(JTA) — Donald Trump campaign CEO Stephen Bannon made anti-Semitic remarks over a private school in Los Angeles that accepted his twin daughters, his ex-wife charged during a court battle over post-divorce financial issues.
Bannon’s second wife, Mary Louise Piccard, said in a sworn court declaration that Bannon said he did not want to send his daughters to The Archer School for Girls for the 2007-08 school year because he “didn’t want the girls going to school with Jews,” The Associated Press reported over the weekend. The AP obtained and reviewed the court papers, which were part of a request for Bannon to pay $25,000 in legal fees and cover the $64,000 in tuition.
“He said he doesn’t like Jews and that he doesn’t like the way they raise their kids to be ‘whiny brats,'” Piccard said in a 2007 court filing.
Bannon took over as the head of Trump’s presidential campaign last week. He previously served as executive chairman of the conservative website Breitbart News, which the Hillary Clinton campaign has charged as being anti-Semitic.
Bannon spokeswoman Alexandra Preate denied that Bannon made anti-Semitic comments about the school.
The AP also cited remarks that his ex-wife said Bannon made while visiting private schools in 2000. At one school, Bannon reportedly asked the director why there were so many books about Hanukkah in the library. At another school, Piccard said Bannon asked her if it bothered her that the school building was formerly a synagogue.
Piccard filed for divorce in 1997 after accusing Bannon of beating her up in an altercation over money.
The Trump campaign has come under fire for anti-Semitism, notably in July, when the Republican candidate’s website showed a Star of David shape and dollar bills superimposed over an image of Clinton and the words “most corrupt candidate ever.”
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