ATLANTA — Rep. Keith Ellison on Friday knocked President Trump for failing to mention Jews in a statement he issued last month commemorating the Holocaust.
The Minnesota Democrat’s criticism was a small part of a 20 minute speech he delivered to supporters on the eve of the election to select a new Democratic National Committee chairman. But some prominent Democrats have threatened to leave the Democratic Party if Ellison wins the chairmanship, and the congressman could be worried that the issue could sink his prospects when DNC members vote on Saturday.
Ellison, locked in a tight race with Tom Perez of Maryland, who served as President Obama’s second Labor secretary, has faced headwinds in the campaign over his past associations with anti-Semitic figures and sharp criticism of Israel. Jews constitute a significant portion of the Democratic Party’s activist and financial donor base.
“…There are people in the White House who can’t even acknowledge — can’t even acknowledge that, on Holocaust memorial day, that Jews were killed in the Holocaust,” Ellison said.
In January, Trump, as have his predecessors, released a prepared statement commemorating International Holocaust Remembrance Day. But it failed to mention Jews, or that the Nazi’s chief goal with the Holocaust was to exterminate the Jewish people, instead focusing on the general suffering it caused.
Just prior to Ellison rapping Trump, his campaign issued a press release reiterating the early endorsement he received from Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., who is Jewish and has a reputation as a steadfast supporter of Israel. This week, Schumer vouched for Ellison’s commitment to Jews and the Jewish state.
“I saw Keith Ellison orchestrate one of the most pro-Israel Democratic platforms in decades, successfully persuading others to adopt such a strong platform and has pledged to follow the Democratic Platform on Israel as DNC Chair,” Schumer said. “He has voted for more than $27 billion in aid to Israel, has brought together leaders of many faiths in dialogue to combat anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial, and he opposes the boycott, divestment sanctions movement.”
Ellison also raised the issue of vandalized Jewish cemeteries and the rash of bomb threats made against Jewish community centers in recent months.
“I’m serious about this. At a time when cemeteries are being defaced. You all saw that?” Ellison said. “At a time when bomb threats are going out, there needs to be a party that will stand up for all of us.”
