Sarah Huckabee Sanders dodges questions about whether Trump actually believes ‘Democrats hate Jews’

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White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee SandersJim Young/Reuters

  • White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders refused to say whether President Donald Trump believes Democrats "hate Jews," after the president called the Democratic party "anti-Jewish" last week. 
  • "Yes or no, does the president truly believe that Democrats hate Jews?" MSNBC reporter Hallie Jackson asked. 
  • This comes after Trump slammed a House resolution condemning "all forms of hatred" that Democratic leadership put forward last week after Rep. Ilhan Omar made comments about Israel that some believed were anti-Semitic.

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders refused to say whether President Donald Trump believes Democrats "hate Jews," after the president called the Democratic party "anti-Jewish" last week. 

On Friday, Trump slammed a House resolution condemning "all forms of hatred" put forward last week by the Democratic leadership after Rep. Ilhan Omar made comments about Israel that some believed were anti-Semitic.

Trump and many other Republicans believed the resolution should have explicitly condemned Omar, a Minnesota Democrat and Somali refugee. The president called the resolution, which passed with 23 GOP "no" votes, "disgraceful" and said Democrats are becoming "anti-Israel" and "anti-Jewish."

"Yes or no, does the president truly believe that Democrats hate Jews?" MSNBC reporter Hallie Jackson asked Sanders during a rare White House press briefing on Monday afternoon. 

"I think they’ve had a lot of opportunities over the last few weeks to condemn some abhorrent comments," Sanders replied, refusing to give a yes or no response. "That’s a question that, frankly, I think you should ask Democrats."

Other reporters followed up on the question, but Sanders repeatedly brushed it off. 

Despite Trump’s claims, 65% to 75% of Jewish voters have supported Democratic candidates in the last five presidential elections, with Hillary Clinton carrying 71% of the Jewish vote compared to Trump’s 24% in 2016.

And 32 of the 34 Jewish members of Congress are Democrats.

Grace Panetta contributed to this report. 

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SEE ALSO: Trump says Democrats have ‘become an anti-Israel party, an anti-Jewish party’ after the latest fight over Rep. Ilhan Omar’s comments

Source: Business Insider – feedback@businessinsider.com (Eliza Relman)

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