Screenshot via Fox News
- "Fox & Friends" host Brian Kilmeade echoed and defended President Donald Trump‘s claim that Jewish Americans voting for Democrats are "disloyal" on Wednesday morning.
- In Tuesday remarks in the Oval Office, Trump said, "I think any Jewish people that vote for a Democrat, I think it shows either a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty."
- "If you compare their alliances, this president by far has shown more of an allegiance to Israel than President Obama has, but somehow that doesn’t turn up at the ballot box," Kilmeade said after directly echoing Trump.
- Trump’s remarks were denounced and criticized by both sides of the aisle for invoking anti-Semitic tropes of Jewish people having "dual loyalty" and solely voting on the issue of Israel.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
"Fox & Friends" host Brian Kilmeade echoed and defended President Donald Trump‘s claim that Jewish Americans voting for Democrats are "disloyal" on Wednesday morning.
In Tuesday remarks in the Oval Office, Trump went on an extended monologue complaining about two Muslim congresswomen, Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, and their fervent criticism of the Israeli government’s treatment of Palestinians.
After the Israeli government controversially announced it would bar the two congresswomen from entering the country over their support of the Boycott Divest Sanction (BDS) movement — which seeks to isolate Israel from the global community — they held a joint press conference on Monday in which Omar argued that the US should cut its foreign aid to Israel.
Trump did not take kindly to that assertion.
"But these two, Omar and Tlaib. I think it would be a very bad thing for Israel. I would not cut off aid to Israel. I can’t even believe that we are having this conversation. Where has the Democratic Party gone? Where have they gone where they are defending these two people over the state of Israel?," Trump said on Tuesday.
"I think any Jewish people that vote for a Democrat, I think it shows either a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty," he added.
On "Fox & Friends," Kilmeade appeared to defend and back up Trump’s argument, citing former President Barack Obama’s poor approval rating in Israel and his testy relationship with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"Any Jewish people that vote for a Democrat shows you their lack of knowledge or great disloyalty, because if you compare their alliances, this president by far has shown more of an allegiance to Israel than President Obama has, but somehow that doesn’t turn up at the ballot box," Kilmeade said, directly quoting Trump.
In recent political history, however, Jewish voters have backed Democrats by overwhelming margins. The Pew Research Center reports that in the November 2018 midterm elections, 79% of self-described Jewish voters voted for the Democratic candidate in their congressional district, up from 66% of Jewish voters who voted for Democrats in the 2014 midterms.
In the 2012 presidential election, 69% of Jewish voters voted for Obama, and Trump’s Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton carried 71% of the Jewish vote compared to Trump’s 24% in 2016.
Trump’s remarks on Jewish Americans voting for Democrats were denounced and criticized by both sides of the aisle for invoking anti-Semitic tropes of Jewish people having "dual loyalty" and solely voting on the issue of Israel.
See Also:
- Trump evoked anti-Semitic tropes against American Jews while trying to prove how pro-Israel he is
- Trump just said Jewish Americans voting for Democrats show ‘great disloyalty’
- Bill Maher called the anti-Israel boycott movement ‘A bulls— purity test’ after Israel barred supporters Reps. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib from visiting
Source: Business Insider – gpanetta@businessinsider.com (Grace Panetta)