Donald Trump returned to bigoted type on Wednesday by lobbing yet one more antisemitic assault in opposition to Senate Minority Chief Chuck Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish official in the USA.
“Schumer is a Palestinian as far as I’m concerned,” Trump mentioned whereas chatting with reporters throughout a White Home go to with Micheál Martin, the taoiseach (or prime minister) of Eire. “He’s become a Palestinian. He used to be Jewish. He’s not Jewish anymore. He’s a Palestinian.”
As is usually the case, Trump’s unhinged remarks weren’t in response to any particular query or subject however got here as a part of a rant in opposition to congressional Democrats. They dared to criticize the just lately handed Home spending invoice for empowering Trump and his high benefactor Elon Musk, who has been working to assault and decimate authorities companies by way of his so-called Division of Authorities Effectivity.
Wednesday’s outburst was not the primary time Trump has accused Schumer of now not being Jewish. He made a put up in February claiming that Palestinians have been “people like Schumer,” and made the identical argument final yr whereas campaigning for the presidency. Trump’s feedback have been tangentially associated to Schumer and different Democrats criticizing the Israeli authorities for Palestinian deaths because of the Israel-Hamas Warfare.
Trump took the rhetoric even additional final August, saying that Schumer declining to shake the hand of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was proof the Democrat “has become a Palestinian” and “a proud member of Hamas.”
Trump is an antisemite who mentioned in 2024 that Jewish individuals who don’t vote for him “should have their head examined,” used the coded time period “globalists” in charge unnamed figures for the current drop within the inventory market (the true trigger was Trump’s tariff coverage), and has used liberal Jewish financier George Soros as a bogeyman in his marketing campaign supplies.
Trump even mentioned if he misplaced the election, it could be the fault of Jewish folks.
His bigotry is bolstered by his co-President Musk, who purchased Twitter, renamed it X, and turned it right into a secure area for antisemitic content material and went on to rejoice Trump’s election win with a Nazi salute. Trump even named the notoriously antisemitic actor Mel Gibson to be his “special ambassador” to Hollywood, and his Justice Division just lately fired a pardon lawyer who refused to restore the actor’s gun rights after a home violence conviction.
Regardless of his many bigoted assaults on Schumer, Trump claims to be against antisemitism and ordered the arrest and subsequent disappearance of activist Mahmoud Khalil as a result of he spoke out in opposition to Israel.
However Trump’s newest rhetoric isn’t a deviation from the norm: It’s Trump returning to type because the antisemite in chief.
