Their messages were aimed at different people, but both screeds were just as historically shameful. In a 10-day period, our president and a congresswoman from Detroit uttered some of the most disgraceful words ever to emanate from Washington.
Even Republican leaders pounced on President Trump for proclaiming in mid-July, “Why don’t they go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came. Then come back and show us how it is done.”
One of Trump’s targets, Rep. Rashida Tlaib, declared last Tuesday, on the floor of the House of Representatives, in an effort to justify a boycott of Israel, “Americans of conscience have a long and proud history of participating in boycotts specifically to advocate for human rights abroad. Americans boycotted Nazi Germany in response to dehumanization, imprisonment and genocide of Jewish people.”
Trump’s quote has been telegraphed to every remote corner of the world. Possibly cave-dwellers in the most backward locations can recite it word for word. News of Tlaib’s words is so limited that most Americans would probably be taken by surprise if they were notified of it today.
Both their pathetic remarks are two of the most bigoted statements ever issued in official national forums in my lifetime. Our president and this congresswoman mocked America’s most basic values. They belittled and humiliated their fellow citizens.
Trump’s racist words directly attacked racial minorities, women and immigrants as exemplified by four women of color who are all freshman members of the House. Three of the four were born here and the fourth congresswoman has been a citizen for nearly two decades.
Tlaib’s anti-Semitic comments should offend American Jews who feel an emotional tug toward Israel. Anyone vaguely familiar with the Jewish community understands that Israel’s future is important to them, even for those who strongly disagree with the Jewish state’s policies.
Tlaib’s has a right to oppose a bill that condemns the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, which is what prodded her to take to the House floor last Tuesday. But to lump Israel in with Nazi Germany? Maybe in the future she will insert the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s name into a roster of great world leaders, as in “Washington, Lincoln, Churchill, Arafat…”
What can we do with such officials who are entrusted to guide our nation? The House moved swiftly to rebuke Trump with a resolution; besides the Democrats, only four Republicans and an independent voted for it. The Democrat-controlled House last March refused to act on a proposal to condemn Rep. Ilhan Omar, who questioned the loyalty of American Jews. At this writing, the House has done nothing about Tlaib’s most recent comment.
News coverage has been limited. Tlaib was quoted in The New York Times as part of a larger story reporting passage of an anti-BDS resolution. By Thursday, Israeli newspapers focused on Tlaib’s response to the legislation. Few Jewish advocacy organizations have reacted to Tlaib’s statement.
Trump views his real 2020 presidential rivals as Tlaib, Omar and the other two Democratic congresswoman – to portray the Democratic Party as socialist and anti-Israel. Then he’ll link them to the Democratic nominee running against him.
However, he could lose his most conspicuous antagonists if one or more of the four congresswomen are ousted in their Democratic primaries. Remember, everyone must pass through a process to get re-elected. Tlaib, Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ayanna Pressley must be re-nominated by their party in order to face re-election. Their primaries could be difficult, but the eventual winners will likely win election because their districts are heavily Democratic.
Omar and Tlaib are the most detested among other Democrats, primarily due to their anti-Israel attitudes. Both are Muslims, but most people abhor them for their viewpoints, not their faith. Should both lose their respective primaries, Trump must reconsider his strategy. Ocasio-Cortez, of New York City, has not been nearly as offensive about Israel, and Pressley, of Massachusetts, voted on Tuesday for the anti-BDS motion.
Trump will have a far harder time convincing people that Democrats embrace socialism. Many Democrats who dislike Omar and Tlaib share their concerns for domestic issues. I don’t believe that Trump can succeed in painting Democrats as radical. I fully expect Trump to lose re-election assuming that Democrats nominate a respected candidate who runs an intelligent campaign. Of course, Democrats have undermined themselves in the past, as they did in 2016.
Many kinds of individuals have occupied positions of trust in all three branches of government, but I cannot think of anyone in modern times who could treat minority groups as crudely as do Trump, Omar and Tlaib. All three are as vulnerable, if not more so, as other politicians. Let’s hope that by January 2021 Trump, Omar and Tlaib can only transmit their indecent messages from the sidelines.
Republished from Jewish News Syndicate