A few weeks back, we noted that Religious Right activists in Texas were lining-up against Texas House Speaker Joe Straus and that the campaign had started to take on religious overtones as activists openly sought to replace Straus, who is Jewish, with a true “Christian conservative.”

David Barton has been deeply involved in this effort and he even produced a six minute video outlining the reasons that Straus needs to be removed. Starting at the 2:20 mark, Barton claims that the campaign against Straus is in no way rooted in antisemitism:

Also not surprisingly, liberals and those from left-of-center have come to the defense of Speaker Straus. For example, Harvey Kronberg, editor of a popular political newsletter, is claiming that the conservative movement against Straus is being fueled by antisemitism. But most Texans are unaware of Straus’ honorable Jewish heritage and it wouldn’t matter if they did know, for they are not reacting against his venerable religion, but rather against his liberalism.

While Barton is claiming publicly that the effort against Straus has nothing to do with his religion, emails obtained by the Texas Observer seem to suggest otherwise: