President Donald Trump beat back
criticism of his comments accusing American Jews who vote for
Democrats of "great disloyalty" and went a step further on
Wednesday, saying any vote for a Democrat is a vote against
Israel.
"I think that if you vote for a Democrat you are very, very
disloyal to Israel and to the Jewish people," Trump told
reporters as he left the White House.
The Republican president drew outrage on Tuesday from
Democratic presidential candidates and U.S. Jewish groups after
accusing American Jews who vote for Democrats of "great
disloyalty."
Critics said Trump's comments echoed an anti-Semitic trope
accusing American Jews of dual loyalties to the United States
and Israel.
Trump initially responded on Twitter on Wednesday by quoting
a conservative columnist as saying American Jews "don't know
what they're doing." The Republican president thanked the
commentator, Wayne Allyn Root, who likened Trump to the "king of
Israel" and said Israelis "love him like he is the second coming
of God."
The comments about Israel followed Trump's attacks on a
group of first-term Democrats in Congress, U.S. Representatives
Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, who were denied entry to Israel
last week after Trump pressured the government.
"Where has the Democratic Party gone? Where have they gone
where they're defending these two people over the state of
Israel? And I think any Jewish people that vote for a Democrat,
I think it shows either a total lack of knowledge or great
disloyalty," Trump said on Tuesday, without specifying what or
who they were being disloyal to.
Those remarks sparked a swift backlash.
"My message to Trump: I am a proud Jewish person and I have
no concerns about voting Democratic," Senator Bernie Sanders, a
leader in the race for the 2020 Democratic presidential
nomination and an independent, wrote in a Twitter post late on
Tuesday.
Former Vice President Joe Biden, the current front-runner to
challenge Trump in November 2020, called the president's
comments "insulting and inexcusable" and urged him to stop
dividing Americans.
"The Jewish people don't need to prove their loyalty to you,
@realDonaldTrump - or to anyone else," said Democratic candidate
Beto O'Rourke, a former U.S. congressman from Texas who has
called Trump a racist over his immigration rhetoric.
American Jews lean Democratic. Roughly 70 percent of
American Jews have typically supported Democratic candidates in
recent U.S. presidential elections.
J Street, a liberal lobbying group based in Washington, was
among the many U.S. Jewish organizations that expressed outrage
or alarm at Trump's comments.
"It is dangerous and shameful for President Trump to attack
the large majority of the American Jewish community as
unintelligent and 'disloyal,'" the group said on Tuesday.
Said Anti-Defamation League leader Jonathan Greenblatt,
"It's unclear who @POTUS is claiming Jews would be 'disloyal'
to, but charges of disloyalty have long been used to attack
Jews."
The American Jewish Committee called Trump's comments
"shockingly divisive."
"American Jews – like all Americans – have a range of
political views and policy priorities. His assessment of their
knowledge or ‘loyalty,’ based on their party preference, is
inappropriate, unwelcome, and downright dangerous," said
committee Chief Executive David Harris.
The Republican Jewish Committee sided with Trump, saying,
"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."
Trump is popular in Israel. He delighted many Israelis -
while appalling other world powers - by recognizing Jerusalem as
their capital, moving the U.S. Embassy there, withdrawing from
the 2015 Iran nuclear deal and recognizing Israeli sovereignty
over the occupied Golan Heights.
The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which has
particularly close ties with the Trump administration, declined
to comment on his remarks.
Israeli President Reuven Rivlin wrote on Twitter that he had
spoken with House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the
top U.S. elected Democrat, about strong U.S.-Israel relations he
said were "not dependent on the links with either party."
Trump has for weeks been attacking Tlaib and Omar, accusing
them of hostility to Israel and anti-Semitism. He repeated his
attacks on Tlaib on Wednesday, accusing her on Twitter of
wanting to cut off aid to Israel, a U.S. ally that has long
enjoyed bipartisan support.
In February, Omar, who along with Tlaib supports a boycott
of Israel over its policies toward the Palestinians, said U.S.
Jews have divided loyalties. She apologized for those remarks
after being widely condemned by many in her own party.
Most Democrats disagree with Tlaib and Omar's views on
Israel, but Trump's attacks on them have rallied support for the
two within their party.