President Trump has a history of aggressively (and awkwardly) courting Jewish voters.
Topline: Just hours after accusing Jewish people who vote for Democrats of “disloyalty” (which drew widespread condemnation), President Trump quoted a controversial radio host who called him the “King of Israel” and “the second coming of God,” in the latest of a series of inflammatory comments about Jews.
- In his tweet, Trump thanked Wayne Allyn Root, considered a “conspiracy theorist” by the Washington Post and others, for the tweets, calling them “very nice words.”
- Trump followed his tweets by saying “I am the chosen one” during an interview with White House reporters. He was referring to his role in managing the trade war with China.
- #DisloyalToTrump and #KingofIsrael soon began to trend on Twitter.
- Trump also caused a firestorm of controversy last week when he encouraged Israel to bar Muslim congresswomen Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib from visiting the country—which Israel acted upon.
Chief critics: A lot of Jewish people. The New York Times noted the “disloyalty” comment stems from an anti-Semitic trope that Jews are more devoted to Israel than the countries they reside in. It’s also a belief promoted by white nationalists. (Also, in the Jewish faith, there is no second coming of God.) Senator Bernie Sanders tweeted, “I am a proud Jewish person and I have no concerns about voting Democratic,” while Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer tweeted,“When [Trump] uses a trope that’s been used against the Jewish people for centuries with dire consequences, he is encouraging—wittingly or unwittingly—anti-Semites throughout the country and world.”
Meanwhile, on CNN, Anti-Defamation League director Jonathan Greenblatt said: “It is the height of hypocrisy to use Christian theology to bully Jews and to push out some messianic complex—literally, it’s hard to think of something less kosher than telling the Jewish people you’re the king of Israel, and therefore we should have some fidelity to you for that reason.”
Key background: The president has a history of aggressively (and awkwardly) courting Jewish voters, who overwhelmingly tend to vote for Democratic candidates (in the 2018 midterm elections, 78% voted Democrat).
