Nadler Calls Trump’s Failure to Condemn Rising Anti-Semitism ‘Alarming’
Image by Claudio Papapietro
By Josh Nathan-Kazis February 16, 2017
Rep. Jerry Nadler said that President Trump’s failure to condemn anti-Semitism in response to a question at a Wednesday press conference was “alarming.”
“Mr. Trump’s silence earlier today in the face of these questions shows a sickening disregard for the safety and rights of not just Jews, but all minority groups across America,” Nadler said.
The question came from an Israeli reporter at a White House press conference with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The reporter cited a reported rise in anti-Semitic incidents across the U.S., and asked what the president would say to Jews concerned that his “administration is playing with xenophobia.”
In response, Trump noted that he had won the presidential election, and then said that members of his family are Jewish. He did not directly address anti-Semitism or the charge of xenophobia.
Nadler’s statement also noted that a reporter with the website Breitbart News was given a front-row seat at the press conference. He called that a “terrifying signal.”
Contact Josh Nathan-Kazis at nathankazis@forward.com
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
