Lawmaker Dumps GOP Over ‘Racist’ Donald Trump — Says Jews May Be Next Target
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
By Ron Kampeas June 8, 2016
WASHINGTON — An Iowa state legislator who quit the Republican Party because of Donald Trump wondered if the candidate’s next target would be Jews.
David Johnson, a state senator, told The Guardian on Tuesday that his breaking point was Trump’s racially tinged attacks on a judge of Mexican parentage presiding over a lawsuit alleging that a defunct Trump enterprise, Trump University, defrauded clients.
“I haven’t supported Mr. Trump at any point along the way but what I am calling his racist remarks and judicial jihad is the last straw,” said Johnson, who said he would now register as not having a party.
Johnson, who said his father was among the first soldiers to liberate Nazi prison camps at the end of World War II, said he also was offended by Trump’s call to keep Muslims out of the United States, and wondered whether Jews were next.
“I was raised without hearing any racial slur, any racial epithet. It’s something that if we’re going to exclude Muslims from traveling to the United States, who’s next?” he said. “Are we going to come down on Jews?”
Did you know that only 2% of Forward readers donate to support our nonprofit newsroom? That 2% make it possible for millions to read the Forward without a paywall or subscription — removing any barriers to the full and fair Jewish story.
But while the Forward is free to read, it isn’t free to produce. Big stories — like deep dives into the antisemitism data, political scoops or reporting trips to college campuses — take months of research and fact-checking. All while we keep you informed of what you need to know each day.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Forward Publisher & CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
