Claim: The Washington Free Beacon was the first "mainstream media" outlet to promote "deeply antisemitic tropes" by reporting on billionaire George Soros's funding of legal defense funds for anti-Israel protesters and by describing the protesters who praised Hamas as "pro-Hamas."
Who said it: Carlos Álvarez-Aranyos, chief communications officer of the American Sunlight Project. He cofounded the nonprofit with Nina Jankowicz, the Biden administration's would-be disinformation czar.
Context: The American Sunlight Project touts itself as "a comprehensive effort to protect American democracy from the threat of disinformation." Alas, we have no idea if Soros is funding this effort. The group was established using a tax loophole that shields it from having to disclose its donors.
Analysis: Álvarez-Aranyos and the Sunlight Project falsely accused the Free Beacon of aiding and abetting the journey of problematic anti-Semitic tropes "from the anonymous web ecosystem to the mainstream." The group published a report alleging the Free Beacon was part of a nefarious right-wing (but also mainstream) plot to seed the public discourse with disinformation mined from dark web chat rooms linked to foreign spy networks or whatever the f—.
Even after the accusations were thoroughly debunked, Álvarez-Aranyos continued to smear the Free Beacon by describing it as a "mainstream" publication, as well as a "bad actor" seeking to "weaponize antisemitic messaging." Why? Because we described the mobs of Hamas supporters protesting Israel's existence on college campuses as "pro-Hamas."
Álvarez-Aranyos, who falsely claimed to have "no opinion ... whatsoever" about the Free Beacon, has been on the receiving end of the gushing Soros money hose. For instance, he worked as a communications strategist for Protect Democracy, another shadowy nonprofit that has received hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants from the Soros-funded Open Society Foundations. For what it's worth, he also founded a transport company for rich liberals in need of helicopter rides to their ski mansions in Aspen and Vail. Gross!
Verdict: The Free Beacon has been called many things. "Unapologetically conservative." An "anti-Clinton website." "Some fish wrap." The "pot-stirring, hyper-conservative news and opinion site founded by neocon provocateur Michael Goldfarb." Until this Soros-loving helicopter limousine lib came along, no one had ever stooped so low as to accuse our humble war blog of being "mainstream." Frankly, we're appalled.
We rate this claim 4 Flaming Clintons and 4 Crying Washingtons.
