NEW YORK — Former President Donald Trump claimed in an interview on Tuesday that Vice President Kamala Harris, who is married to a Jewish man, “doesn’t like Jewish people” and appeared to agree with a radio host who called Second Lord Doug Emhoff “a worthless Jew.”
Trump claimed in an interview on WABC radio on Tuesday that Harris looked uncomfortable while meeting last week with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“You see the contempt,” he said, adding: “No. 1, she doesn’t like Israel. No. 2, she doesn’t like Jewish people. You know it, I know it and everybody knows it and nobody wants to say it.”
Trump has tried to take advantage of divisions within the Democratic Party over the war between Israel and Hamas and attempted to paint his political opponents as anti-Semitic, while ignoring some of his own past comments and behavior, such as dining at his Florida club with a Holocaust-denying white nationalist. Now that Harris has replaced President Joe Biden as the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Trump has ramped up his attacks on her.
“America is better than Donald Trump’s fear, hatred and despicable insults,” said James Singer, a spokesman for Harris’ campaign. “Vice President Harris believes that Americans want a president who unites our country instead of dividing it, who uses the power of the presidency to help families instead of hurting them, and who has a vision for our future instead of taking us back.”
In the interview, the former Republican president reiterated comments he had made before he attacked Jewish voters who support Democrats, and say that anyone who does so “needs to get their head examined” and “if you’re Jewish, if you vote Democrat, you’re a fool, an absolute fool. They’ve let down Jewish people since Obama on a level that nobody could believe.”
As Trump continued, he said again about Harris, “She hates the Jewish people and Israel even more than Biden does.”
The interview host, Sid Rosenberg, then mentioned Harris’ husband, second gentleman Doug Emhoff and said, “He’s Jewish, just like Bernie Sanders is Jewish. Are you kidding?”
“Yes,” Trump said.
“He’s a worthless Jew,” Rosenberg continued.
“Yes,” Trump said again.
Rosenberg further said of Emhoff: “He is a terrible Jew.”
They then went on to criticize Harris on other points as well.
Trump made a similar claim about Harris’s distaste for Jewish people on Friday when he spoke to a Christian group at a Turning Point USA rally in Florida. He has also drawn criticism in the past for making similar comments about Jewish people, such as when he said in March that Jews who vote for Democrats “hate Israel” and hate “their religion.”
Emhoff, the first Jewish person to be the spouse of a nationally elected U.S. leader, has been one of the most visible members of the Biden administration to speak out about combating anti-Semitism, hanging mezuzahs on the doorposts of the vice president’s residence and leading Passover celebrations at the White House.
Emhoff’s office declined to comment Tuesday.
Trump’s campaign has also criticized Emhoff’s adult daughter Ella for posting a fundraising link on her social media account for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees. Israel has tried to ban the group, suggesting it supports terrorists. European leaders have said the accusation is baseless.
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AP White House correspondent Zeke Miller in Washington contributed to this report.