At a White House event last week, a reporter asked Donald Trump about the recent rise in anti-Semitic incidents in the United States. The president responded by talking about how impressed he was with his electoral vote totals in the 2016 election.
President Donald Trump on Tuesday denounced the recent rise in bomb threats against Jewish community centers across the country, saying the anti-Semitism and racism that continue to afflict America must be addressed.”Anti-Semitism is horrible, and it’s gonna stop and it has to stop,” Trump told NBC News in an exclusive interview, after touring the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C…. “I think it’s terrible,” Trump said of the anti-Semitic threats. “I think it’s horrible. Whether it’s anti-Semitism or racism or any — anything you wanna think about having to do with the divide. Anti-Semitism is, likewise, it’s just terrible.”
To a certain extent, it’s discouraging that this is even a news story worthy of note. Had any other modern American president condemned anti-Semitism and anti-Semitic threats, the comments would have been well received, but largely overlooked. It’s simply assumed that the White House reacts with disgust in response to hateful incidents.But with Trump, the bar has been lowered — to the point that there’s some relief that the president managed to say the right thing following a week of pressure.He added this morning that he speaks out against anti-Semitism “whenever I get a chance.” If that were true, today’s developments wouldn’t be a story.As for the substance surrounding the developments, Trump did not say whether he’s directed federal law enforcement to do anything specific in response to the latest anti-Semitic incidents and threats nationwide.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."