President Donald Trump on Wednesday morning promoted right-wing conspiracy theorist Wayne Allyn Root’s claim that American Jews should be more appreciative of the president -- like Israeli Jews are, Root said -- because Trump is “the greatest president for Jews and for Israel in the history of the world." Trump also seemingly urged Fox News and other pro-Trump media outlets to cover the remarks.
Trump was widely condemned for his Tuesday afternoon claim that because some Democratic members of Congress have suggested cutting off aid to Israel and used anti-Semitic tropes, “Jewish people that vote for a Democrat” may be showing “great disloyalty.” Trump did not specify the subject of this purported disloyalty by the overwhelming majority of American Jews who support Democrats, but his claim echoed a longstanding and blood-soaked anti-Semitic trope that Jews practice “dual loyalty” to their home countries and to the Jewish people. (Update: Asked to specify on Wednesday, Trump told reporters, “If you vote for a Democrat, you’re being disloyal to Jewish people and you’re being very disloyal to Israel.”)
Trump doubled down on Wednesday morning, tweeting a lengthy quote from Newsmax TV host Wayne Allyn Root about the disparity between support for Trump among Israeli and American Jews. According to Root, who identifies as a “Jew turned evangelical Christian,” Jewish people in Israel love Trump “like he’s the King of Israel” or “the second coming of God,” while American Jews don’t “like him,” which “makes no sense.” Jews do not believe in a second coming.
He thanked Root “for the very nice words” and tagged the Twitter accounts of Newsmax, the Fox News program Fox & Friends, and the right-wing One America News Network in an apparent suggestion that they should cover the comments.
Root, a longtime conservative columnist and radio host, has promoted a wide range of false conspiracy theories, including that President Barack Obama attended Columbia University as a “foreign exchange student,” that Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich was murdered by Democrats because he provided DNC files to WikiLeaks, that progressive donor George Soros hired the murderer of Charlottesville, VA, rally victim Heather Heyer, and that Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts’ 2015 Obamacare ruling might have been the result of him being “blackmailed or intimidated.”
Root has nonetheless received direct access to Trump and his family, whom he has partied with at the president’s Mar-A-Lago resort.
Root, made the comments on Tuesday night’s edition of his show.
