Donald Trump has accused Jewish-American people who vote for Democrats of “great disloyalty”. His words have caused outrage. And some people have pointed out that he seems to be directly echoing Hitler’s words against Jewish people.
“One of the most dangerous, deadly accusations Jews have faced”
Trump’s comments were the latest in his racist campaign against Democratic congresswomen Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar. He was recently branded a “bully” for encouraging an Israeli ban on them visiting occupied Palestine.
I think Jewish people that vote for a Democrat — I think it shows either a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty.
Trump has closely aligned himself with Israel and its hard-right prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu since taking power. And as the Intercept noted, this is “the second time this year” that Trump has “invoked the anti-Semitic trope of dual loyalty”. In April, he referred to Netanyahu as “your prime minister” when speaking to a group of Jewish-Americans.
Tlaib and Omar, meanwhile, are outspoken critics of Israel’s brutal treatment of the Palestinian people.
Trump’s words triggered an immediate backlash. As one person noted, he spoke with chilling echoes of Nazism:
"The Jews are not loyal to the state." – Adolf Hitler
"Any Jew that votes Democrat is disloyal." – Donald Trump#DisloyalToTrump
Projected on @SpeakerPelosi's office. #ImpeachmentInquiryNow #DisloyalToTrump pic.twitter.com/gxpwipbGu2— Jennifer R. Fellman (@JenniferRFellm1) August 21, 2019
Ann Lewis and Mark Mellman of Democratic Majority for Israel called this attack:
one of the most dangerous, deadly accusations Jews have faced over the years. False charges of disloyalty over the centuries have led to Jews being murdered, jailed and tortured.
#DisloyalToTrump
The hashtag #DisloyalToTrump also started trending on Twitter as a result:
You are a massive antisemite who only cares about Jewish pain when you can weaponize it to attack your opponents.
You called us #disloyalJews and we refuse to let you get away with it.
We will always be #DisloyalToTrump.
Add your name if you agree: https://t.co/C6lcesRVkk
— Bend the Arc: Jewish Action #JewsForKamala (@jewishaction) August 21, 2019
A group of Jewish people who’ve been taking consistent action against Trump’s anti-immigrant efforts spoke out:
Jews have spent thousands of years wandering, looking for safety and refuge and so often finding none. Trump is just the latest in a long line of tyrants who would have thrown our people out, or worse.
We owe it to our ancestors to be loudly and proudly #DisloyalToTrump ✡️🔥✡️
— ✡️ Never Again Action ✡️ (@NeverAgainActn) August 21, 2019
Others, meanwhile, pointed out that antisemitic attacks are rising in the US. Yet Trump failed to condemn in a meaningful way the white supremacists who marched in Charlottesville in 2017:
https://twitter.com/CeeLeeMusic/status/1163987023704838144
https://twitter.com/koopy/status/1164086488038019072
https://twitter.com/D4Disgusted/status/1164126016547250176
Indeed, one recent poll showed that around 60% of Jewish-Americans blame Trump (at least partially) for recent antisemitic massacres. And there’s no doubt that Trump’s racism has emboldened far-right violence:
https://twitter.com/whitewingdove70/status/1163987544276688896
https://twitter.com/ADR_Rocks/status/1164143946752307200
Trump continues to “weaponise and politicise” antisemitism
Israel eventually agreed to let Tlaib visit her grandmother, who lives in the occupied West Bank, if she promised not to advocate boycotting Israel while there. But she declined the offer. And Trump’s response was vile:
Sorry, I don’t buy Rep. Tlaib’s tears. I have watched her violence, craziness and, most importantly, WORDS, for far too long. Now tears? She hates Israel and all Jewish people. She is an anti-Semite. She and her 3 friends are the new face of the Democrat Party. Live with it!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 20, 2019
Halie Soifer, executive director of the Jewish Democratic Council of America, said of this and Trump’s latest comments:
This is yet another example of Donald Trump continuing to weaponise and politicise anti-Semitism. At a time when anti-Semitic incidents have increased — due to the president’s emboldening of white nationalism — Trump is repeating an anti-Semitic trope.
A “pro-Israel, pro-peace” Jewish group, meanwhile, pointed out how swiftly Trump’s attacks on Tlaib and Omar turned against all Jewish people:
It is dangerous + shameful for Trump to attack the large majority of the American Jewish community as unintelligent + disloyal.
But it's no surprise that his racist attacks on progressive women of color in Congress have now turned into smears against Jews.https://t.co/NZPpLM1yK1— J Street (@jstreetdotorg) August 20, 2019
As The Canary has reported, the majority of Jewish-Americans oppose Trump. And J Street highlighted that most vote Democrat too:
Disgusting. The President of the United States just said that over 75% of American Jews are either disloyal or unintelligent. https://t.co/l6qTtZOaIB
— J Street (@jstreetdotorg) August 20, 2019
Logan Bayroff from J Street also said:
It is dangerous and shameful for President Trump to attack the large majority of the American Jewish community as unintelligent and ‘disloyal’. A number of groups noted that accusations of disloyalty have long been made against Jews, including in Europe during the 1930s.
As The Canary previously reported, since coming to power Trump has enabled the kind of antisemitic conspiracy theories that have contributed to rising antisemitic murders. His racist rhetoric, meanwhile, has been emboldening the white supremacists behind many of these attacks.
But this latest attack has taken this up a notch.
When the US president starts to echo Hitler, then we must stand against it. Because if we don’t, the consequences don’t bear thinking about.
Featured image and additional reporting via Press Association
