Police found a bomb in George Soros’s mailbox

A bomb was found in the mailbox of billionaire philanthropist George Soros — the subject of rampant conspiracy theories and threats from the conspiratorial right — on Monday.

Law enforcement officials in Bedford, New York, told the New York Times that an employee working at Soros’s home found the package in the mailbox and called police, who “proactively detonated” the device. Law enforcement later told the Associated Press that the device was “a bomb with explosive powder.” Soros was not at home at the time the bomb was discovered.

After making a fortune running a hedge fund in the 1960s and 1970s, George Soros has donated millions to progressive causes in the United States and abroad via his Open Society Foundations.

Police have not released any information about possible suspects or motives.

Soros, though, has long been a subject of right-wing conspiracy theories — including comedian Roseanne Barr accusing him of being a Nazi (a comment retweeted by Donald Trump, Jr.). As the midterm elections approach, the rhetoric against Soros has only increased, as I noted in previous reporting:

Though a GOP donor in the 1980s and 1990s, Soros has been the right’s most feared opponent since he spent more than $25 million to defeat George W. Bush in 2004, leading one conservative website to call him “a prolocutor in the congregation of Moloch.” Disgraced former House Speaker Dennis Hastert even alleged that Soros’s fortune came from financing drug cartels overseas. Since then, Soros has spent billions on (largely progressive) causes from Ebola prevention to opposing torture and protecting LGBTQ rights abroad, and has donated to Democratic Party causes like Barack Obama’s presidential campaigns.

No wonder, then, that Soros has been linked by the right to virtually every liberal cause imaginable in an attempt to argue that any organic protest or outcry on the left is really the work of one sinister, shadowy (foreign) billionaire. Even Republicans have been victims of allegations of “scandalous” ties to Soros. A GOP candidate in North Carolina was the target of an attack ad alleging that he’d received “$80,000 in George Soros-backed campaign contributions” (he didn’t).

More recently, President Donald Trump has tweeted that Soros was paying protestors to confront senators over the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. Conservative commentators falsely accused one of the women who came forward with sexual misconduct allegations against Kavanaugh, Deborah Ramirez, of having ties to Soros.

Soros has also been blamed for the migrant caravan currently making its way through southern Mexico, with Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) sharing a video of migrants receiving cash and accusing Soros of being responsible.

Will you support Vox’s explanatory journalism?

Most news outlets make their money through advertising or subscriptions. But when it comes to what we’re trying to do at Vox, there are a couple reasons that we can't rely only on ads and subscriptions to keep the lights on.

First, advertising dollars go up and down with the economy. We often only know a few months out what our advertising revenue will be, which makes it hard to plan ahead.

Second, we’re not in the subscriptions business. Vox is here to help everyone understand the complex issues shaping the world — not just the people who can afford to pay for a subscription. We believe that’s an important part of building a more equal society. We can’t do that if we have a paywall.

That’s why we also turn to you, our readers, to help us keep Vox free. If you also believe that everyone deserves access to trusted high-quality information, will you make a gift to Vox today?

One-Time Monthly Annual

$5/month

$10/month

$25/month

$50/month

Other

$

Yes, I'll give $5/month

Yes, I'll give $5/month

We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. You can also contribute via