Asked About Anti-Semitism, Trump Brags About Election Win. Huh?

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By Daniel J. Solomon February 15, 2017

President Trump responded to a question about rising anti-Semitism in America following his election with a random boast about his Electoral College win.

The answer sounded more like a series of non-sequiturs than an answer to the question about rising hate crimes since the November vote.

“I just want to say we are very honored by the Electoral College victory we had,” he said. “We are going to have peace in this country, we are going to stop crime in this country, we are going to do everything within our power to stop long-simmering racism and everything that is going on.”

He then name-checked his Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner, who are Jewish.

The president ended his answer with the bizarre statement: “You’re going to see a lot of love in this country.”

Trump was giving a press conference at the White House with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is on his first visit to the United States since the change of power. The premier offered kind words for the president, whom he praised as a “friend of the Jewish people.”

Contact Daniel J. Solomon at solomon@forward.com or on Twitter @DanielJSolomon

Daniel J. Solomon is the former Assistant to the Editor/News Writer at the Forward. Originally from Queens, he attended Harvard as an undergraduate, where he wrote his senior thesis on French-Jewish intellectual history. He is excited to have returned to New York after his time in Massachusetts. Daniel’s passions include folk music, cycling, and pointed argument.

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