WASHINGTON ― Republicans settled into a familiar groove on Tuesday after a particularly grim stream of comments by Donald Trump over the weekend, making excuses, ducking questions, and some barely managing to express polite disagreement with their presumptive 2024 presidential nominee.
At a rally in Ohio on Saturday, Trump saluted as a recording of a chorus of prisoners in jail for their roles in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol sang the national anthem. Many of “unbelievable patriots,” as Trump called them, were accused of assaulting police officers as they sought to prevent Congress from certifying Trump’s loss to Democrat Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election.
Trump begins most of his campaign rallies by playing the song as his supporters pay tribute, taking off their hats and putting their hands over their hearts. It’s only the latest example of how Trump and the GOP are glorifying the Jan. 6 insurrection and attempting to rewrite history on one of the darkest days in American democracy.
In the same speech, which he delivered in Dayton, Trump warned of a “bloodbath” to the economy if he isn’t elected and also demonized undocumented immigrants, telling supporters he thinks of some crossing the border as “animals” or not even “people.”
Then, on the following day, Trump taped an interview with conservative radio host Sebastian Gorka in which he said that any Jewish Americans who vote for Democrats “hate Israel” and hate “their religion.” He added of the Democrats: “They hate everything about Israel, and they should be ashamed of themselves because Israel will be destroyed.”
His comments drew sharp rebukes from Democratic leaders, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), the highest-ranking Jewish official in U.S. history, who had excoriated Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over his military campaign in Gaza last week.
But when asked by reporters about Trump’s grim rhetoric on Tuesday,…
Read the full article here
