Trump sees advantage in debate over Israel, anti-Semitism

WASHINGTON (AP) — US President Donald Trump can’t get enough of Rep. Ilhan Omar.

As Democratic lawmakers try to turn the page after the liberal legislator’s use of antiSemitic tropes ignited an embarrassing intra-party fight, the Republican president is trying to prolong and weaponize the issue for his 2020 campaign, asserting during a private weekend fundraiser that Democrats “hate” Jews.

While Trump publicly muses about winning over Jewish voters for his re-election, his motivations are more complicated and expansive.

The president’s rhetorical escalation also is designed to unsettle the Democratic primary debate, exploit an issue that can energize his supporters and move past his own history of toying in anti-Semitic motifs.

Trump on Tuesday promoted comments by former model and 2016 campaign staffer Elizabeth Pipko, who said on “Fox & Friends” that “Jewish people are leaving the Democratic Party.”

Pipko, who serves as spokesperson for the group “Jexodus,” which bills itself as speaking for “Jewish Millennials tired of living in bondage to leftist politics,” saw her comments amplified by Trump on Twitter.

“There is anti-Semitism in the Democratic Party,” she continued.

“They don’t care about Israel or the Jewish people.”