President Trump on Wednesday shared a quote attributed to a right-wing radio host who said Jews in Israel view the president as “the second coming of God.”
Trump tweeted out a quote from Wayne Allyn Root, who has spread conspiracy theories about the Las Vegas shooting and birtherism, one day after the president said Jewish people who vote for Democrats are either ignorant or show “great disloyalty.”
” ‘President Trump is the greatest President for Jews and for Israel in the history of the world, not just America, he is the best President for Israel in the history of the world…and the Jewish people in Israel love him like he’s the King of Israel,” Trump tweeted, quoting Root.
“They love him like he is the second coming of God…But American Jews don’t know him or like him. They don’t even know what they’re doing or saying anymore. It makes no sense!” Trump added, still quoting Root.
Trump thanked Root “for the very nice words,” though the Jewish faith does not believe in a second coming of God.{mosads}
The quote echoed the president’s own sentiment from a day earlier that American Jews were somehow making a mistake by not supporting Trump.
“I think Jewish people that vote for a Democrat — I think it shows either a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty,” Trump told reporters during an Oval Office meeting with the president of Romania.
The comment came as he railed against Reps. Rashida Tlaib (Mich.) and Ilhan Omar (Minn.), two Democrats who have been critical of the U.S.-Israel alliance and Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.
The president slammed the Democratic Party for defending the congresswomen but was criticized for trafficking in an anti-Semitic trope by suggesting that Jews who support his opponents are disloyal.
Jewish groups and Democratic lawmakers swiftly condemned the president’s Tuesday remarks as anti-Semitic.
Omar faced criticism earlier this year for remarks about Israel and the “political influence in this country that says it is OK to push for allegiance to a foreign country.”
Tlaib and Omar sought to visit Israel last week, but the Israeli government barred them from entering shortly after Trump tweeted to encourage the decision. Omar said this week that the U.S. should reconsider aid to Israel in response.
Trump has made unwavering support of Israel one of the pillars of his foreign policy, including moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem and officially recognizing Israel’s claim over the disputed Golan Heights territory. His administration has for years promised a Middle East peace plan for the region, but it has yet to be released.