Donald Trump spoke before a Jewish group in Florida last night. Not surprisingly, he claimed that they had no choice but to vote for him in next year’s election, and thus, he was not worried about needing their vote.
Also, we know that no Trump rally or speech is complete without his trademark name-calling. And he did not hold back, asking those in attendance if they would prefer “Pocahontas,” his ridiculous name for Elizabeth Warren.
Here, specifically, is what he said:
“You have to vote for me, you have no choice,” Trump said. “You’re not going to vote for Pocahontas, I can tell you that,” referring to Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, in a dig at her claiming Native American ancestry.
“You’re not going to vote for the wealth tax,” he went on. “Let’s take 100 percent of your wealth away. No, no. Even if you don’t like me — and some of you don’t, some of you I don’t like at all actually — and you’re going to be my biggest supporters because you’ll be out of business in about 15 minutes.”
Funny that someone usually so boastful is already resorting to fear mongering about other candidates, rather than standing simply on what he represents and can do for the community that he was speaking to on his own merits. Instead, he shows how much of an adult and “real man” he is by calling other people names, and claiming that he is their only choice.
He also blasted his predecessor, claiming that he (Obama) had not been friendly to Israel, but then contrasted that with relations in the Trump years, claiming that the relationship between the United States and Israel has never been stronger. Here were some of the comments:
The president also castigated the Obama administration as hostile to Israel. “I don’t think they liked Israel too much, I’m sorry,” he said. “After eight years [in] which our alliance was undermined and neglected, I am happy to report the United States-Israeli relationship is stronger now than ever before.”
He pointed out the official move of the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem as proof:
He said he made the Golan recognition decision within a matter of moments, after discussing it with US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman. “Fifty-two years, and I go bing, and it’s done,” he said.
“So now we have to start thinking about that, because it’s not a bad idea,” Trump said. The audience responded with chants of “12 more years.”
Trump also blasted Jews who are not blindly supportive of Israel:
“You have people — Jewish people — and they are great people and they don’t love Israel enough,” he said.
Yet, despite these claims, some criticized the speech for being anti-Semitic. In particular, some took exception to his claims that some American Jews do not love Israel enough, and others took exception to his description of those in attendance who were into selling homes and properties as “brutal realtors.”
Here is some of what he said:
Speaking about finding a location for the US Embassy in Israel, he told the audience, “A lot of you are in the real estate business.”
“I know you very well, you’re brutal realtors.”
Some also pointed to past comments, such as one in which Trump almost seemed to reprimand wealthy Jewish potential donors
In 2015, Trump, then a candidate, told the Republican Jewish Coalition that “you’re not going to support me because I don’t want your money. You want to control your politicians, that’s fine.”
Quite a bit of criticism followed, insinuating that Trump's comments at least bordered on being anti-Semitic. Here were some of the negative reactions:
“Trump’s insistence on using anti-Semitic tropes when addressing Jewish audiences is dangerous and should concern every member of the Jewish community — even Jewish Republicans,” said Aaron Keyak, a former chair of the National Jewish Democratic Council.
“Trump’s embrace of anti-Semitic rhetoric much stop. Period.” The Democratic Majority for Israel on Twitter slammed Trump for peddling anti-Semitic tropes and ignoring the threat from the far right.
Watching Trump “traffic in antisemitic stereotypes is disgusting,” the tweet said. “Trump’s failure to condemn white supremacy when discussing antisemitism is equally distressing.
This criticism will likely be waved off by Trump supporters, although it falls under the same umbrella of other, similar comments that at least border on betraying his xenophobic outlook, such as when he took a break during one of his speeches in the 2016 campaign and said “Oh, look at my African American over here!"
It is statements like these that are not blatant enough to satisfy any doubts by Trump supporters that he does indeed hold bigoted views. Yet, the fact that he has to point out the one African American in attendance at his rally to everyone else, or that he labels Jewish realtors as especially brutal, seems to reinforce these stereotypes, and suggest that he seems tom believe in them, as well.
Frankly, it is still shocking and disgusting that the wealthiest nation in the world, the most advanced society in many ways, elected such a man as this into the highest office in the land, to represent the country, to be the ugly face and bigoted voice of the country before the entire world. And let us remember that on more than one occasion, leaders of the world laughed at Donald Trump to his face, upsetting him each time. There have been protests against Trump and his policies in many countries whenever he makes an appearance, there is the Baby Trump balloon that has flown over London during his visits, and his approval ratings in other countries are consistently far lower than they are here at home in the United States, and they are not even ever really high here. He has not exceeded 45 percent, to my memory.
There is little doubt that he reflects poorly on the country as a whole, and these are the kinds of stories that reveal why. Not only is he staggeringly ignorant, but he outright seems to take pride in his ignorance, to boot. He embraces his failings, not to try and improve and make changes, but to promote them, and himself, and reinforce his very flawed way of doing things, and of being more generally. And he encourages the rest of the country to do the same, for that matter. He encourages an already narcissistic, selfish country to be even more narcissistic and self-absorbed, and he proclaims this as the greatness that he is supposedly bringing back to this country. It is not merely his passive-aggressive version of anti-Semitism or racism, but just that he brings out the very worst values, and puts them out front and center, as if this is what we should all desire to be like. As if these values are what we should champion.
History will remember this man and the era that he represented, and will remember the people who supported this pathetic, needy man. And history will not be kind. This man and his thinking, his style, are unbelievably outdated. He has hardly progressed in his way of thinking since at least the early sixties, if not perhaps even the fifties. In many respects, he is like a dinosaur, somehow brought back to political prominence.
And what does that say about the country? How well does that reflect on us overall, that we have such a fool in our highest office?
Such dark days in America right now.
In Florida speech, US president says those in the audience will vote for him to protect their wealth; accusations of anti-Semitism after address to Israeli American Council By ERIC CORTELLESSA, December 8, 2019:
https://www.timesofisrael.com/trump-tells-jewish-group-theyll-vote-for-him-to-protect-their-wealth/?fbclid=IwAR12HvMrXt7l9K_4zt63JUu2HYio7F1xtVPY_POJoW8EBcWXryiDiU5fWjs
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