It wasn't long after mentioning comments like "Jews hoarding gold" and "bad international Jews" on his radio show that the bigotry discussions began. Publications like The Nations and The New York Times called him "the most vicious propagandist in the United States having planted an anti-Semetic seed in the fertile minds of his millions of followers," and went on to name him things like "demagogue," rabble-rouser," and "false prophet." But silly comments wouldn't stop the Radio Priest. In the days and weeks after Kristallnacht, Coughlin defended the state-sponsored violence of the Nazi regime, arguing that Kristallnacht was justified as retaliation for Jewish persecution of Christians. He explained to his listeners on November 20, 1938 that the "communistic government of Russia,""the Lenins and Trotskys... atheiststic Jews and Gentiles" had murdered more than 20 million Christians and had stolen "40 billion (dollars)... of Christian property."
In a 1938 broadcast Coughlin helped inspire and publicize the creation of the Christian Front, a militia-like organization that excluded Jews and promised to defend the country from communists and Jews. The Front organized "Buy Christian" rallies throughout the country. Policemen in New York City arrested several of the militiamen for harassing Jews on the street, many of them being seniors, women, and children. The group made headlining news in 1940 when FBI arrested 18 members in Brooklyn, NY for suspicion of conspiring to overthrow the government. And they continued to attract headlines during the early 1940s for violent acts against Jews.
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