There was a time during the first quarter of 2017, when the “Anne Frank Center (US)” aka Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect, was all over the news for the bashing and thrashing its Executive Director, Steven Goldstein, gave Donald Trump.

A time limited Google Search reveals dozens of articles in which Goldstein was quoted as an authority on anti-Semitism and bashing Trump. Here is a small sample:

Goldstein was a frequent guest on CNN, where he launched tirades against the Trump administration:

Goldstein’s attacks even elicited a response from Sean Spicer:

There were a small number of conservative websites, including the Daily Caller and Legal Insurrection, warning that this group was not what it purported to be, that it had been hijacked into a social justice activist group with Goldstein’s appointment in mid-2016. IsraellyCool questioned whether the group really was founded by Otto Frank, Anne’s father, as was claimed.

Conservative website criticism had little impact in the mainstream media, which continued its love affair with a Trump-bashing group bearing Anne Frank’s name.

And then on April 24, 2017, The Atlantic dropped the big one, a lengthy exposé about how the Anne Frank Center not only turned political, but also likely wasn’t even founded by Anne Frank’s father Otto, Who Does the Anne Frank Center Represent? (emphasis added):

In other words, it is a tiny organization in the process of reinventing itself. The Anne Frank Center for Mutual Respect and Understanding may not be a Holocaust organization, a Jewish organization, or one founded by Anne Frank’s father. Its may not have leaders with a scholarly background, a mass membership, or institutional standing among Jewish groups and Holocaust museums. But because it talks a big game and wields the name of Anne Frank, the media has awarded it authority it never earned.

That Atlantic article reverberated across the media.

Goldstein was interviewed shortly after that by The Washington Post to explain why the Anne Frank Center attacked Trump so vociferously. Basically, he blamed Trump for making him attack:

In the month since The Atlantic article there have been almost no media mentions of Goldstein or the Anne Frank Center.

A Google search reveals the Anne Frank Center being mentioned in mid May when a memorial for Anne Frank was vandalized in Idaho. Goldstein was quoted by the Southern Poverty Law Center in connection with that incident, but other than that, his media mentions have been almost non-existent.

I’d send a screen shot, but there’s almost nothing there to screenshot.

The Anne Frank Center gained a big following based on bashing Trump, and it Facebook page posts still regularly receive hundreds and sometimes thousands of shares.

But in terms of being a media attack dog, the Anne Frank Center no longer has any teeth. Which probably is a good thing, maybe they’ll go back to, you know, being known for teaching people about Anne Frank, instead of exploiting her name and memory for political purposes.



