heading toward the United States. [86] [87] [88] The theory that Soros was causing Central American migration at the southern US border apparently dates back to late March 2018. [89] The October 2018 strain of the theory has been described to combine antisemitism, anti-immigrant sentiment, and "the specter of powerful foreign agents controlling major world events in pursuit of a hidden agenda", connecting Soros and other wealthy individuals of Jewish faith or background to the October caravan. [89] Then-US president Donald Trump was among those promoting the conspiracy theory. [90] Both Cesar Sayoc, the perpetrator of the October 2018 attempted bombings of prominent Democratic Party officials, and Robert Bowers, the perpetrator of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, referred to this conspiracy theory on social media before their crimes. [91] [92]

In November 2018, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan denounced Soros while speaking about the political purges in Turkey, saying: "The person who financed terrorists during the Gezi incidents is already in prison. And who is behind him? The famous Hungarian Jew Soros. This is a man who assigns people to divide nations and shatter them." [93]

In November 2019, attorney Joseph diGenova, who is known for promoting conspiracy theories about the Department of Justice and the FBI, [102] asserted on Fox News without evidence that Soros "controls a very large part of the career foreign service of the United States State Department" and "also controls the activities of FBI agents overseas who work for NGOs – work with NGOs. That was very evident in Ukraine." [103] Soros's Open Society Foundations described diGenova's claims as "beyond rhetorical ugliness, beyond fiction, beyond ludicrous" and requested that Fox News provide an on-air retraction of diGenova's claims, and stop providing diGenova with a platform. [104] Although the network never publicly announced it had banned him, diGenova has not appeared on Fox following the incident. [105] In September 2020, diGenova suggested that Fox News is also controlled by Soros. [105]

2020s

A study by Zignal Labs found that unsubstantiated claims of involvement by Soros were one of three dominant themes in misinformation and conspiracy theories around the 2020 George Floyd protests, alongside claims that Floyd's murder had been faked and claims of involvement by antifa groups. [106] The Anti-Defamation League estimated that over four days after Floyd's murder, negative Twitter messages about Soros increased from about 20,000 per day to about 500,000 per day. [107]

George Soros conspiracy theories came up frequently during the 2020 United States presidential election between Donald Trump and Joe Biden as antisemitic dog whistles, [13] including conspiracy theories about Soros being connected to the COVID-19 pandemic. [13] In March 2020, Michael Caputo, Donald Trump's Health and Human Services Secretary, tweeted a photo of Soros captioned "[t]he real virus behind everything" [108] and "Are you kidding? Soros's political agenda REQUIRES a pandemic." [109]

After the July 2020 Armenian–Azerbaijani clashes on the border, the president of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, stated that the 2018 Armenian revolution was "another provocation by Soros and his entourage", and called the government of the prime minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, the "agents of the Soros Foundation", [110] citing the aid for the COVID-19 pandemic in Armenia by the Soros Foundation. [111] Aliyev added that there were "no traces of the Soros Foundation in Azerbaijan" because it had "cut off their legs", as they were "poisoning the minds of youth", turning them "against their state". [112] [113] During the height of the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war in October, Aliyev labeled Soros's activities a "destructive, movement, and a colonial movement". He also added that Soros "came to power in Armenia today, but failed." [114]

During the 2022 Brazilian general election, Ciro Gomes, the presidential candidate of the centre-left Democratic Labour Party, claimed in various campaign adverts that the Socialism and Liberty Party was funded by Soros. These adverts were ordered to be removed by the Superior Electoral Court. [115]

When Donald Trump was indicted by Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg in 2023, numerous Republicans claimed that Bragg was "bought and paid for" by Soros. This claim was promoted and spread by Trump himself as well as Ron DeSantis, Senator J. D. Vance, Senator Ron Johnson, Texas Governor Greg Abbott, Representative Anna Paulina Luna, and Representative Paul Gosar, who called Bragg a "Soros D.A.". [116] The only actual connection is that Soros donated to progressive criminal justice reform group Color of Change, which contributed to Bragg's campaign. Soros was only one of many donors to Color of Change, and he had no contact with Bragg, whom he has never met. [117] [118]

In 2022 Viktor Orbán gave a speech at the American far-right conference CPAC, in which he said, "Don't be afraid to call your enemies by their name. They will never show mercy. Consider for a moment George Soros. I know George Soros very well. He is my opponent. He believes in none of the things that we do." [53]

Also in 2023, Tesla, Inc./SpaceX CEO and owner of social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter) Elon Musk compared George Soros to Jewish Marvel Comics supervillain Magneto and accused him of wanting "to erode the very fabric of civilization" because he "hates humanity". He later alleged that the Soros organization wants "nothing less than the destruction of western civilization" in reply to a X user speculating about a "George Soros led invasion" of Europe by North African immigrants. [119] [120]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Soskis, Benjamin (December 5, 2017). "George Soros and the Demonization of Philanthropy". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on February 20, 2018. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
  2. ↑ Rachman, Gideon (September 18, 2017). "Soros hatred is a global sickness". Financial Times. Archived from the original on February 27, 2018. Retrieved March 4, 2018.
  3. ↑ Bondarenko, Veronika (May 20, 2017). "George Soros is a favorite target of the right – here's how that happened". Business Insider ƒ. Archived from the original on February 27, 2018. Retrieved March 3, 2018.
  4. ↑ Shane, Scott; Vogel, Kenneth P.; Kingsley, Patrick (October 31, 2018). "How Vilification of George Soros Moved From the Fringes to the Mainstream". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 1, 2018. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
  5. ↑ Langer, Armin (2021). "The eternal George Soros: The rise of an antisemitic and Islamophobic conspiracy theory". Europe: Continent of Conspiracies. Routledge. ISBN   978-1-003-04864-0.
  6. 1 2 3 Kaylan, Melik. "Why Populists Hate George Soros And How It Started". Forbes. Archived from the original on October 20, 2022. Retrieved August 29, 2025.
  7. ↑ Bechis, Francesco (December 29, 2020), "Playing the Russian Disinformation Game", Democracy and Fake News, London: Routledge, pp. 119–131, doi:10.4324/9781003037385-12, ISBN   978-1-003-03738-5 , retrieved August 29, 2025
  8. ↑ Langer, Armin (April 2, 2021), "The eternal George Soros", Europe: Continent of Conspiracies, Abingdon, Oxon; New York, NY: Routledge, pp. 163–184, doi:10.4324/9781003048640-9, ISBN   978-1-003-04864-0 , retrieved August 29, 2025
  9. 1 2 3 Langer, Armin (2021). "The eternal George Soros: The rise of an antisemitic and Islamophobic conspiracy theory". Europe: Continent of Conspiracies. Routledge. ISBN   978-1-003-04864-0.
  10. 1 2 3 Kalmar, Ivan (2020). "Islamophobia and anti-antisemitism: the case of Hungary and the 'Soros plot'". Patterns of Prejudice. 54 (1–2): 182–198. doi:10.1080/0031322X.2019.1705014. S2CID   219021241.
  11. ↑ Backhouse, Sarah; Newton, Clare (December 8, 2019). Freeman-Greene, Suzy; Beaumont, Lucy; Howard, Jane (eds.). "State Library Victoria proves libraries aren't just about books: they're about community". doi.org. doi:10.64628/aa.fqkjva4nh . Retrieved August 29, 2025.
  12. ↑ Brown, Jennings; Steinblatt, Jacob (March 30, 2017). "How George Soros Became The Right's Biggest Boogeyman". www.vocativ.com. Vocativ. Archived from the original on February 23, 2018. Retrieved March 3, 2018.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Langer, Armin (August 8, 2022), "8 Dog-Whistle Politics as a Strategy of American Nationalists and Populists: George Soros, the Rothschilds, and Other Conspiracy Theories", Nationalism and Populism, De Gruyter, pp. 157–188, doi:10.1515/9783110729740-008, ISBN   978-3-11-072974-0 , retrieved August 29, 2025
  14. ↑ Langer, Armin (April 2, 2021), "The eternal George Soros", Europe: Continent of Conspiracies, Abingdon, Oxon; New York, NY: Routledge, 2021. |: Routledge, pp. 163–184, doi:10.4324/9781003048640-9, ISBN   978-1-003-04864-0 , retrieved September 1, 2025{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  15. ↑ Strickland., Debra Higgs (2011). "Antichrist and the Jews in Medieval art and Protestant propaganda 32 (2011): 1-50". Studies in Iconography. 32: 150.
  16. ↑ Byford, Jovan (2011), "The Anatomy of the Conspiracy Theory", Conspiracy Theories, London: Palgrave Macmillan UK, pp. 71–94, doi:10.1057/9780230349216_4, ISBN   978-1-349-32350-0 , retrieved September 1, 2025
  17. ↑ Langer, Armin (August 8, 2022), "8 Dog-Whistle Politics as a Strategy of American Nationalists and Populists: George Soros, the Rothschilds, and Other Conspiracy Theories", Nationalism and Populism, De Gruyter, pp. 157–188, doi:10.1515/9783110729740-008, ISBN   978-3-11-072974-0 , retrieved September 1, 2025
  18. ↑ Mergler, Iga; McLaughlin, Neil (May 27, 2019). Srivastava, Vinita (ed.). "Scapegoating George Soros: How media-savvy far-right activists spread lies". doi.org. doi:10.64628/aam.6qnd47nm6 . Retrieved September 1, 2025.
  19. ↑ Kalmar, Ivan; Stevens, Christopher; Worby, Nicholas (July 18, 2018). "Twitter, Gab, and Racism: The Case of the Soros Myth". Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Social Media and Society. New York, NY, USA: ACM. pp. 330–334. doi:10.1145/3217804.3217939. ISBN   978-1-4503-6334-1.
  20. ↑ "Soros: the life and times of a Messianic billionaire". Choice Reviews Online. 40 (1): 40–0418–40–0418. September 1, 2002. doi:10.5860/choice.40-0418 (inactive September 1, 2025). ISSN   0009-4978.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of September 2025 (link)
  21. ↑ Mergler, Iga (2023). "Soros Conspiracy Theories". Dissertation.
  22. ↑ Shiraev, Eric; Zubok, Vladislav (2000). Anti-Americanism in Russia: From Stalin to Putin. Palgrave Macmillan.
  23. ↑ Hamlett, John (2017). "The Constitutionality of Russia's 'Undesirable' NGO Law". SSRN Electronic Journal. doi:10.2139/ssrn.2691212. ISSN   1556-5068.
  24. ↑ Plenta, Peter (June 17, 2020). "Conspiracy theories as a political instrument: utilization of anti-Soros narratives in Central Europe". Contemporary Politics. 26 (5): 512–530. doi:10.1080/13569775.2020.1781332. ISSN   1356-9775.
  25. ↑ Freeland, Chrystia; Latynina, Julia (January 2001). "True Crime, Russian-Style" . Foreign Policy (122): 84–88. doi:10.2307/3183233. ISSN   0015-7228. JSTOR   3183233.
  26. ↑ "Russian Agency Said to Accuse Americans of Spying". The Washington Post. January 14, 1995. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved August 29, 2025.
  27. 1 2 Kalmar, Ivan (March 14, 2020). "Islamophobia and anti-antisemitism: the case of Hungary and the 'Soros plot'". Patterns of Prejudice. 54 (1–2): 182–198. doi:10.1080/0031322X.2019.1705014. ISSN   0031-322X.
  28. ↑ Wolraich, Michael (2010). Blowing smoke: why the right keeps serving up whack-job fantasies about the plot to euthanize grandma, outlaw Christmas, and turn junior into a raging homosexual. Cambridge, Mass: Da Capo Press. ISBN   978-0-306-81937-7. OCLC   668208755.
  29. ↑ ""Eat the Children": Decades of Far-Right LaRouche Provocations Renewed". UNICORN RIOT. October 5, 2019. Retrieved July 9, 2021.
  30. ↑ Steinberg, Jeffrey (March 22, 1996). "Soros bankrolls global drive for drug legalization". Executive Intelligence Review. 23 (13).
  31. ↑ Small, Gretchen; Dmall, Dennis (June 27, 1997). "Soros Minerals Grab Behind Peru-Ecuador Border Conflict". Executive Intelligence Review. 24 (27).
  32. ↑ "Executive Outcomes: Operational Provider", Mercenaries: A Guide to Private Armies and Private Military Companies, 2300 N Street, NW, Suite 800, Washington DC 20037 United States: CQ Press, pp. 199–212, 2014, doi:10.4135/9781483340319.n16, ISBN   978-1-60871-248-9 , retrieved August 29, 2025{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  33. ↑ "Mahathir's dark side". The Daily Telegraph. London. October 24, 2003. Archived from the original on April 21, 2018. Retrieved April 5, 2018.
  34. ↑ "Malaysian ex-premier Mahathir and billionaire Soros end feud". ABC News. Agence France-Presse. December 15, 2006.
  35. ↑ Soros, George (1999). The Crisis of Global Capitalism: Open Society Endangered (2nd ed.). Public Affairs. pp. 208–209. ISBN   978-1-891620-27-0.
  36. ↑ "From Russia's Secret Spy Archives: The Art of the Dangle". The Daily Beast. May 5, 2018. Retrieved August 29, 2025.
  37. ↑ Langer, Armin (April 2, 2021), "The eternal George Soros", Europe: Continent of Conspiracies, Abingdon, Oxon; New York, NY: Routledge, 2021. |: Routledge, pp. 163–184, doi:10.4324/9781003048640-9, ISBN   978-1-003-04864-0 , retrieved August 29, 2025{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  38. ↑ David Henry: Community Publishing Services. "Canadian Dimension: George Soros, Imperial Wizard". www.canadiandimension.mb.ca. Archived from the original on October 14, 2003. Retrieved August 29, 2025.
  39. ↑ Pintilescu, Corneliu; Magyari, Attila Kustán (October 27, 2020), "Soros conspiracy theories and the rise of populism in post-socialist Hungary and Romania", Conspiracy Theories in Eastern Europe, Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2021. | Series: Conspiracy theories: Routledge, pp. 207–231, doi:10.4324/9780429326073-15, ISBN   978-0-429-32607-3 , retrieved August 29, 2025{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  40. ↑ Kalmar, Ivan; Stevens, Christopher; Worby, Nicholas (July 18, 2018). "Twitter, Gab, and Racism: The Case of the Soros Myth" . Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Social Media and Society. New York, NY, USA: ACM. pp. 330–334. doi:10.1145/3217804.3217939. ISBN   978-1-4503-6334-1.
  41. ↑ WRAL (August 8, 2021). "BENJAMIN NOVAK & MICHAEL GRYNBAUM: Conservative fellow travelers - Tucker Carlson drops in on Viktor Orban". WRAL.com. Retrieved August 29, 2025.
  42. ↑ The Weekly Standard (May 24, 2004). The Weekly Standard, Volume 9, Number 35, May 24, 2004.
  43. ↑ Beacháin, Donnacha Ó; Polese, Abel (April 20, 2009). "Color Revolutions" . The International Encyclopedia of Revolution and Protest: 1–10. doi:10.1002/9781405198073.wbierp0372. ISBN   978-1-4051-8464-9.
  44. ↑ Ehrenfeld, Rachel. (2023). The Soros Agenda. Simon and Schuster.
  45. ↑ Donskis, Leonidas (2006). "Another word for uncertainty: Anti-Semitism in modern Lithuania". NORDEUROPA Forum.
  46. ↑ "Introduction The Dilemma of Culture-Wars Polemics", Why Higher Education Should Have a Leftist Bias, Palgrave Macmillan, 2013, doi:10.1057/9781137344908.0004, ISBN   978-1-137-34490-8 , retrieved August 29, 2025
  47. ↑ Chapman, Roger (March 17, 2015). Culture Wars. New York: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781315705323. ISBN   978-1-315-70532-3.
  48. ↑ Mayer, Jane (October 4, 2019). "The Invention of the Conspiracy Theory on Biden and Ukraine". The New Yorker. ISSN   0028-792X . Retrieved August 29, 2025.
  49. ↑ "Do As I Say (Not As I Do): Profiles in Liberal Hypocrisy (Unabridged)". Apple Books. Retrieved August 29, 2025.
  50. ↑ "How George Soros Became The Right's Biggest Boogeyman". Vocativ. March 30, 2017. Archived from the original on April 3, 2017. Retrieved August 29, 2025.
  51. 1 2 3 Dreier, Peter; Martin, Christopher R. (August 13, 2010). "How ACORN Was Framed: Political Controversy and Media Agenda Setting" . Perspectives on Politics. 8 (3): 761–792. doi:10.1017/s1537592710002069. ISSN   1537-5927.
  52. ↑ "Michelle Malkin on Soros & Obama on National Review Online". article.nationalreview.com. Archived from the original on August 22, 2008. Retrieved August 29, 2025.
  53. 1 2 3 Thorpe, Nick (July 1, 2023). "The man who helped Orban and Netanyahu rise to power". BBC News . Retrieved September 1, 2025.
  54. ↑ O'Niel, Jim (September 15, 2009). "Soros: Republic Enemy #1". Canada Free Press.
  55. ↑ Kragh, Martin; Andermo, Erik; Makashova, Liliia (January 31, 2020). "Conspiracy theories in Russian security thinking". Journal of Strategic Studies. 45 (3): 334–368. doi:10.1080/01402390.2020.1717954. ISSN   0140-2390.
  56. ↑ "FROM OLIGARCHIC AUTHORITARIANISM TO BUREAUCRATIC AUTHORITARIANISM", Putin's Russia, Brookings Institution Press, pp. 322–351, March 1, 2010, doi:10.2307/j.ctt6wpjkh.16 , retrieved September 1, 2025
  57. ↑ Sokolovskaja, Margarita (2011). "Sokolovskaja, M. (2011). National Television in Putin's Russia-The Media's Changing Role in Society and the Consolidation of Competitive Authoritarianism". University of Sydney.
  58. ↑ Martin, Rachel (December 15, 2017). "'The Atlantic': What Putin Really Wants". NPR . Archived from the original on December 15, 2017. Retrieved November 17, 2020– via Morning Edition.
  59. ↑ "WikiLeaks: офшорный скандал - атака на Путина, спонсированная Соросом и USAID" [WikiLeaks: offshore scandal - attack on Putin sponsored by Soros and USAID]. newsru.com (in Russian). April 6, 2016. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
  60. ↑ "Песков объявил расследование об офшорах атакой на Путина и Россию, которую подготовили бывшие представители Госдепа и ЦРУ" [Peskov declared the offshore investigation an attack on Putin and Russia, which was prepared by former representatives of the State Department and the CIA]. newsru.com (in Russian). April 4, 2016. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
  61. ↑ "Segir Panama-skjölin runnin undan rifjum Soros". RÚV. July 27, 2016. Archived from the original on September 21, 2018. Retrieved September 11, 2018.
  62. ↑ "Sigmundur Davíð segir Panamaskjölin hafa verið sérstakt "hit-job"". Kjarninn . February 27, 2017. Archived from the original on September 21, 2018. Retrieved September 11, 2018.
  63. ↑ "Kom Soros upp um sjálfan sig?". Kjarninn. July 26, 2016. Archived from the original on September 21, 2018. Retrieved September 11, 2018.
  64. ↑ Finkelstein, Daniel (February 14, 2018). "George Soros and the roots of antisemitism". The Times. Archived from the original on May 2, 2018. Retrieved May 3, 2018.(subscription required)
  65. ↑ Behr, Rafael (February 8, 2018). "A secret plot to stop Brexit, or an antisemitic dog whistle?". The Guardian. Archived from the original on May 4, 2018. Retrieved May 3, 2018.
  66. ↑ Fisher, Lucy (February 8, 2018). "Brexiteers and alt-right unite against 'globalist' billionaire George Soros". The Guardian. Archived from the original on May 4, 2018. Retrieved May 3, 2018.
  67. ↑ Lusher, Adam (February 8, 2018). "George Soros: The billionaire investor who became the favourite target of conspiracy theories and antisemitic hatred". The Independent. Archived from the original on May 4, 2018. Retrieved May 3, 2018.
  68. ↑ "Jacob Rees-Mogg accused of antisemitism after George Soros comments". The Independent . October 4, 2019. Archived from the original on October 9, 2019. Retrieved October 9, 2019.
  69. ↑ Steve Kroft (December 20, 1998), George Soros 1998 interview MP4 video ("confiscation" comment at 8:35), 60 Minutes via Internet Archive
  70. 1 2 Sonmez, Felicia (December 6, 2018). "Rep. Louie Gohmert falsely says George Soros helped take property from fellow Jews". The Washington Post . Archived from the original on January 11, 2019. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
  71. ↑ Mark E. Souder (September 29, 2006), "The Guilt-Free Record of George Soros" (Extensions of Remarks) Archived February 19, 2019, at the Wayback Machine , Congressional Record via Congress.gov. See also Mark E. Souder (September 29, 2006), "The Guilt-Free Record of George Soros" (Extensions of Remarks) Archived August 1, 2020, at the Wayback Machine , Congressional Record via Google Books
  72. 1 2 Emery, David (February 4, 2018) [2016]. "Was George Soros an SS Officer or Nazi Collaborator During World War II?". Snopes . Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  73. ↑ Chokshi, Niraj (May 29, 2018). "George Soros Smears Find New Life in Roseanne's Twitter Tantrum (Published 2018)". The New York Times. Retrieved September 16, 2025.
  74. ↑ Nadler, Ben (August 12, 2020). "Marjorie Taylor Greene wins GOP primary in Georgia, despite racist videos". The Times of Israel . Retrieved February 1, 2021.
  75. ↑ Manchester, Julia (May 29, 2018). "Trump Jr. retweets Roseanne's conspiracy theory about George Soros". The Hill . Archived from the original on June 1, 2018. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  76. ↑ Sommer, Allison Kaplan (October 14, 2018). "From 'Satanic' to 'Anti-Christ': Pro-Trump Attacks on George Soros Intensify as Midterms Approach". Haaretz. Archived from the original on May 31, 2020. Retrieved June 2, 2020.
  77. ↑ Smith, Allan (December 6, 2018). "Gohmert makes false claim in TV interview about Soros and Jews. Fox Business distances itself". NBC News. Archived from the original on December 11, 2018. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
  78. ↑ Avi Selk (May 30, 2018), "George Soros wasn't a Nazi, Roseanne Barr. He was a 14-year-old Jew who hid from them." Archived July 26, 2018, at the Wayback Machine The Washington Post Archived December 4, 2019, at the Wayback Machine
  79. ↑ Lybrand, Holmes (May 30, 2018). "Fact Check: George Soros, the Thieving Nazi Sympathizer?". The Weekly Standard. Archived from the original on January 12, 2019. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
  80. ↑ Coaston, Jane (June 11, 2018). "George Soros is not a Nazi, explained". Vox. Archived from the original on January 11, 2019. Retrieved January 11, 2019.
  81. ↑ "Israel's Black Cube campaigned against liberal NGOs before Hungary's election, Politico says". Haaretz . July 7, 2018. Retrieved September 16, 2025.
  82. ↑ Bayer, Lili (July 6, 2018). "Israeli intelligence firm targeted NGOs during Hungary's election campaign". Politico . Archived from the original on October 28, 2020. Retrieved September 16, 2025.
  83. ↑ Harkov, Lahav; Sharon, Jeremy (March 15, 2018). "Exclusive: How a Soros-funded NGO lobbied one EU country against another". The Jerusalem Post . Archived from the original on October 20, 2020. Retrieved September 16, 2025.
  84. ↑ Sheil, Martin (12 July 2018). Connecting Elliott Broidy Related Dots — Offshore and On — Some Russian — Some Not. The Medium . Retrieved 10 June 2021.
  85. 1 2 Keinon, Herb (February 4, 2018). "Netanyahu blames Soros for Israel anti-deportation campaign". The Jerusalem Post . Archived from the original on November 4, 2020. Retrieved September 16, 2025.
  86. ↑ Qiu, Linda (October 20, 2018). "Did Democrats, or George Soros, Fund Migrant Caravan? Despite Republican Claims, No". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 24, 2018. Retrieved October 24, 2018.
  87. ↑ "Five myths about the Honduran caravan debunked". NBC News . October 22, 2018. Archived from the original on October 24, 2018. Retrieved October 24, 2018.
  88. ↑ Danielle Wiener-Bronner. "Campbell Soup disavows Soros conspiracy theory tweeted by VP". CNN. Archived from the original on October 24, 2018. Retrieved October 24, 2018.
  89. 1 2 Joel Achenbach (October 28, 2018). "A conspiracy theory about George Soros and a migrant caravan inspired horror". The Washington Post . Archived from the original on October 29, 2018. Retrieved October 29, 2018.
  90. ↑ "Trump: "A Lot of People Say" George Soros Is Funding the Migrant Caravan". Vanity Fair . October 31, 2018. Archived from the original on September 14, 2020. Retrieved September 15, 2020.
  91. ↑ Jason Wilson (October 27, 2018). "Pittsburgh shooting extends wave of conspiracy-minded rightwing violence". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on October 28, 2018. Retrieved October 29, 2018.
  92. ↑ Kelly Weill (October 27, 2018). "Pittsburgh Synagogue Suspect Robert Bowers Hated Trump—for Not Hating Jews". Daily Beast. Archived from the original on November 10, 2018. Retrieved October 29, 2018.
  93. ↑ "Soros foundation to close in Turkey after attack by Erdogan". Reuters. November 26, 2018. Archived from the original on May 2, 2019. Retrieved May 2, 2019.
  94. ↑ Sheth, Sonam (April 11, 2018). "Former federal prosecutor Joseph DiGenova calls for Rosenstein's firing on Fox News after Trump tells people to tune in to the 'big show'". Business Insider . Archived from the original on April 12, 2018. Retrieved April 12, 2018. DiGenova and his wife, Victoria Toensing, both used to work within the US Justice Department, but later made their reputations peddling conspiracy theories on TV about the DOJ and FBI.
  95. ↑ Haberman, Maggie; Schmidt, Michael S. (March 19, 2018). "Trump Hires Lawyer Who Has Pushed Theory That Justice Dept. Framed the President". The New York Times . Archived from the original on March 22, 2018. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
  96. ↑ Blake, Aaron (March 19, 2018). "Analysis | Trump just hired a deep-state conspiracy theorist as his lawyer. Here's what Joe DiGenova has said". The Washington Post. ISSN   0190-8286. Archived from the original on May 10, 2018. Retrieved May 11, 2018.
  97. ↑ Sheth, Sonam (March 19, 2018). "Trump is reportedly set to hire a new lawyer who called Comey 'a dirty cop' and accused the FBI of trying to 'frame' Trump". Business Insider. Archived from the original on May 11, 2018. Retrieved May 11, 2018.
  98. ↑ "The bizarre conspiracy theories peddled by Donald Trump's new lawyer". The Independent . March 20, 2018. Archived from the original on May 24, 2018. Retrieved May 31, 2018.
  99. ↑ Hart, Benjamin. "Trump's Conspiracy Theory Lawyer Dropped From Team Before Starting". Daily Intelligencer . Archived from the original on August 18, 2018. Retrieved August 18, 2018. DiGenova is known as a fierce defender of Trump who has used frequent guest appearances on Fox News to advance far-out conspiracy theories that the FBI is trying to frame the president.
  100. ↑ Tibon, Amir (March 20, 2018). "Trump's New Lawyer: The Man Who Sent Jonathan Pollard to Jail". Haaretz . Archived from the original on August 18, 2018. Retrieved August 18, 2018. Joseph diGenova has promoted conspiracy theories about a 'deep state' attempt to 'frame' Trump and his campaign for criminal activities
  101. ↑ Breuninger, Kevin (March 27, 2018). "Here are the lawyers who quit or declined to represent Trump in the Mueller probe". CNBC . Archived from the original on August 18, 2018. Retrieved August 18, 2018. DiGenova, a regular Fox News guest, had spouted conspiracy theories about the Mueller probe's motives against Trump.
  102. ↑ [94] [95] [96] [97] [98] [99] [100] [101]
  103. ↑ "Lou Dobbs guest Joe diGenova says George Soros controls a large part of the State Department and activities of FBI agents". Media Matters for America. November 13, 2019. Archived from the original on November 14, 2019. Retrieved November 14, 2019.
  104. ↑ Wemple, Eric (November 14, 2019). "Soros foundation requests banning of Joe diGenova from Fox News/Fox Business after anti-Semitic rant". The Washington Post . Archived from the original on November 14, 2019. Retrieved November 16, 2019.
  105. 1 2 Baragona, Justin (September 23, 2020). "Former Fox News Regular Joe diGenova Claims Network Is Beholden to George Soros". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on November 6, 2020. Retrieved December 1, 2020.
  106. ↑ Alba, Davey (June 1, 2020). "Misinformation About George Floyd Protests Surges on Social Media". The New York Times . Archived from the original on June 12, 2020. Retrieved June 4, 2020.
  107. ↑ "Soros conspiracy theories surge as protests sweep US » Borneo Bulletin Online". Borneo Bulletin Online. June 22, 2020. Archived from the original on June 25, 2020. Retrieved June 22, 2020.
  108. ↑ Kampeas, Ron (April 26, 2020). "Trump's new health spokesman tweets about Soros and Rothschild family 'control'". Haaretz . Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Archived from the original on December 25, 2024. Retrieved August 29, 2025.
  109. ↑ Kaczynski, Andrew; McDermott, Nathan; Steck, Em (April 23, 2020). "New HHS spokesman made racist comments about Chinese people in now-deleted tweets". CNN. Retrieved August 29, 2025.
  110. ↑ "Ilham Aliyev: 'Current government in Armenia are agents of Soros'". Azeri Daily. July 31, 2020. Archived from the original on October 1, 2020. Retrieved January 2, 2020.
  111. ↑ "Open Society Foundations-Armenia provides over US $600,000 for the response to COVID-19". Open Society Foundations Armenia . July 20, 2020. Archived from the original on January 2, 2021. Retrieved January 2, 2020.
  112. ↑ Mammadov, Sabuhi (August 6, 2020). "Biz heç vaxt işğal ilə barışmayacağıq" [We will never reconcile with the occupation](PDF). Khalg Gazeti (in Azerbaijani). p. 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 2, 2021. Retrieved January 2, 2020– via National Library of Azerbaijan.
  113. ↑ ""Ermənistanın indiki rəhbərliyi Soros fondunun agentləridir" – İlham Əliyev" ["The current leadership of Armenia is an agent of the Soros Foundation," said Ilham Aliyev]. Ordu.az (in Azerbaijani). July 31, 2020. Archived from the original on January 2, 2021. Retrieved January 2, 2020.
  114. ↑ Ozturk, Alparslan (October 16, 2020). "İlham Əliyev: "Soros Ermənistanda hakimiyyətə gəldi, amma iflasa uğradı"" [Ilham Aliyev: "Soros came to power in Armenia, but failed"]. Report Information Agency (in Azerbaijani). Archived from the original on January 2, 2021. Retrieved January 2, 2020.
  115. ↑ "TSE manda apagar vídeo em que Ciro diz que PSOL é financiado por Soros". noticias.uol.com.br (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved April 10, 2023.
  116. ↑ Dale, Daniel (March 31, 2023). "Breaking down Trump's 'Soros' attack on the Manhattan DA". CNN . Archived from the original on April 2, 2023. Retrieved April 2, 2023.
  117. ↑ Qiu, Linda (March 23, 2023). "Explaining the Ties Between Alvin Bragg and George Soros". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on March 31, 2023. Retrieved April 1, 2023.
  118. ↑ Schwartz, Brian (March 22, 2023). "Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg's ties to billionaire George Soros are not as close as Republicans claim". CNBC . Archived from the original on April 2, 2023. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
  119. ↑ "Musk says George Soros 'hates humanity,' compares him to Jewish supervillain". The Washington Post .
  120. ↑ Farah, Hibaq (September 18, 2023). "Elon Musk hits out at Soros foundation before meeting Israel's Netanyahu". The Guardian .

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.