Former president Donald Trump He invoked the trope of dual loyalty on Monday, arguing that Jews who vote Democrat hate Israel.
“Every Jew who voted for Democrats hates their religion,” Trump said in an interview Sebastian GorkaFormer Trump administration official on Gorka’s web show.
“They hate everything about Israel and they should be ashamed of themselves because Israel is going to be destroyed,” Trump continued to discuss Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
The words reflected the insinuation that American Jews have divided loyalties between the United States and Israel.
Trump made the remarks during a debate over the Israel-Hamas war when he asked Gorka about Democratic criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the country’s conservative-led government. Trump responded that he thinks Democrats “hate Israel.”
This is not the first time that Trump has made such statements. When he is President in 2019, Trump said that “any Jewish people who vote Democrat” are showing “gross disloyalty” or are uninformed. After these words, Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said that “it is long overdue to stop using Jews as political footballs.”
Greenblatt responded to Trump’s comments on Monday. It says in X “To accuse Jews of hating their religion because they can vote for a particular party is slanderous and patently false.”
Trump campaign press secretary Caroline Leavitt defended his words.
“President Trump is right — the Democratic Party has become a full-blown anti-Israel, anti-Semitic, pro-terrorist cabal,” Leavitt said, pointing to issues including the Biden administration’s aid to Gaza and his speech at the rally. which is the Senate majority leader Chuck SchumerDN.Y., who is Jewish. He asked for new elections to be held in Israel.
Trump announced his record on Israel, citing the move of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Movement ignited Deadly protests in which Israeli forces killed dozens of Palestinians. He also emphasized the steps taken by the United States to withdraw from Iran during the Obama era nuclear deal.
The Biden campaign criticized Trump’s comments, with spokesman James Singer saying, “Donald Trump is openly demeaning to Jewish Americans.”
“Trump will lose again this November because Americans are fed up with his hateful anger, personal attacks and extreme agenda,” Singer added.
The Biden campaign compared Trump’s rhetoric to that of Adolf Hitler. indicates To Trump’s comment last year that immigrants “poisoned the blood of our country.”
In September, Trump also used the image of dual loyalty shared a post accuses “liberal Jews” of voting to “destroy” America and Israel. The post coincided with the weekend of Rosh Hashanah, one of the most important Jewish holidays.
“A quick reminder to liberal Jews who voted to destroy America and Israel because you believe in false narratives! Let’s hope you learn from your mistake and make better choices moving forward!” he said. “Happy New Year!”
About 70% of American Jews lean toward the Democratic Party 2020 Pew poll. The same poll found that about 73% of American Jews disapprove of Trump’s performance as president.