Donald Trump’s advisor on Israel said that calling the Republican nominee’s closing ad anti-Semitic is “an absolute abuse of the accusation” in a Monday interview.
“The Jewish community has to be able to distinguish between real anti-Semitism and fake anti-Semitism,” David Friedman told Jewish Insider. “When you criticize people who happen to be Jewish, that’s not anti-Semitism if you’re criticizing them because of their policies.”
He said that accusations of anti-Semitism against Trump are a “fake” use of the label.
The two-minute ad from the Trump campaign features clips of a speech Trump gave condemning “global special interests” and “those who control the levers of power in Washington.” His words play over footage of Hillary Clinton, George Soros, Janet Yellen and Lloyd Blankfein—all of whom, with the exception of Clinton, are Jewish.
Friedman went point-by-point to refute the accusations, starting with Blankfein.
“He’s not being criticized because he’s Jewish,” Friedman said. “He’s being criticized because he runs a bank that has extraordinarily close ties to Hillary Clinton.”
He turned to Yellen next. “I doubt people even know that Janet Yellen is Jewish,” Friedman said. “She’s never done anything in her life to identify as a Jew.”
As for Soros, Friedman slammed the billionaire as having “done more to vilify the state of Israel and to fund anti-Israel propaganda machines than almost any individual on the face of the earth.”
Trump’s Israel adviser said that accusations of anti-Semitism against the nominee diminish “the whole notion of anti-Semitism” and are “an absolute abuse.” He also slammed the Anti-Defamation League for its statement saying that the ad touches “on subjects that anti-Semites have used for ages.”
“The Anti-Defamation League, which was founded on the notion of rooting out anti-Semitism, has completely destroyed and perverted their own mandate by going after this type of criticism,” he said. “I don’t see how anybody can take the Anti-Defamation League seriously going forward.”
The group being endorsed by the KKK and being ran by the owner of brietbart doesn’t get to tell the ADL what is or is not anti-Semitic
“But what can you expect from a bunch of sneaky Jews, they’ve stabbed us in the back” he added.
I’m not Jewish and not an “expert” in anti-Semitism.
However, I know a little bit about Nazis and race nationalists, and I don’t think people associated with those groups have any credibility in deciding what is or is not anti-Semitic.
If Donald Trump wins the election I feel sure that within 6 months the Jewish community in the United States will regard David Friedman and Jared Kushner as pariahs. Depending on how things shake out today, the safety of American Jews may be very much in doubt.
I’ll give $100 to whoever can explain how this response made things better.
“They’re not being called out because they’re Jewish. They’re being called out because they run banks…and the media…and the Fed…and world economic policy…and secretly control our government. What’s that? They’re all Jewish? Well howdy-doooo! Maybe there’s something to that then, eh!!!”