Donald Trump has ignored criticism that he tweeted an attack ad targeting Hillary Clinton using anti-semitic imagery. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee (or someone from his campaign) posted the image on Twitter on Saturday, which shows Clinton superimposed over a pile of money with the words "Most Corrupt Candidate Ever!" framed by a six-pointed star, which resembles the Star of David.

This morning, Trump said that the "dishonest media" was misleading the public, and that the star could have been "a Sheriff's star, or a plain star." This response echoed that of his former campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, who called the public outcry "political correctness run amok."

Dishonest media is trying their absolute best to depict a star in a tweet as the Star of David rather than a Sheriff's Star, or plain star! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 4, 2016

The original tweet containing the star was deleted and replaced with an identical ad using a circle instead. (Although you could still see the original points of the star.) Trump's campaign adviser Ed Brookover told CNN this morning that there was “never any intention of anti-Semitism,” and claimed that Trump had "consistently and loudly denounce white supremacist groups." This is despite the fact that Trump has previously refused to reject the support of a former leader of the Ku Klux Klan.

A report from Mic revealed that the Clinton attack ad featuring the star seems to have originated on 8chan's /pol/ ("politically incorrect") board a week before being tweeted by Trump. Discussions on this same board currently include speculation as to whether the US is heading for a second Civil War or a new Confederacy.

Trump has previously retweeted material from accounts warning of 'white genocide'

Trump frequently retweets material from white supremacists, and many on his campaign staff follow white supremacist Twitter accounts. Although his campaign may deny any links to these groups, they certainly see Trump's Twitter activity as a tacit endorsement of their cause. The editor of white supremacist site The Daily Stormer even said that Trump was giving the "full wink-wink-wink to his most aggressive supporters."