Former President Donald Trump’s recent comments about Israel kicked off a firestorm Friday, resulting in the head of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) labeling them “classic antisemitic stereotypes.”
The controversial comments were released Friday in new audio of Trump discussing U.S.-Israeli relations with Axios reporter Barak Ravid. In the clip, Trump says, “There’s people in this country that are Jewish no longer love Israel. I’ll tell you the evangelical Christians love Israel more than the Jews in this country.”
“It used to be that Israel had absolute power over Congress, and today I think it’s the exact opposite,” he continued. “And I think Obama and Biden did that. And yet in the election, they still get a lot of votes from Jewish people, which tells you that the Jewish people, and I’ve said this for a long time, the Jewish people in the United States, either don’t like Israel or don’t care about Israel.”
Trump continued, “I mean you look at the New York Times, the New York Times hates Israel. Hates them. And they’re Jewish people that run the New York Times, I mean the Sulzberger family.”
The head of the ADL, Jonathan Greenblatt, responded, “Once again, former President Trump has linked his lack of strong support among most US Jews to their feelings about Israel and used classic #antisemitic stereotypes about Israeli and Jewish control of Congress and the press to bolster his argument.”
CNN’s Jake Tapper called the comments “jaw dropping.” New York Magazine’s Jonathan Chait went further, calling Trump “The most anti-semitic president in history, and it isn’t close.”
Republican Ohio Senate candidate Josh Mandel, who is Jewish, defended Trump, saying “Unlike most liberal Jews, President Trump actually has Jewish grandkids. Trump was the best President for Israel and the Jewish people. Period.”
Trump’s comments are the latest in a string of revelations reported by Ravid, who in recent weeks reported on a growing divide between Trump and former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. After Netanyahu congratulated Joe Biden for winning the 2020 election, Trump said, “I haven’t spoken to him since, fuck him.”
The Washington Post reported on Tuesday that Trump’s vulgar remark directed at Netanyahu has ruffled feathers among his evangelical supporters.
(Excerpt) Read more in: Mediaite