I invite readers to listen to this clip from Donald Trump’s speech to the conservative evangelical “Faith and Freedom” conference, and try to explain what he means when he says this. I can’t help noticing the emphasis he puts on “Christian.”
That’s it. No mention of respecting and defending Jewish Americans, Hindu Americans, atheist Americans or (of course) Muslim Americans.
The best interpretation I can put on it is that Trump believes Christian Americans, although a majority of the population, are in special need of respect and defense. And it is possible to put a much more sinister spin on those words– as Jesse Lehrich, a staffer for Hillary Clinton’s campaign, found out when he tweeted this:
Holy shit. TRUMP: "We will respect *Christian* Americans. *Christian* Americans."
[speech ends]
As a Jew…just, holy shit.
— Jesse Lehrich (@JesseLehrich) June 10, 2016
just got my introduction to white nationalist/anti-Semite twitter.
it's…very real.
like, check out my mentions: https://t.co/b0gaDKfE6O
— Jesse Lehrich (@JesseLehrich) June 10, 2016
No one likes an oversensitive Jew, right?
And yes: I know Trump has a Jewish daughter and grandchild. So what?
