Coca-Cola Consolidated and Giant Food held an Earth Day environmental cleanup event with a Democratic Washington, D.C., councilman who has accused Jews of controlling the climate.
Ward 8 councilman Trayon White Sr., who is challenging incumbent mayor Muriel Bowser in the Democratic mayoral primary, teamed up with the Coke-bottling company and grocery chain last week to host the cleanup day for Oxon Run, a stream located in White’s ward.
White’s fraught relationship with the Jewish community dates back to at least 2018, when he claimed that wealthy Jews used "climate manipulation" to cause bad weather in D.C. and donated $500 in community funds to sponsor a conference by infamous Jew-hater Louis Farrakhan.
The event raises questions about why such prominent brands would partner with a political leader who is known for pushing anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. Coca-Cola Consolidated, one of the main Coca-Cola bottlers in the United States, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Photos from the April 9 event show White posing with cleanup volunteers from Coca-Cola Consolidated with Coca-Cola flags and signs prominently displayed in the background.
A spokesman for Giant told the Washington Free Beacon that the event, and White’s invitation, was Coca-Cola Consolidated’s idea.
"This was an event run by Coca-Cola that we were happy to be a part of, because cleaning up our environment is very important to Giant Food. D.C. Councilman Trayon White Sr. was invited by Coca-Cola, so I cannot speak on that," said the spokesman.
Coca-Cola Consolidated praised the event as an "incredible way to usher in Earth Day" in a press release on Tuesday, which also included a statement from White.
"I’m thankful to partners like Coke Consolidated and Giant Food for organizing this community clean up in Ward 8," White said in the press release. "I know that when we clean up the community it makes people feel at home and it adds so much value to the community."
According to the sponsors, the event drew 60 volunteers who removed "2,000 pounds of waste from the woods and waterways around Oxon Run."
White drew controversy in 2018 for his statements about the Rothschilds, a wealthy Jewish family that has been the subject of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories for more than 200 years.
"Man, it just started snowing out of nowhere this morning, man. Y'all better pay attention to this climate control, man, this climate manipulation," White said in a video he posted on Facebook in 2018. "And D.C. keep talking about, ‘We a resilient city,' and that's a model based off the Rothschilds controlling the climate to create natural disasters they can pay for to own the cities, man. Be careful."
While attending a city council breakfast, White also claimed that the Rothschilds "pretty much control the federal government" and "control the World Bank, as we all know."
After public backlash, White apologized for the remarks and agreed to attend a tour of the Holocaust Museum. But many Jewish community leaders questioned his sincerity after he walked out of the tour halfway through.
White was also forced to repay a $500 donation from a D.C. community fund that he used to help fund a conference for Farrakhan. In a speech at the event, Farrakhan claimed that "Jews are responsible for all of this filth and degenerate behavior that Hollywood is putting out."
White has faced an uphill battle in his mayoral primary. One of his Democratic rivals is challenging the validity of White’s ballot application signatures, and the Ward 8 councilman could be disqualified for public campaign financing due to his low fundraising numbers.