NEW YORK — Donald Trump is accusing Joe Biden of offering a weak response to anti-Semitism, dismissing clashes on college campuses over the war in Gaza as a campaign issue. But Trump’s attacks ignore his long history of rhetoric that invokes the language of Nazi Germany and plays on stereotypes of Jews and politics.
The most recent 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 Nazi Germany’s secret police force.
Amy Spitalnick, CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, called it a “deliberate tactic” to attack Biden and divert attention from her own record.
“It is completely in line with his long history of offensive and irresponsible comments when it comes to the Jewish community, including the normalization of anti-Semitism,” Spitalnick said.
The Biden campaign called it “despicable” and an attack on law enforcement.
Trump’s attempts to claim the moral high ground against anti-Semitism come as the Democratic president faces the intense divisions of the Israel-Hamas war and the unrest resulting from the demonstrations. Trump and other Republicans have seized on the disturbances on college campuses, which have at times been violent, as a sign of weakness for Biden and Democrats. It’s also the latest example of Trump’s well-worn tactic of repackaging a censure he’s received and stamping it on his opponents.
As pro-Palestinian demonstrations broke out on college campuses, some people reported anti-Semitic chants and messages during and around the protests, and some Jewish students said they felt unsafe on campus. The Trump campaign on Monday released a video on Yom Hashoah, the day of remembrance for the Holocaust in Israel, that aimed to contrast the 2024 presidential candidates’ responses on anti-Semitism.
The video shows footage of Trump visiting Israel and speeches he has given pledging to support the Jewish people and confront anti-Semitism, while showing footage of campus protests and clips of Biden responding to protesters upset about his administration’s support for Israel in the war against Hamas. .
One of the clips shows Biden saying, “They’re right,” but does not include the following sentence in which Biden said, “We need a lot more care in Gaza.”
Karoline Leavitt, national press secretary for the Trump campaign, criticized Biden for taking “weeks to even talk about the Biden campus protests” and for failing to condemn what she described as “pro-Hamas, pro-genocide mobs,” saying “the sad truth is that he needs their votes.”
“American Jews and Jewish leaders around the world recognize that President Trump has done 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 on Monday for his trial in a felony concealment of money case. Noting that Columbia University canceled its main commencement ceremony after weeks of pro-Palestinian protests, Trump said “that shouldn’t happen.” He also claimed that many protesters were supported by Biden donors.
“Okay, are you listening to Israel? I hope you’re listening, Israel. I hope you’re getting smart,” Trump said.
Biden has said he condemns “anti-Semitic protests” and last week broke days of silence and called for “order” after some schools forcibly expelled protesters, sparking clashes.
James Singer, a spokesman for Biden’s campaign, said Biden stands against anti-Semitism, but Trump does not.
“Trump has praised neo-Nazis, dined with neo-Nazis, echoed neo-Nazis’ rhetoric, and reportedly praised the achievements of Adolf Hitler,” Singer said in a statement. “He cannot lead us, so he seeks to divide us with the oldest ideas – hate, anger, revenge and retribution.”
After white nationalists shouted “Jews will not replace us!” Gathering in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017, and clashing with anti-racism protesters, Trump provoked some of his fiercest reactions as president when he said that “there were very fine people, on both sides. ”
Last week, Trump downplayed Charlottesville, saying the deadly rally was “nothing” compared to the ongoing pro-Palestinian protests on campuses.
Shortly after launching his third White House campaign in 2022, Trump was widely condemned for dining at his Mar-a-Lago club with a Holocaust-denying white nationalist and rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, shortly after having made weeks of anti-Semitic comments.
He drew criticism in his third White House campaign for using language that echoes that used by Adolf Hitler to argue that immigrants entering the US illegally are “poisoning the blood of our country”, and labeled his opponents as “vermin”. .
Trump has also been accused of promoting anti-Semitic tropes by suggesting that Jewish people who vote Democratic “hate Israel” and hate “their religion” are “very disloyal to Israel.” Critics said the comments evoke the breakdown of dual loyalty, accusing Jews of being more loyal to their religion than their country.
Following Trump’s reference to the “Gestapo” over the weekend, Jonathan Sarna, a professor of American Jewish history at Brandeis University, said there are “great dangers” in Nazi comparisons.
“In addition to being historically incorrect, it is morally offensive,” Sarna said. “The problem is trying to associate everything you don’t like with the most evil forces, ignoring all the crucial differences. At this point, we forget what the Holocaust really was.”
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Associated Press writer Jill Colvin in New York contributed to this report.
