Reuters
- President Donald Trump echoed claims that there is an ongoing "Jexodus" of Jewish voters leaving the Democratic Party in a Tuesday morning tweet.
- At a Friday press conference, Trump also proclaimed that the Democratic Party had become "an anti-Israel party" and an "anti-Jewish party."
- Despite Trump’s claims, Jewish voters have overwhelmingly voted Democratic in recent elections. In the 2018 midterms, 79% of self-identified Jewish voters cast ballots for the Democratic candidate in their congressional district.
President Donald Trump echoed claims that there is an ongoing "Jexodus" of Jewish voters leaving the Democratic Party in a Tuesday morning tweet, but voting data shows Jews have overwhelmingly voted Democratic in all recent federal elections.
"Jewish people are leaving the Democratic Party. We saw a lot of anti-Israel policies start under the Obama Administration, and it got worsts & worse," Trump tweeted, quoting "Jexodus" proponent Elizabeth Pipko. "There is anti-Semitism in the Democratic Party. They don’t care about Israel or the Jewish people.”
At a Friday press conference, Trump also claimed that the Democratic Party had become "an anti-Israel party" and an "anti-Jewish party" in the wake of a controversy over Democratic congresswoman Ilhan Omar’s recent public tweets suggesting that some members of Congress are financially influenced by the pro-Israel lobby.
Omar’s comments were widely denounced as anti-Semitic by political figures on both sides of the aisle, and caused internal strife among the Democratic caucus in the House.
While the House of Representatives planned to introduce a resolution specifically denouncing anti-Semitism, they ended up passing a broader resolution on Thursday condemning "all forms of hate" after many of Omar’s progressive allies argued she was being unfairly singled out.
Despite Trump’s claims, Jewish voters have overwhelmingly voted Democratic in recent elections. 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 Democratic 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.
Furthermore, every sitting Jewish US Senator and all but two of the 32 currently-serving Jewish members of the House of Representatives are Democrats.
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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
- Rep. Ilhan Omar’s comments about Israel are consuming Congress with Trump, Pelosi, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez all taking sides
- Several 2020 Democratic candidates are rushing to defend embroiled Rep. Ilhan Omar over accusations of anti-Semitism
Source: Business Insider – gpanetta@businessinsider.com (Grace Panetta)