Even as The New York Times accepted responsibility for publishing an anti-Semitic cartoon, the newspaper sought to slough off some of the blame onto President Trump.
In a Tuesday staff editorial, the newspaper said its “obviously bigoted” cartoon came as “evidence of a profound danger — not only of anti-Semitism but of numbness to its creep,” for which Mr. Trump should be held accountable.
“As anti-Semitism has surged from the internet into the streets, President Trump has done too little to rouse the national conscience against it,” the editorial said.
For example, the newspaper said he had “failed to speak out against anti-Semitic groups like the white nationalists who marched in Charlottesville, Va., in 2017 chanting, ’Jews will not replace us.’”
Mr. Trump has been vilified on the left for not speaking out quickly or forcefully enough after the violent protest, although he made several statements in August 2017 condemning “this egregious display of bigotry, hatred, and violence,” and the “criminals and thugs, including the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists and other hate groups.”
From the Editorial Board: “The appearance of such an obviously bigoted cartoon in a mainstream publication is evidence of a profound danger — not only of anti-Semitism but of numbness to its creep” https://t.co/pMoOR6SgwD
— New York Times Opinion (@nytopinion) May 1, 2019
The editorial came despite evidence that white supremacists have turned on Mr. Trump over his staunch support for Israel, where he enjoys high approval ratings after a series of bold policy moves: withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal; moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and recognizing the 1981 annexation of the Golan Heights.
Seth J. Frantzman, op-ed editor for the Jerusalem Post, noted in a Sunday article that the recent mass shootings at synagogues in Pittsburgh and Poway, California, were allegedly carried out by gunmen who had previously decried Mr. Trump as a “globalist” and “Zionist.”
“There was a rise in antisemitic attacks during the run-up to Trump’s election and after,” Mr. Frantzman said. “However, there has been a shift in this extremist movement away from any support for Trump due to the fact that they believe that he is part of a ’globalist’ and pro-Israel – or ’Zionist’ – conspiracy.”
Mr. Trump is also the first U.S. president with a Jewish relative in his immediate family — his daughter Ivanka converted to Judaism shortly before her 2009 marriage to Jared Kushner, who is Jewish — and has three Jewish grandchildren.
“[T]here is widespread hatred of Trump emerging on the far Right due to the belief that he has been ’Kushnered’ by, in the words of one social media account, ’subversive, nation-plundering Jews,’” Mr. Frantzman said in the op-ed.
The result was that “these extremists wanted to assert that they no longer felt connected to Trump.”
The Times issued two statements last weekend after an outcry over the cartoon, which appeared Thursday in the newspaper’s international edition, first blaming an “error in judgment,” then apologizing and promising to review its editorial procedures.
In the editorial, the Times said the “appalling” cartoon by Portuguese artist Antonio Moreira Antunes “was chosen from a syndication service by a production editor who did not recognize its anti-Semitism.”
The image showed a blind, skullcap-wearing Trump being led by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was depicted as a dog wearing a Star of David.
Mr. Trump responded by tweeting that the cartoon represents “a low point” for the newspaper, with which he frequently spars.
“The New York Times has apologized for the terrible Anti-Semitic Cartoon, but they haven’t apologized to me for this or all of the Fake and Corrupt news they print on a daily basis,” Mr. Trump tweeted.
The New York Times has apologized for the terrible Anti-Semitic Cartoon, but they haven’t apologized to me for this or all of the Fake and Corrupt news they print on a daily basis. They have reached the lowest level of “journalism,” and certainly a low point in @nytimes history!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 29, 2019
• Valerie Richardson can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
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