Jewish lawmakers rage at Trump's "revolting" comments

Axios carries an article about the US ex-president's comments that "any Jewish person that votes for Democrats hates their religion", Caliber.Az reprints the article.

Former President Trump's comments on March 18 that "any Jewish person that votes for Democrats hates their religion" was met with a swift and fierce backlash from incensed Jewish Democrats in Congress.

It's a sign of what's to come as the 2024 election heats up against the backdrop of the Israel-Hamas war.

Trump has landed in hot water before for attacks on Jewish Democrats.

On the radio show of his right-wing former White House aide Seb Gorka, Trump criticized Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) for his harsh criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"When you see those Palestinian marches ... guys like Schumer see that, and to him, it's votes," Trump said. "He's very anti-Israel now."

The former president continued, "Any Jewish person that votes for Democrats hates their religion, they hate everything about Israel, and they should be ashamed of themselves."

Schumer, in a post on X, said: "To make Israel a partisan issue only hurts Israel and the US-Israeli relationship. Trump is making highly partisan and hateful rants."

Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.), the ranking member of the House subcommittee that oversees Israel and the Middle East, told Axios the comments were "revolting, repugnant, and reprehensible."

"How dare Donald Trump lecture Chuck Schumer about being Jewish," said Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), calling the remarks an "outrageous slander against the vast majority of American Jews."

Rep. Becca Balint (D-Vt.) called Trump a "truly hateful man who's trying everything in his power to get Americans to hate each other."

Trump "has no religion," said Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.). "[He] never goes to church, certainly doesn't know anything about Matthew and the New Testament and less about Jews and their commitment to social justice and Israel."

Several of the most staunchly pro-Israel moderates also lambasted the former president.

"Trump demonstrates daily his lack of fitness for the presidency by spreading dangerous stereotypes and embracing antisemites," said Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.).

Rep. Kathy Manning (D-N.C.) said Trump's rhetoric is "particularly disgraceful and dangerous at a time when Jews are facing dangerous levels of antisemitism nationwide."

Trump's team doubled down on Monday, with spokesperson Karoline Leavitt saying in a statement that Trump "is right."

"The Biden Administration has given millions in aid to Gaza and the Iranian Regime, Democrats in Congress have signed petitions supporting Gaza terrorists and caved to the demands of Far-Left Palestinian extremists," she said.

"The Democrat Party has turned into a full-blown anti-Israel, anti-Semitic, pro-terrorist cabal."

Democrats routinely win Jewish voters by wide margins, with Trump attracting just 30% of the Jewish vote in 2016 and 27 per cent in 2020, according to a Pew Research Center analysis.

Of the 33 Jewish members of Congress, just two are Republicans: Reps. David Kustoff (R-Tenn.) and Max Miller (R-Ohio).

Spokespeople for Kustoff and Miller — a former Trump aide — did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Trump's remarks.

"Luckily I don't know any Jews who look to Donald Trump for advice on how to be Jewish," Raskin said.

"After all, this is the guy who saw 'very fine people on both sides' of an antisemitic riot and entertained the neo-Nazi Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes over at his house at Mar-a-Lago for dinner."