Rick Santorum is one of the least relevant Republicans you can think of today. He hasn’t been on Capitol Hill for years. He is a failed presidential candidate who inevitably is one of the first to drop out due to a lack of, well…anybody caring.
Yet for some reason, CNN saw fit to invite him on to New Day today so that Santorum could blame the rise of anti-Semitism on President Barack Obama of all people.
Santorum, given the opportunity, followed standard Republican practice to confuse support of Israel with a rejection of anti-Semitism, claiming,
“The president has stood by Israel in ways President Obama has not.”
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As Donald Trump, like other Republicans before him, has shown, it is entirely possible to express support for Israel while showing indifference to or even promoting anti-Semitism. What President Obama opposed was Israeli foreign policy, not Jews. In fact, contrary to Republican propaganda, Obama was a great friend of Israel.
Watch courtesy of CNN:
.@RickSantorum says anti-Semitism problem actually started under the Obama administration https://t.co/ZzZtnkKksh
— New Day (@NewDay) February 21, 2017
Charges of anti-Semitism, Santorum asserted, are “why you hear about ‘fake news.'” Santorum employed lies to defend the lies of Donald Trump:
“For eight years, eight years, the Obama administration sat by and said nothing about the increase in anti-Semitism on college campuses coming from all over the place…rampant anti-Semitism on the most liberal college campuses and the president of the united states, President Obama, said and did nothing.”
In fact, in remarks made in January 2016 at the Israeli Embassy, President Obama did just that: spoke out against anti-Semitism on college campuses:
“Here, tonight, we must confront the reality that around the world, anti-Semitism is on the rise. We cannot deny it.â€
“When we see some Jews leaving major European cities — where their families have lived for generations — because they no longer feel safe; when Jewish centers are targeted from Mumbai to Overland Park, Kansas; when swastikas appear on college campuses — when we see all that and more, we must not be silent.â€
This is to be contrasted with Donald Trump’s response to a question, not only remaining silent on the issue but demanding others also remain silent.
As we see with a question posed by an Israeli journalist about what the Trump administration plans to do in response to the increase in anti-Semitism. Trump responded not like President Obama, by condemning it, but by bragging about his electoral vote count, and lying in the process.
Everyone saw Donald Trump try to humiliate a Jewish journalist from Ami Magazine last week, saying “Let me just tell you something – that I hate the charge. I find it repulsive. I hate even the question…”
Here's the full transcript of what @JakeTurx asked @POTUS at today's press conference and the president's response.
H/t @DavidALobl pic.twitter.com/eBMn4n9jrF
— Ami Magazine (@Ami_Magazine) February 16, 2017
Santorum’s lie doesn’t pass inspection. It is true that he was reined in by CNN at the end of his interview but he should never have been invited to speak on the subject in the first place.
Santorum has nothing of any importance to add to the national conversation on anti-Semitism but tired old Republican lies blaming everything wrong in the world on Obama. President Obama is no more responsible for the rise of anti-Semitism than he is the rise in racism.
Hrafnkell Haraldsson, a social liberal with leanings toward centrist politics has degrees in history and philosophy. His interests include, besides history and philosophy, human rights issues, freedom of choice, religion, and the precarious dichotomy of freedom of speech and intolerance. He brings a slightly different perspective to his writing, being that he is neither a follower of an Abrahamic faith nor an atheist but a polytheist, a modern-day Heathen who follows the customs and traditions of his Norse ancestors. He maintains his own blog, A Heathen’s Day, which deals with Heathen and Pagan matters, and Mos Maiorum Foundation www.mosmaiorum.org, dedicated to ethnic religion. He has also contributed to NewsJunkiePost, GodsOwnParty and Pagan+Politics.
