Kentucky county GOP takes down Facebook post calling Biden ATF director part of ‘Jewish junta’

A county Republican party in Kentucky has taken down a Facebook post from its page that said the confirmation of President Biden’s nominee to lead the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) demonstrates the “Jewish junta” is getting stronger.

The Bracken County Republican Party page made the post on Friday, calling the new ATF director, Steve Dettelbach, a “Jewish anti-gun activist,” the Louisville Courier Journal reported.

The Senate confirmed Dettelbach on Tuesday by a mostly party-line vote of 48-46. He is the first Senate-confirmed director of the bureau since 2015.

The Courier Journal reported that the post was taken down after the news outlet reached out to the county party chairwoman, Karin Kirkendol, about the post.

Kirkendol did not immediately return a request from The Hill for comment.

She signed a Facebook post from the county party before noon Friday saying that the post does not represent the party’s values.

“It was incredibly insensitive,” she said. “We will investigate how this occurred and we commit to tighter oversight of our social media going forward.”

Kirkendol told the Courier Journal that the page was hacked and said she decided to delete the county party’s Facebook page entirely “due to the hurtful nature of the article, and how much harm it was bringing to so many.”

She said the party did not publish anything antisemitic, and some of the party’s members have “Jewish heritage.”

“Whoever hacked into our account meant to divide,” she said. “Let’s not give them that satisfaction.”

The original post also criticized Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio) for voting to confirm Dettelbach. It also attacked Sens. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) and Jim Risch (R-Idaho) for not attending the vote, a move the post said was an “obvious tactical choice since they don’t want to have to explain it to their heavily rural gun loving voters in the future.”

Kentucky GOP spokesman Sean Southard told The Hill that the state party condemns the post and wants to make clear that the post does not represent the party’s values.

Sara Klein Wagner, the president of the Jewish Federation of Louisville, told The Hill that she has reached out to Kirkendol and the two have traded messages. She said they will speak on Monday.

“While we are glad the antisemitic post on the Bracken County Republican Party Facebook page was taken down and an apology from their chair was given, we feel compelled to reiterate that antisemitism of this nature is dangerous,” Wagner said. “There is no place for it directed at our public officials or anyone in our communities.”

She said antisemitism has increased significantly in the past few years both in Kentucky and in general, and that a “long history” of antisemitic tropes and conspiracy theories have led to violence.

Wagner said the organization is encouraging the county party to use this opportunity to dispel antisemitic falsehoods from the post.

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