 Numerous American conservatives have promoted false claims that characterize Soros as a singularly dangerous "puppet master" behind a variety of alleged global plots, with "The New York Times" reporting that by 2018 these claims had "moved from the fringes to the mainstream" of Republican politics.Conspiracy theories targeting Soros, who is of Jewish descent, have often been described as antisemitic.Soros was born in Budapest in the Kingdom of Hungary to a prosperous non-observant Jewish family, who, like many upper-middle class Hungarian Jews at the time, were uncomfortable with their roots.