Former officials blast pro-Israel special interest group for funding Republican antisemitism
President Donald Trump welcoming a neo-Nazi and white supremacist to Mar-a-Lago has dominated the news for the past week — not merely because of the action itself, but because Republican Party members have largely stayed silent.
Republican leaders like Kevin McCarthy, who is clamoring to snag the Speaker's spot, hasn't said a word. Yet, he has attacked Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) for using antisemitic tropes.
Speaking about it on Monday, former Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) and former Rep. David Jolly (R-FL) both noted that they can't understand why the special interest group AIPAC is still continuing to support Republicans that refuse to denounce that brunching with neo-Nazis as unacceptable.
Pro-Jewish groups like J Street have attacked AIPAC for their embrace of evangelical right-wing candidates. In November they polled Jewish Americans, asking about AIPAC's support of the fringe Republicans.
"There is a deafening chorus of silence in the face of evil in the Republican Party and it is speaking very, very loudly right now," said McCaskill. "You know, I'd like to bring up an organization that I think ought to get involved right now. Most Americans don't know what AIPAC is. AIPAC is a very powerful Jewish organization that gives millions of dollars to incumbent U.S. Senators and incumbent members of congress who have cast favorable votes helping Israel. They have been bipartisan in the past, favoring incumbents. They give huge money, Nicolle. I think it's time for AIPAC and maybe Bibi Netanyahu as a second act to stand up and say we will no longer tolerate this. And if AIPAC is continuing to give money to members of Congress who are refusing to stand up to this kind of evil, a man who referred to Holocaust survivors as burnt cookies. Trump's own grandchildren, Jewish grandchildren, were caught in this hateful spittle from this man. It's now time for organizations to take steps against the Republicans who are too afraid to speak out against evil."
MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace said that trying to get AIPAC to hold Republicans responsible is kind of like Republicans relying on Merrick Garland to indict Donald Trump because they were too scared to convict him.
"I mean, part of me wants them to keep it up, keep it up, stay silent when Nick Fuentes flops his anti-semitic rear end in Donald Trump's chair and eats cheeseburgers," she said. "Keep it up. Why did independent voters not vote for you? Why is the red wave that some people thought would happen never coming to shore? Because of you. Because Rob Portman and Mitch McConnelland Kevin McCarthy and Richard Burr and all these people we didn't think were like Donald Trump on the inside kept their mouths shut when his rotten core showed on the outside."
McCaskill called it outright cowardice coming from the GOP.
Wallace went on to say that it broke her heart to watch people she aided politically refuse to stand up against Donald Trump beginning in 2016.
"This is a Republican story," Jolly agreed. "This is the story of today's Republican Party, not a Donald Trump a former president simply having dinner with anti-semitic and other actors of hate. This moment was created by today's Republican Party. This is what the republican party has given the country over the last six years by elevating and celebrating the man Donald Trump. Donald Trump — if he had never been elevated by today's Republican Party — would be some shady business guy who had dinner with anti-semites and we wouldn't be talking about it. This is a moment of today's Republicanism and I don't even like the word Trumpism anymore because it assigns Donald Trump's personal beliefs to the party. This is the party. This is it. This is Mitch McConnell, this is Kevin McCarthy, this is Marco Rubio, this is Richard Burr, Ted Cruz, Ron DeSantis, Mike Pompeo, Nikki Haley, Kristi Noem. This is their moment. They created this."
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