Trump: Dems an ‘anti-Jewish’ party

President Trump on Friday blasted Democrats as “anti-Israel” and “anti-Jewish” after the House passed a resolution broadly condemning hatred rather than singling out remarks made by Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) that were widely criticized as anti-Semitic.

“I thought yesterday’s vote by the House was disgraceful,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “The Democrats have become an anti-Israel party. They’ve become an anti-Jewish party.”

{mosads}The measure, which passed on Thursday by a vote of 407-23, condemned hatred against Jews, Muslims and other groups in response to comments by Omar about pro-Israel groups.

The original draft of the resolution condemned only anti-Semitism, but it was revised amid tensions among Democrats over whether the initial version would have singled out one of the first two Muslim women elected to Congress.

No versions of the resolution mentioned Omar by name or cited her specific comments.

In the end, 23 Republicans were the only ones to vote against the resolution. Most complained that the original version had been watered down. 

Trump said “if you get an honest answer” from others in Washington, they would agree Democrats’ handling of the episode was “disgraceful.”

Trump’s explosive comments angered Democrats, who accused the president of hypocrisy and exploiting the anti-Semitism controversy engulfing their party for political gain.

“I condemn the use of anti-Semitism by my colleagues, Democrat and Republican, AND by your campaign,” Rep. Ted Deutch (D-Fla.) tweeted in response to Trump. “This isn’t political. It’s life and death. Please stop.”

Advocacy groups also condemned Trump’s language.

“We are appalled, but not surprised, that President Trump has once again demonstrated dishonesty, hypocrisy, and willingness to use anti-Semitism and Israel as a political football,” said Halie Soifer, executive director of the Jewish Democratic Council of America.

“The president’s own words have fueled the fire of intolerance and targeting of Jews, and Republicans have failed to condemn the president’s remarks in the same way that Democrats were quick to rebuke Representative Omar,” she added.

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), a co-author of the resolution, said on CNN Trump is “lucky that he escaped” specific mention in the text given his past comments.

The resolution condemned the charge of dual loyalty against Jewish Americans, saying it “constitutes anti-Semitism because it suggests that Jewish citizens cannot be patriotic Americans and trusted neighbors, when Jews have loyally served our Nation every day.”

That language came in response to Omar’s allegation that pro-Israel groups are pushing supporters to adopt an “allegiance to a foreign country,” which set off a firestorm of criticism that she used a centuries-old anti-Semitic trope.

But after blowback from some progressive Democrats, the resolution was revised to also condemn bigotry against Muslims as well as “Latinos, Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders, and the LGBT” in addition to immigrants and people of color.

Some Democrats feared the original resolution would have played into Republican efforts to use Omar stoke divisions on the left.

The resolution also mentioned the August 2017 rally in Charlottesville, Va., where a white nationalist demonstrator killed a woman when he rammed his car into a crowd of counterprotesters. It said marchers “engaged in racist and anti-Semitic demonstrations and committed brutal and deadly violence against peaceful Americans.”

Trump drew condemnation afterwards for saying there was blame on “both sides” of the situation.  

“You had some very bad people in that group, but you also had people that were very fine people on both sides,” Trump said.

White supremacist marchers carried Nazi banners and chanted “Jews will not replace us” before the violence erupted.