Outcry over Trump’s tirade on Jewish-Democratic voters
WASHINGTON: Showing a fresh willingness to play politics along religious lines, US President Donald Trump said American Jewish people who vote for Democrats show “either a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty”.
Trump’s claim triggered a quick uproar from critics who said he was trading in anti-Semitic stereotypes. It came amid his ongoing feud with Democratic congresswomen Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, both Muslim.
Trump has closely aligned himself with Israel, including its conservative Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, while the Muslim politicians have been outspoken critics of Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians. Tlaib is a US-born Palestinian-American, while Omar was born in Somalia.
“Where has the Democratic Party gone? Where have they gone where they are defending these two people over the state of Israel?” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.
“I think any Jewish people that vote for a Democrat, I think it shows either a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty.”
Trump called Omar a “disaster” for Jews and said he didn’t “buy” the tears Tlaib shed on Monday as she discussed the situation. Both support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, a global protest of Israel.
Trump’s comments were denounced swiftly by Jewish-American organisations.
“This is yet another example of Donald Trump continuing to weaponise and politicise anti-Semitism,” said Halie Soifer, executive director of the Jewish Democratic Council of America. “At a time when anti-Semitic incidents have increased due to the president’s emboldening of white nationalism, Trump is repeating an anti-Semitic trope.”
Logan Bayroff, of the liberal J Street pro-Israel group, said it was “no surprise that the president’s racist, disingenuous attacks on progressive women of colour in Congress have now transitioned into smears against Jews”.
The Republican Jewish Coalition defended Trump, arguing he was speaking about people being disloyal to themselves rather than to Israel.
“President Trump is right, it shows a great deal of disloyalty to oneself to defend a party that protects/emboldens people that hate you for your religion,” the group tweeted. | AP