President Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani clarified the president’s statement explaining that Jewish Americans who vote for Democrats are disloyal “to Israel.”
On Tuesday, Trump said that American Jews who vote for Democrats are either uninformed or disloyal, but it wasn’t clear based on the president’s remarks who those Jewish Americans would be disloyal to.
“I think any Jewish people that vote for a Democrat, I think it shows either a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
Giuliani clarified those remarks on Twitter, Wednesday morning.
“Trump Accuses Jewish Democrats of ‘Great Disloyalty’ – The New York Times,” Giuliani tweeted. “This is routine for NYT and J St. But really disappointed a rep of ADL would feign confusion about @realDonaldTrump’s statement. POTUS is referring to disloyalty to Israel.”
Trump Accuses Jewish Democrats of ‘Great Disloyalty’ – The New York Times. This is routine for NYT and J St. But really disappointed a rep of ADL would feign confusion about @realDonaldTrump’s statement. POTUS is referring to disloyalty to Israel. https://t.co/XZ4775RyEP
— Rudy Giuliani (@RudyGiuliani) August 21, 2019
In Giuliani’s tweet, he said it was “routine” for the New York Times and J Street, a “pro-Israel, pro-peace” organization looking for “a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” to “feign confusion” about the president’s remarks.
The former New York City mayor also said he was “really disappointed” that the anti-defamation league would do the same.
It’s unclear who @POTUS is claiming Jews would be “disloyal” to, but charges of disloyalty have long been used to attack Jews. As we’ve said before, it’s possible to engage in the democratic process w/o these claims. It’s long overdue to stop using Jews as a political football.
— Jonathan Greenblatt (@JGreenblattADL) August 20, 2019
ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt tweeted, “It’s unclear who @POTUS is claiming Jews would be ‘disloyal’ to, but charges of disloyalty have long been used to attack Jews. As we’ve said before, it’s possible to engage in the democratic process w/o these claims. It’s long overdue to stop using Jews as a political football.”
