President Donald Trump doubled down on his anti-Semitic canard about Jewish disloyalty after sharing a tweet from a birther conspiracy theorist declaring that Trump is like the “King of Israel.”
Trump doubled down on his anti-Semitic trope that Jews have a “dual loyalty” and should be more loyal to Israel for the second day in a row on Wednesday.
“If you want to vote Democrat, you are being very disloyal to Jewish people and very disloyal to Israel,” Trump told reporters when asked who he thought American Jews were being disloyal to. “And only weak people would say anything other than that.”
The comment came after Trump attacked Minnesota Democrat Ilhan Omar for suggesting that Jews have a dual loyalty to Israel.
A day earlier, Trump declared in the Oval Office that “any Jewish people that vote for a Democrat, I think it shows either a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty.”
Trump brags he’s “King of Israel,” “second coming of God”:
Trump shared a quote from longtime birther conspiracy theorist Wayne Allyn Root declaring Trump the “second coming of God” and the “king of Israel.”
“Thank you Wayne Allyn Root for the very nice words,” Trump wrote.
““President Trump is the greatest President for Jews and for Israel in the history of the world, not just America, he is the best President for Israel in the history of the world...and the Jewish people in Israel love him like he’s the King of Israel,” Trump quoted Root as saying. “They love him like he is the second coming of God...But American Jews don’t know him or like him. They don’t even know what they’re doing or saying anymore. It makes no sense! But that’s OK, if he keeps doing what he’s doing, he’s good for all Jews, Blacks, Gays, everyone. And importantly, he’s good for everyone in America who wants a job.”
Jewish leaders condemn Trump’s anti-Semitism:
“It is the height of hypocrisy to use Christian theology to bully Jews and to push out some messianic complex — literally, it’s hard to think of something less kosher than telling the Jewish people you’re the king of Israel, and therefore, we should have some fidelity to you for that reason,” Anti-Defamation League head Jonathan Greenblatt told CNN. “I don’t know if he’s read the Bible, but in the Old Testament, that’s not what we believe.”
Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, who is Jewish and a big supporter of Israel, also rebuked Trump’s remarks.
“To my fellow American Jews, particularly those who support @realDonaldTrump: When he uses a trope that’s been used against the Jewish people for centuries with dire consequences, he is encouraging — wittingly or unwittingly — anti-Semites throughout the country and world,” Schumer tweeted. “Enough.”
