==San Antonio Express-News writer: "When you talk about global conspiracies, and when you use terms such as “international banks,” you are talking about the Jews."
(RNS) It happened in West Palm Beach, Florida — in the shadow of condo developments and gated communities that are as demographically Jewish as Warsaw before World War II.
Here is what Donald Trump chose to say to his supporters about his opponent at a rally:
“Hillary Clinton meets in secret with international banks to plan the destruction of global sovereignty in order to enrich these global interest powers, her special interest friends and her donors.”
Many political observers have commented on Trump’s odd and ambiguous relationship with the Jews. I have defended him against charges of anti-Semitism, saying he grew up in Jamaica Estates, Queens, in a Jewish area, and has many Jewish friends and associates. Many have pointed to his daughter Ivanka’s conversion to Orthodox Judaism, and Trump’s Jewish grandchildren, as proof that he cannot be anti-Semitic. But then, there were those “hmmm … ” moments — and they have been mounting.
There were Trump’s remarks before the Republican Jewish Coalition: “I know why you’re not going to support me. You’re not going to support me because I don’t want your money. … Look, I’m a negotiator like you folks.” And some said: Oh, he was just trying to be folksy and familiar. Then there was, “Black guys counting my money! I hate it. The only kind of people I want counting my money are short guys that wear yarmulkes all day.” And some said: Oh, he was paying Jews a compliment for their business acumen.
But now the anti-Semitic needle starts to go into the red zone. There has been the constant barrage of anti-Semitic tweets and attacks on reporters who happen to be Jewish and have criticized Trump. There have been anti-Semitic attacks on New York state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman for his attention to the Trump Foundation. When you talk about global conspiracies, and when you use terms such as “international banks,” you are talking about the Jews.
I am still not accusing Trump of being anti-Semitic. But, all along, Trump has been sending anti-Semitic dog whistles — the red meat of hatred that he has been throwing to many of his supporters. At the risk of being uncivil in the midst of a campaign that has had no surplus of civility, their ideology is deplorable. The dog whistle that Trump just sent — the international Jewish conspiracy theme — is the oldest one, and historically, it has been the most dangerous one.
If Trump doesn’t know what he just said, he is not as smart as he thinks. And if he does know what he just said, he is far worse than we had thought.
