Trayon White, a city councilmember in Washington, D.C., is running in D.C.’s mayoral election.
White responded, “I’m running” to an Instagram comment suggesting he run for mayor. Martin Austermuhle, a reporter for D.C.’s National Public Radio affiliate, confirmed that White is running mayor. Austermuhle tweeted a quote he received from one of White’s advisers stating, “He has a tremendous amount of support coming his way because he is willing to speak out for and advocate for those who need the leadership the most.”
Confirmed: Ward 8 Councilmember @trayonwhite will run for D.C. mayor. "He has a tremendous amount of support coming his way because he is willing to speak out for and advocate for those who need the leadership the most," says an advisor in a text message.
— Martin Austermuhle (@maustermuhle) October 13, 2021
White made headlines in 2018 when he said in a since-deleted video: “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.” According to the Anti-Defamation League, there are “longstanding” antisemitic conspiracy theories about the Rothschild family “exerting influence on regional and national events.” White subsequently apologized for his remarks, stating: “The Jewish Community have been allies with me in my journey to help people. I did not intend to be Anti-Semitic, and I see I should not have said that after learning from my colleagues.”’
White later toured the D.C. Holocaust Museum and suddenly left in the middle of the tour without any explanation. Before he had left, he had reportedly asked if Nazi soldiers surrounding a Jewish girl in a picture were “protecting her.” The Washington Post criticized White’s behavior at the museum in an editorial, stating that it showed that his district needs “adult leadership.”
Additionally, White came under fire for donating $500 from his Constituent Services Fund to Louis Farrakhan’s Nation of Islam in 2018. He defended the donation in a Facebook Live video at the time, saying: “I am not resigning, I’m not backing down, I’m not discouraged, I’m not depressed, so run all the media stories you want because my people support me.” The American Jewish Committee of Washington D.C. called on White to “dramatically change his behavior” and condemn Farrakhan.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center tweeted, “Weather forecast: continued mainstream #Antisemitism rain or shine.”
A D.C. Council member who made national headlines in 2018 after suggesting that Jewish financiers control the weather is now running for mayor in the district.
Weather forecast: continued mainstream #Antisemitism rain or shine. @trayonwhite
https://t.co/aa5nDB7MJE #FoxNews— SimonWiesenthalCntr (@simonwiesenthal) October 13, 2021
