Since Donald Trump first ascended to the presidency on a wave of race-baiting and xenophobia, the number of hate crimes committed in this country has steadily increased. After neo-nazis and white nationalists rallying in Charlottesville lead to the death of an innocent woman, Trump sparked outrage by commenting that there were “very fine” people on both sides of the issue.
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Clearly, this is not a man who cares about the victimization of minorities so long as ignoring their plight and oppression nets him support from hateful right-wingers.
Today, in a stunning act of hypocrisy, Trump took to Twitter to accuse Democrats of anti-semitism and told them they have to take a “stronger stand” against it. While he correctly pointed out that such hatred has fueled “atrocities throughout history,” he conveniently failed to mention that it was most often far-right groups that carried them out.
He also neglected to mention the aforementioned fact that his administration has overseen a staggering spike in hate crimes, including the tragic Tree of Life synagogue shooting in which a right-wing conspiracy theorist claimed 11 lives. No rational person would believe that the Democratic Party is the party of antisemitism when the modern GOP so openly flirts with white nationalism and overt hatemongering.
It is shameful that House Democrats won’t take a stronger stand against Anti-Semitism in their conference. Anti-Semitism has fueled atrocities throughout history and it’s inconceivable they will not act to condemn it!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 6, 2019
Presumably, Trump’s tweet is aimed at the controversy around Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN) who has become the center of a firestorm after comments she made about Israel and the lobbying group AIPAC sparked accusations of anti-semitism. While such criticisms must be heard and seriously weighed — especially when they come from Jews who found them offensive or threatening— it also must be pointed out that bad faith conservatives have seized on the issue and exploited it to attack a Muslim woman of color.
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It’s also worth noting that while nonstop analysis of Omar’s comments has dominated the news cycle, a sign falsely connecting her to the 9/11 attacks based solely on her religion was put up at a GOP-sponsored event and barely registered a blip in the national discourse. The Republican Party under Trump doesn’t actually care about bigotry, it cares about attacking its political opponents with whatever tools it finds available.
Not surprisingly, Trump’s tweet invited a deluge of responses, with Americans swarming to call out the hypocrisy. Many of them invoked the painful memories of Trump’s response to the Charlottesville incident, while others pointed out that the president has failed to condemn monsters in his own party, including Representative Steve King (R-IA) who lost his committee assignments after asking what’s offensive about the term “white nationalist.”
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The GOP is full of bigots of every type, and President Trump lacks the courage to confront them. He is the last person that should be pontificating about standing up to antisemites.
After Charlottesville you said there were very fine people on both sides.
— Bess Kalb (@bessbell) March 6, 2019
https://twitter.com/Amy_Siskind/status/1103388866600423430
You, um, defended Neo Nazis marching in the streets
— Sam Stein (@samstein) March 6, 2019
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It is shameful that Donald Trump won’t take a stronger stand against Anti-Semitism and bigotry among his own party. Jim Jordan used an anti-Semitic trope with the $ symbol against Tom Steyer. Steve King gave a shout out to Faith Goldy, a neo-Nazi writing for The Daily Stormer.
— Eugene Gu, MD (@eugenegu) March 6, 2019
YOUR HYPOCRISY IS INFINITE.
— God (@thegoodgodabove) March 6, 2019
https://twitter.com/NIACHIRIE/status/1103391510605819906
Still waiting on you to denounce Steve King…
Where it at doe?pic.twitter.com/M4ldHV5IGH
— Ryan Hill (@RyanHillMI) March 6, 2019
This tweet is like an arsonist condemning fires.
— Tony Posnanski (@tonyposnanski) March 6, 2019