McCarthy invites lawmakers to screen movie with 'anti-Jewish canards' to boost workplace morale

25 July 2023

Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy (R-California) invited lawmakers to a Tuesday night screening of a film that reviews described as antisemitic to help improve workplace morale on Capitol Hill.

Since he obtained the gavel in January, McCarthy has struggled to herd fringe Republicans in the House whose constituencies are often populated by QAnon fans. A sizeable number of these congresspersons are staunch defenders of indicted former President Donald Trump and his debunked lies about the 2020 election. In addition to intra-GOP squabbling, deep partisan gullies between the two major parties regarding an exhaustive host of issues lead to drama inside the chamber.

McCarthy's olive branch is a presentation of Sound of Freedom starring Jim Caviezel, whom National Public Radio noted last week has "been a prominent promoter of the false, violent QAnon conspiracy theory — specifically, the baseless claim that an international cabal of elites is abusing and killing children to extract a substance called adrenochrome."

Although the production avoids that one topic and was released prior to QAnon's spread, it contains other ideas that resonate with QAnon's believers.

Sound of Freedom "draws from a conspiratorial well that includes a number of anti-Jewish canards, including the 'blood libel' accusation," The Times of Israel explained.

"The adrenochrome theory has roots in a blood libel canard leveled at Jews since the Middle Ages," QAnon researcher Mike Rothschild told the outlet. "The myth that Jews use the blood of Christian children in rituals was used to justify the torture, imprisonment, and murder of Jews for centuries, even taking a role in Nazi propaganda, before it was adopted by QAnon."

McCarthy asserted at a press conference that Sound of Freedom's theme can unite political adversaries behind a common cause.

"One of my goals is to open up the house and get members working together again. We've made some great progress in that where, where bills actually come through, committees where members are now showing up for work. And so tonight I'm gonna have another movie night," McCarthy said. "I'm hoping Republicans and Democrats can come together, see a movie about human trafficking. We could actually find ways to stop the human trafficking that's continuing to move throughout the world."

Watch below or at this link.

View NPR's report here. The Times of Israel's analysis is here.

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