During the White House press briefing, President Donald Trump was asked why he retweeted a message from former Washington bureau chief for Investor’s Business Daily Paul Sperry asking if authorities enforce the social-distancing orders for mosques during Ramadan.
“I would like to see that,” said Trump on Saturday. “I just spoke with leaders and people that love mosques. I love mosques and I’m all in favor of that. But I would say that there could be a difference and we’ll have to see what will happen.”
Trump held a call with faith leaders on Friday that included discussion about a phased-in return to broader in-person worship after weeks of religious services largely shifting online in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
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Trump then turned to allege an anti-semitic feeling among a group of Democrats.
“I’ve seen a great disparity in this country, I’ve seen a great disparity. I mean, I’ve seen a very strong anti-Israel bent in congress with Democrats,” said Trump. “It was unthinkable seven, eight or 10 years ago, and now they’re into a whole different thing between [Rep. Ilhan] Omar and [Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez].”
This is not the first time the president has lashed out at the members of “the squad,” which consist of four congresswomen; Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts.
“These people hate Israel. They hate Jewish people,” Trump said at a campaign event in Miami launching his Evangelicals for Trump coalition in January.
Trump also caused outraged in August when he said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should block Rep. Rashida Tlaib and Omar from visiting the country.
“I mean the things that they say about Israel are so bad and I can’t believe it,” said Trump. “So I would be interested to see that. They go after Christian churches, but they don’t tend to go after mosques, and I don’t want it to go after mosques.”
Democrats defended the four Representatives. Sen. Elizabeth Warren released a statement to The Hill in March 2019.
“We have a moral duty to combat hateful ideologies in our own country and around the world–and that includes both anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. In a democracy, we can and should have an open, respectful debate about the Middle East that focuses on policy,” said Warren. “Branding criticism of Israel as automatically anti-Semitic has a chilling effect on our public discourse and makes it harder to achieve a peaceful solution between Israelis and Palestinians. Threats of violence, like those made against Rep. Omar, are never acceptable.”
The president not only stated that he believes that the Christian faith is treated unfairly but this treatment has changed recently.
“The Christian faith is treated much differently than it was and I think it’s treated very unfairly,” added the president.
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