Actor John Cusack shared and defended an anti-Semitic meme Monday night on Twitter, before deleting the post and tweeting an explanation that blamed a “bot” for the mistake. The tweet, which was only up for a short while, quickly drew the ire of many of his followers. At first Cusack fought back against the criticism, but later deleted the tweet. “A bot got me- I thought I was endorsing a pro Palestinian justice retweet - of an earlier post - it came I think from a different source - Shouldn’t Have retweeted... ,” the actor explained. The meme shows a large hand—imposed with the Star of David—pushing down on people, and includes a quote on power from the French Enlightenment writer and philosopher Voltaire. The quote reads: “To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize.” Cusack shared the meme along with his own message: “Follow the money RT.” He appears to have retweeted the meme after his account and a Bernie Sanders fan account were tagged in it.
