Trump calls Joe Biden weak on antisemitism, ignoring his own rhetoric
New York (AP): Donald Trump is accusing Joe Biden of offering a weak response to antisemitism, wielding the clashes on colleges campuses over the war in Gaza as a campaign issue. But Trump's attacks ignore his own long history of rhetoric that invokes the language of Nazi Germany and plays on stereotypes of Jews and politics.
The latest example came over the weekend, when Trump accusing the White House of having a role in his multiple state and federal criminal prosecutions told Republican donors gathered for a private retreat at his Florida resort that Biden is running a Gestapo administration, referring to the secret police force of Nazi Germany.
Amy Spitalnick, CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, called it a deliberate tactic to attack Biden and distract from his own track record.
"It's wholly aligned with his long history of offensive and irresponsible comments when it comes to the Jewish community, including the normalization of antisemitism," Spitalnick said.
Biden's campaign called it despicable and an attack on law enforcement.
Trump's attempts to claim a moral high ground against antisemitism come as the Democratic president is navigating the intense divisions of the Israel-Hamas war and the resulting unrest from demonstrations. Trump and other Republicans have seized on the disruptions on college campuses, which have at times been violent, as a sign of weakness from Biden and Democrats. It's also the latest example of Trump's timeworn tactic of repackaging a censure he's received and stamping it on his opponents.
As pro-Palestinian demonstrations have broken out at college campuses, some people have reported antisemitic chants and messages at and around the protests and some Jewish students have said they have felt unsafe on campus. Trump's campaign on Monday released a video on Yom Hashoah, Israel's Holocaust remembrance day, that aimed to contrast the 2024 presidential candidates' responses on antisemitism.
The video shows images of Trump visiting Israel and speeches he has given pledging to stand with Jewish people and confront antisemitism, while showing footage of the protests on campuses and clips of Biden responding to protesters upset with his administration's support for Israel in its war against Hamas.
One of the clips shows Biden saying, They have a point, but does not include the next sentence in which Biden said, We need to get a lot more care into Gaza.
Karoline Leavitt, national press secretary for Trump's campaign, criticized Biden for taking weeks to even talk about the Biden Campus Protests and not condemning what she described as pro-Hamas, pro-genocide mobs, saying the sad truth is that he needs their votes.
"Jewish Americans and Jewish leaders around the world recognize that President Trump did more for them and the State of Israel than any President in history," Leavitt also said Monday.
Trump also spoke about the protests as he arrived in court Monday for his trial in a felony hush money case. Noting Columbia University has cancelled its main commencement ceremony following weeks of pro-Palestinian protests, Trump said that shouldn't happen. He also claimed that many protesters were backed by Biden donors.
Ok, are you listening Israel? I hope you're listening, Israel. Hope you're getting smart," Trump said.
Biden has said he condemns the antisemitic protests and last week, he broke days of silence and called for order after some schools cleared demonstrators by force, leading to clashes.
James Singer, a spokesperson for Biden's campaign, said Biden stands against antisemitism but Trump does not.
Trump has praised neo-Nazis, dined with neo-Nazis, echoed the rhetoric of neo-Nazis, and reportedly praised the accomplishments of Adolf Hitler, Singer said in a statement. He cannot lead us, so he seeks to divide us with the oldest of ideas hate, anger, revenge, and retribution.
After white nationalists chanting Jews will not replace us! rallied in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017 and clashed with anti-racism protesters, Trump drew some of his fiercest backlash as president when he said that there were very fine people, on both sides.
Trump last week downplayed Charlottesville, saying the deadly rally was nothing compared to ongoing pro-Palestinian campus protests.
Not long after launching his third White House campaign in 2022, Trump drew widespread condemnation for having dinner at his Mar-a-Lago club with a Holocaust-denying white nationalist and the rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, shortly after he made weeks of antisemitic comments.
He's drawn criticism on his third White House campaign for using language echoing that used by Adolf Hitler to argue that immigrants entering the U.S. illegally are poisoning the blood of our country, and labelled his opponents as vermin.
Trump has also been accused of promoting antisemitic tropes as he's suggested that Jewish people who vote for Democrats hate Israel and hate their religion are very disloyal to Israel. Critics have said the comments evoke the drop of dual loyalty, accusing Jews of being more loyal to their religion than their country.
After Trump's reference to Gestapo over the weekend, Jonathan Sarna, an American Jewish history professor at Brandeis University, said there are great dangers in the Nazi comparisons.
Not only it's historically incorrect, it's morally offensive, Sarna said. The problem is looking to associate whatever you don't like with the most evil forces, ignoring all the crucial differences. At that point, we forget what the Holocaust really was.
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Polling underway for 5 RS seats in Bihar
Patna (PTI): Voting is underway for five Rajya Sabha seats in Bihar on Monday, with five nominees from the ruling NDA and one from the opposition RJD contesting the biennial polls, an official said.
BJP national president Nitin Nabin, also the five-time MLA from Bankipur assembly seat, RJD's national working president Tejashwi Yadav, BJP MLA Maithili Thakur, and jailed JD(U) legislator Anant Singh, among others, cast their ballots.
The polling, which commenced at 9 am, will continue till 5 pm in the Bihar Assembly complex, where MLAs are casting their ballots, he said.
Counting will begin after 5 pm, and the results are expected to be declared the same day.
Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) supremo Nitish Kumar and Nabin are among the NDA candidates. The other three nominees from the ruling coalition are Union Minister Ram Nath Thakur, Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) chief Upendra Kushwaha, both sitting members of the Rajya Sabha, and BJP's Shivesh Kumar, who is seeking a berth in the Upper House of Parliament for the first time.
Yadav, after casting his vote, said, "Our candidate Amarendra Dhari Singh will win as we have got support from the five MLAs of AIMIM and one BSP legislator."
Talking to reporters on Monday, JD(U)'s national working president Sanjay Kumar Jha said, "NDA's all five candidates will win. We don't care what opposition parties are claiming."
The AIMIM announced on Sunday that all five of its MLAs would support the RJD candidate in the Rajya Sabha polls.
Talking to reporters after casting his vote, Singh said, "If Nitish Kumar does not remain the CM, I will not contest polls next time. My children will contest elections."
Singh, the Mokama MLA, was arrested ahead of the assembly polls last year in connection with the killing of Dular Chand Yadav, a rival gangster who was supporting the local candidate of Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj Party.
Singh, who has since been unable to secure bail, was allowed to cast his vote on parole.
With numbers comfortably in favour of the NDA for four seats and marginally short for the fifth, the opposition forced an election by fielding the RJD's candidate.
The state administration has made adequate security arrangements to ensure a smooth election, an official said.
The NDA aims to win all five seats but needs support from three legislators from the opposition bench to achieve that.
The Grand Alliance kept its MLAs at a hotel in the state capital to prevent alleged poaching by rivals.
However, the NDA organised meetings with its legislators at the residences of ministers and senior leaders in the state's capital on Sunday.
The NDA enjoys a brute majority in the assembly, though its tally of 202 in the 243-member House falls three short of the number needed to secure all five Rajya Sabha seats.
To win a Rajya Sabha berth, one needs the support of at least 41 MLAs in the Bihar assembly.
