CNN's Jake Tapper blasts Virginia GOP for anti-Semitic mailer against local Dem
On CNN Friday, anchor Jake Tapper tore into Virginia Republicans for an anti-Semitic mailer they sent out against Democratic Delegate Dan Helmer.
During a panel discussion, guest Bill Kristol argued that the GOP is still using the bigoted attacks against racial, ethnic, and religious minorities that were a hallmark of Trump's presidency.
"[Trump's] controlling the party," said Kristol. "That is just the key thing. You could have a president that turns out to be a pretty disgusting human being, and an ex-president causing trouble and riling people up, but we've never had the situation of someone controlling a party that is very close, half of the Senate and half of the House, and may win both bodies in 2022, and he's the leading candidate in 2024."
Tapper then illustrated this with a story about a Virginia Democrat facing anti-Semitism from the Virginia GOP.
"There is a state representative ... a Democrat in Virginia, he's Jewish, he's a U.S. veteran and he fought in Iraq and Afghanistan," said Tapper. "And the Virginia Republican Party put out a mailer of him where they airbrushed his nose to make it like a hook nose, with piles of gold and it is like — it is like from Der Stürmer. I couldn't believe it. And this is the impact."
"I've seen this so many places," said Kristol. "Younger Republicans — this is legitimatizing a whole mode of behavior. Whatever they might have privately said late night in a bar in Queens or Virginia Beach, they wouldn't say it publicly. They knew it wasn't right to say that or even to act on those beliefs. And now it is all unleashed. You see it all across the country, and that is the genuine threat going forward. And I was talking to a law professor the other way, we could strengthen some laws, but if you have a whole party that is — doesn't believe in democracy, doesn't believe in decency and tolerance for fellow citizens, it is hard to kind of keep strengthening little provisions that really preserve our democracy."
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