The Jewish Democratic Council of America has denounced President Trump’s ‘vile and bigoted remarks’, calling him the ‘biggest threat to American Jews’ after he ‘used anti-Semitic stereotypes to characterize Jews as driven by money and insufficiently loyal to Israel’.
Donald Trump was the subject of a backlash after on Saturday he told the crowd at the Israeli American Council’s National Summit in Florida that they would end up voting for him in the election because Democratic candidate Elizabeth Warren would tax them more.
‘A lot of you are in the real estate business because I know you very well. You’re brutal killers,’ Trump said. ‘But you have to vote for me; you have no choice. You’re not going to vote for Pocahontas, I can tell you that … You’re not going to vote for the wealth tax.’
Trump went on to say: ‘Even if you don’t like me; some of you don’t. Some of you I don’t like at all, actually. And you’re going to be my biggest supporters because you’ll be out of business in about 15 minutes if they [Democrats] get [the presidency].’
Trump offended Jews with his speech at the Israeli American Council’s National Summit in Florida on Saturday
He was called out for exercising ‘white supremacy’ and was labeled ‘anti-Semitic’
Some audience members were heard laughing.
It prompted outraged tweets with some calling POTUS out as exercising ‘white supremacy’ and labeling him ‘anti-Semitic’.
Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg tweeted: ‘It’s not even coded antisemitism. It’s not a dog whistle. He’s saying this. Out loud. To a room full of Jews. (Who laugh, wtaf white supremacy is a hell of a drug).’
‘The President of the United States is incapable of addressing Jewish audiences without dipping into the deep well of anti-Semitic tropes that shape his worldview,’ J Street tweeted.
Jewish Democratic Council of America (JDCA) Executive Director Halie Soifer said in a statement: ‘The president’s deeply offensive remarks before the Israeli American Council, including his unconscionable repeating of negative stereotypes that have been used historically to target Jews, only reinforce our belief – and warning in our latest ad – that Donald Trump is the biggest threat to American Jews.
‘We strongly denounce these vile and bigoted remarks in which the president – once again – used anti-Semitic stereotypes to characterize Jews as driven by money and insufficiently loyal to Israel. He even had the audacity to suggest that Jews “have no choice” but to support him.’
Soifer said in the statement that support for the Republican Party had decreased among Jews since Trump entered the White House.
She claimed that his words had directly impacted hateful acts towards Jewish people.
Some audience members were heard laughing. It prompted outraged tweets with some calling POTUS out as exercising ‘white supremacy’ and labeling him ‘anti-Semitic’
‘American Jews do have a choice, and they’re not choosing President Trump or the Republican Party, which has been complicit in enacting his hateful agenda,’ Soifer continued. ‘In fact, Jewish support for the GOP has been halved since Trump has been in office, from 33 percent in 2014 to 17 percent in 2018, because Trump’s policies and rhetoric are completely antithetical to Jewish values.
‘An overwhelming majority of Jews are both pro-Israel and anti-Trump because of his incendiary rhetoric targeting our community and others, and because his symbolic gestures on Israel have not made America or Israel more secure. American Jews also reject President Trump because he’s emboldened the rise of white nationalism in America, which has directly led to increased hatred and violence targeting Jews.’
Elsewhere in his speech Trump appeared to claim American Jews don’t love Israel enough.
‘We have to get the people of our country, of this country, to love Israel more, I have to tell you that. We have to do it. We have to get them to love Israel more,’ Trump said at the summit, to some scattered applause. ‘Because you have Jewish people that are great people – they don’t love Israel enough.’
Trump was criticized for the speech by some who claimed he was insulting to American Jews.
The former head of the National Jewish Democratic Council, Aaron Keyak, denounced Trump’s remarks as anti-Semitic.
‘Trump’s insistence on using anti-Semitic tropes when addressing Jewish audiences is dangerous and should concern every member of the Jewish community – even Jewish Republicans,’ Keyak said.
rump greets members of the Shalva Band after their performance at the Israeli American Council National Summit 2019 at the Diplomat Beach Resort in Hollywood
President Donald Trump speaks with Las Vegas Sands Corporation Chief Executive and Republican mega donor Sheldon Adelson before speaking at the Israeli American Council National Summit in Hollywood, Florida on Saturday
Trump also highlighted his decision to reverse more than a half-century of U.S. policy in the Middle East by recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights, the strategic highlands on the border with Syria.
Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war but its sovereignty over the territory had not been recognized by the international community.
Trump has been accused of trafficking in anti-Semitic stereotypes before, including in August, when he said American Jews who vote for Democrats show ‘either a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty.’ A number of Jewish groups noted at the time that accusations of disloyalty have long been made against Jews.
The Israeli American Council is financially backed by one of Trump’s top supporters, Miriam and her husband Sheldon Adelson, a Las Vegas casino magnate.
The couple appeared on stage at the summit to introduce Trump, with Miriam asserting that Trump ‘has already gone down in the annals of Jewish history’, and that is before he’s even completed his first term in office.
The Adelsons donated $30 million to Trump’s campaign in the final months of the 2016 race. They followed up by donating $100 million to the Republican Party for the 2018 congressional elections.
Elsewhere in his speech Trump appeared to claim American Jews don’t love Israel enough. Las Vegas Sands Corporation Chief Executive and Republican mega donor Sheldon Adelson, bottom right, sits onstage as a video screen depicts President Donald Trump at the Western Wall in Jerusalem