President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media as National Security Adviser John Bolton listens during a meeting with President of Romania Klaus Iohannis in the Oval Office of the White House, August 20, 2019. Image by Alex Wong/Getty Images

By Aiden Pink August 21, 2019

President Trump on Wednesday stated that Jews who vote for the Democratic Party were “very disloyal to Israel,” doubling down on language that led several major Jewish organizations to condemn him the previous day.

“If you vote for a Democrat, you’re being disloyal to Jewish people and you’re being very disloyal to Israel,” Trump said on the White House lawn.

The president claimed on Tuesday that Jews who vote for Democrats show “either a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty.” Prominent Jewish groups claimed that this invoked the anti-Semitic “dual loyalty” conspiracy that Jews are more loyal to Israel than their home country – though some admitted that it was unclear to whom exactly Trump thought Jews were being disloyal. And the Republican Jewish Coalition, claimed that Trump only meant that Jews were being “disloyal to themselves.”

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

Condemnation was swift to come in. “@realDonaldTrump verified that he invoked an anti-Semitic trope, asserting that American Jews should be ‘loyal’ to Israel by supporting him,” tweeted Jewish Democratic Council of America executive director Halie Soifer. “90% of American Jews consider themselves ‘pro-Israel’ and about 3/4 of them are Dems because Jews vote their values.”

Trump was also criticized for writing a series of tweets on Wednesday morning defending himself by quoting conservative commentator and conspiracy theorist Wayne Allyn Root – a Jewish convert to Christianity – who claimed that Israeli Jews “love him like he’s the King of Israel.”

Trump seemed to continue on that line of thought in his White House lawn appearance. When asked about his approach to the trade war with China, Trump reportedly stated, “I am the chosen one.”

Aiden Pink is the deputy news editor of the Forward. Contact him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @aidenpink

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

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 polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

$90 $180

$360

Other amount