AP’s Lemire on Trump’s ‘Disloyalty’ Comments: ‘It Was Something that Was Thrown at Jews a Lot in Europe in the 1930s’

LEMIRE: “Right, and it’s far from the first time, Willie, that the President had done this, where he has said something or tweeted something that seemed inflammatory, others tried to cover for him, and then a day or two later he just says, 'No, no, that’s what I meant,' no matter how outrageous it might be. And let’s not lose sight of what he’s actually saying here. The charge of being disloyal is one that is tough for anyone to hear, but it was something that was thrown at Jews a lot in Europe in the 1930s. It’s something they have heard here in the United States in dark periods of our nation’s history. This is a dangerous thing to say. And certainly, like, though polling suggests that Jews here in the United States tend to vote Democratic, they are not a monolithic block, nor are they single issue voters nor are they expected to support everything that Israel does. And for the President to put it out there like this is yet another moment, another sort of unprecedented moment where he shows his willingness to walk into issues of race and culture and religion, you know, that he wants — tries to exploit for his political gain. And there is no one in the White House who can say to him no — who can tell him no. In the past when he has fielded anti-Semitic charges, when accused of walking in that sort of — on that path, you know, it’s been pointed out that his son-in-law Jared Kushner is Jewish, that his daughter Ivanka Trump converted to Judaism. That’s not enough. There’s no one there who is telling him, including members of his own family saying, 'Mr. President, you shouldn’t be saying this. This is dangerous language and you need to stop.'”