President Trump slammed Jewish Americans who vote for Democrats since it shows either “a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty.” Trump made this “disloyalty” comment after blasting Omar as an antisemite.
79% of Jewish Americans voted for Democrats in the 2018 midterms, according to Pew Research Center. The President did get backlash saying his comments echoed anti-Semitic tropes accusing Jews of dual allegiance.
Trump’s remarks came after his ongoing attacks on Democratic Congresswomen Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, who are outspoken against Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.
Trump urged Israel last week to ban the pair Tlaib and Omar, who are also Muslim, from entering the country. Israel later agreed to a humanitarian visit for Tlaib to visit her grandmother who lives in the occupied West Bank. Tlaib declined, saying she would not allow Israel to use her love for her grandmother to force her to “bow down to their oppressive & racist policies”.
Trump has called Omar a “disaster” for Jews and earlier on Tuesday said he didn’t “buy” the tears Tlaib shed Monday as she discussed the situation over the travel restrictions.
The Republican Jewish Coalition rallied to defend Trump, arguing that the president was speaking about people being disloyal to themselves rather than to Israel. The RJC took to Twitter and tweeted, “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 @GOP, when rarely confronted w/anti-Semitism of elected members always acts swiftly and decisively to punish and remove.”
Omar did respond to the president’s words via tweet.