Former President Donald Trump launched into an eye-widening tirade this week during an appearance on the Unholy: Two Jews on the News podcast, accusing American Jews of being anti-Israel and complaining Israel no longer controls Congress.

“There’s people in this country that are Jewish, no longer love Israel,” he said. “I’ll tell you, the evangelical Christians love Israel more than the Jews in this country. It used to be that Israel had absolute power over Congress, and today, I think it’s the exact opposite. And I think [former President Barack Obama] and [President Joe Biden] did that.”


Uh, thanks, Obama?

“And yet, in the election, [Democrats] still get a lot of votes from Jewish people, which tells you the Jewish people, and I’ve said this for a long time, the Jewish people in the United States either don’t like Israel or don’t care about Israel,” Trump, a father and grandfather of Jewish children, continued.

He added, “I mean, if you look at the New York Times, the New York Times hates Israel. And they’re Jewish people that run the New York Times, I mean the Sulzberger family.”

Questioning American Jews’ commitment to Israel, thus raising the specter of the “dual loyalty” trope? Check. Claiming Israel used to have a shadowy, outsize influence on the legislative branch of the federal government? Check. Making sure to get in a remark about Jewish ownership of major media? Check.

The craziest thing here is: Unlike, say, Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, who uses caustic antisemitic rhetoric to attack Israel, Trump claims to be a major advocate of Israel and its people. He moved the embassy to Jerusalem and showed peace in the Middle East is possible without vainly attempting to placate Palestinian terrorists.

Still, with friends like this, who even needs enemies?