Rick Santorum is one of the least relevant Republicans you can think of today. He hasn’t been on Capitol Hill for years. He is a failed presidential candidate who inevitably is one of the first to drop out due to a lack of, well…anybody caring.
Yet for some reason, CNN saw fit to invite him on to New Day today so that Santorum could blame the rise of anti-Semitism on President Barack Obama of all people.
Santorum, given the opportunity, followed standard Republican practice to confuse support of Israel with a rejection of anti-Semitism, claiming,
“The president has stood by Israel in ways President Obama has not.”
As Donald Trump, like other Republicans before him, has shown, it is entirely possible to express support for Israel while showing indifference to or even promoting anti-Semitism. What President Obama opposed was Israeli foreign policy, not Jews. In fact, contrary to Republican propaganda, Obama was a great friend of Israel.
Watch courtesy of CNN:
Charges of anti-Semitism, Santorum asserted, are “why you hear about ‘fake news.'” Santorum employed lies to defend the lies of Donald Trump:
“For eight years, eight years, the Obama administration sat by and said nothing about the increase in anti-Semitism on college campuses coming from all over the place…rampant anti-Semitism on the most liberal college campuses and the president of the united states, President Obama, said and did nothing.”
In fact, in remarks made in January 2016 at the Israeli Embassy, President Obama did just that: spoke out against anti-Semitism on college campuses:
“Here, tonight, we must confront the reality that around the world, anti-Semitism is on the rise. We cannot deny it.”
“When we see some Jews leaving major European cities — where their families have lived for generations — because they no longer feel safe; when Jewish centers are targeted from Mumbai to Overland Park, Kansas; when swastikas appear on college campuses — when we see all that and more, we must not be silent.”
This is to be contrasted with Donald Trump’s response to a question, not only remaining silent on the issue but demanding others also remain silent.
As we see with a question posed by an Israeli journalist about what the Trump administration plans to do in response to the increase in anti-Semitism. Trump responded not like President Obama, by condemning it, but by bragging about his electoral vote count, and lying in the process.
Everyone saw Donald Trump try to humiliate a Jewish journalist from Ami Magazine last week, saying “Let me just tell you something – that I hate the charge. I find it repulsive. I hate even the question…”
Santorum’s lie doesn’t pass inspection. It is true that he was reined in by CNN at the end of his interview but he should never have been invited to speak on the subject in the first place.
Santorum has nothing of any importance to add to the national conversation on anti-Semitism but tired old Republican lies blaming everything wrong in the world on Obama. President Obama is no more responsible for the rise of anti-Semitism than he is the rise in racism.
Jimmy Carter was not only the longest living ex-president in history, but he lived so…
Former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama honored Jimmy Carter in the most…
Trump got House Republicans to not use reconciliation to cut Social Security. The problem is…
President-elect Trump and Speaker Mike Johnson have agreed to a deal that would fund the…
Donald Trump demanded that the debt limit be raised as part of the government funding…
Donald Trump and JD Vance are blaming President Biden for the havoc caused by Elon…
This website uses cookies.
