D.C. councilman blames snow on Jewish family 'controlling the climate,' later apologizes

As a light snowfall hit the nation's capital on Friday, a Washington, D.C. councilman said he knew just who to blame: Jewish bankers — one family of them, in particular.

Trayon White, who represents D.C.'s Ward 8, bolstered the conspiracy theory in a video published online.

“It just started snowing out of nowhere this morning, man. Y’all better pay attention to this climate control, man, this climate manipulation" White, a Democrat, said in the since deleted video, according to the Washington Post.

“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.”

The Rothschild family, a European banking dynasty, rose to prominence over generations, becoming subject to anti-Semetic conspiracy theories claiming the the family, along with other Jews, secretly shaped world events.

Asked initially about the video, White told the Post that the "video says what is says."

He later apologized after an initial report.

"I want to apologize to the Jewish Community and anyone I have offended," White wrote in a post on Instagram. "The Jewish community have been allies with me in my journey to help people. I did not intend to be Anti- Semitic (sic), and I see I should not have said that after learning from my colleagues."

White said Jews United for Justice, a D.C.-based advocacy group that endorsed White in 2016, was helping him understand "the history of comments made against Jews."

The organization acknowledged speaking to White in a tweet:

"We spoke with @trayonwhite tonight about how his comments played into the long history of antisemitism. We look forward to working with him toward deeper understanding of antisemitism and toward our collective liberation."

We spoke with @trayonwhite tonight about how his comments played into the long history of antisemitism. We look forward to working with him toward deeper understanding of antisemitism and toward our collective liberation. — JUFJ (@jufj) March 19, 2018

White's fellow council member, Brianne Nadeau, told radio station WTOP that she hoped her colleague learned from his experience.

“I believe he is being truthful when he says he didn’t realize what his statement implied,” Nadeau, a fellow Democrat, said.

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