Anti-Semitism

Floor Speech

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Mr. SCHUMER. Madam President, 245 days ago, I stood right here on the Senate floor to raise the alarm of rising anti-Semitism in America and the need to condemn anti-Semitism whenever we see it.

This week, Squirrel Hill, the site of the Tree of Life synagogue massacre of 2018, was targeted once again with anti-Semitic vandalism and attacks. These attacks are vile. They are hurtful. They poison our society with division, fear, grief. And for the Squirrel Hill community, which has already suffered unimaginable tragedy, this is particularly horrific.

It pains me to say that anti-Semitism like this is unfortunately not unusual today. In our community and in our politics, anti-Semitism is ascending. This week, none other than Donald Trump, once again, added to the division.

Yesterday, during a radio interview with WABC in New York City, Donald Trump agreed with his interviewer that the Nation's Second Gentleman, a Jewish American, is ``a crappy Jew.'' Why? Presumably because he is a Democrat. On air, Donald Trump then repeated the sick idea that if you are a Jew and you happen to support Democrats, you should ``have your head examined'' and that you are a bunch of ``fools.''

Sadly, we have been here before. But it must be said again: Donald Trump's comments were reprehensible, dangerous, and proof that he is disturbingly at ease with anti-Semitic rhetoric.

It might be tempting to listen to what Donald Trump said on the radio and tune it out just as another Trump insult. But that would be a mistake. Calling Jews ``fools'' and suggesting they are bad or disloyal because of their political beliefs is not just some juvenile insult. It is an old anti-Semitic trope that goes back centuries, one of dual loyalty. It has been used for a very long time to drive Jews out of their homes, to paint them as untrustworthy, to deny their basic dignity.

So when Donald Trump goes on air and attacks Jews for the way they vote, he knows precisely what he is doing. He is sowing the seeds of division. He is propagating naked anti-Semitism.

Donald Trump will always try to drag this Nation down with insults, intolerance, fear, and smear. But we are better than that, as the American people will make very clear in the months to come.

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