Bob Woodward condemned a political culture based on insults Wednesday after Eric Trump was accused of using anti-Semitic language about the veteran journalist.
Trump, in an appearance on Fox News, was refuting unflattering claims about the Trump administration Woodward makes in his new book.
“I just hope no one would talk like that frankly. I think that that just doesn’t fit,” Woodward said during an interview with CNN. “And I’m sorry, anybody [who] talks like that, whether it’s a dog whistle or whatever the intent is, it’s not — I mean, part of the point of this book is that we need to have a serious debate about serious issues, and to use invective and this attack rhetoric or whatever it might be, it sets us back.”
[Byron York: Same old story: New Woodward book raises old questions about methods]
Eric Trump drew ire for using the word “shekels” during his Wednesday morning appearance to discuss the book, Fear: Trump in the White House, released Tuesday.
“Don’t you think people look through the fact, you can write some sensational, nonsense book, CNN will definitely have you on there because they love to trash the president,” Trump said.
“It’ll mean you sell three extra books, you make three extra shekels, at the behest of the American people, at the behest of our country, and a president that’s doing a phenomenal job by every quantifiable metric,” he continued. “Is that really where we are? I think people read through this.”
The New Israeli Shekel is Israel’s official currency, according to the Jewish Chronicle, but the term is often considered anti-Semitic if used in reference to money or currying favor.
