Critics said Trump’s comments echoed an anti-Semitic trope accusing American Jews of dual loyalties to the United States and Israel.
“THE SECOND COMING OF GOD”
Trump initially responded on Twitter on Wednesday by quoting a conservative columnist as saying American Jews “don’t know what they’re doing.” The Republican president thanked the commentator, Wayne Allyn Root, who likened Trump to the “king of Israel” and said Israelis “love him like he is the second coming of God.”
The comments about Israel followed Trump’s attacks on a group of first-term Democrats in Congress, US Representatives Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, who were denied entry to Israel last week after Trump pressured the government.
Quoting Root’s tweet, Trump shared the message that he is “the greatest President for Jews and for Israel in the history of the world,” that “the Jewish people in Israel love him like he’s the King of Israel” and even that “They love him like he is the second coming of God.” Trump, in response, said “Wow!” and thanked Root for the “very nice words.”