Donald Trump Praises Wayne Allyn Root, Who Said Israelis Love The President ‘Like The Second Coming Of God’
Donald Trump tweeted praise for a man who said that Jews in Israel love him (Trump) like he’s the King of Israel and like the second coming of God.
As Media Matters reports, Root claims to have been born Jewish but converted to evangelical Christianity. He’s also a proponent of conspiracy theories, such as the notion that Barack Obama attended Columbia University as a foreign exchange student.
Root has “direct access to Trump and his family,” says Media Matters writer Matt Gertz, and has even been known to hang out at Mar-a-Lago with the Trump family.
On Tuesday, Trump claimed that Jewish people who vote for Democrats show “great disloyalty.” Gertz notes that it’s something of a trope in anti-Semitic circles to claim that Jews practice “dual loyalty” to their home countries and to the Jewish people. Gertz also notes that the “overwhelming majority” of American Jews lean left.
On his show on Tuesday night, Root said that whatever American Jews may think of Donald Trump, Jews in Israel love him. Specifically, Root said that Israeli Jews love Trump “like he’s the King of Israel” or “the second coming of God,” while American Jews don’t “like him,” which “makes no sense.”
Gertz notes that Jews don’t believe in a “second coming.”
Nice to be famous. After President @realDonaldTrump
quoted me this morning, instant vicious hit pieces about me by Daily Beast, Wash Post and MSNBC "Morning Joe." They tell lies, innuendo, slander. A total liberal fantasy. Got -0- right about who I am.https://t.co/cxMepG0Qh4— Wayne Root – Wayne Allyn Root – TV & Radio Host (@RealWayneRoot) August 21, 2019
In a series of tweets on Wednesday morning, Trump praised Root for his “very nice words.” Then, Trump went on to quote Root almost word for word.
“President Trump is the greatest President for Jews and for Israel in the history of the world, not just America, he is the best President for Israel in the history of the world…and the Jewish people in Israel love him….” Trump tweeted.
He then tweeted the rest of the quote.
“…like he’s the King of Israel. They love him like he is the second coming of God…But American Jews don’t know him or like him. They don’t even know what they’re doing or saying anymore.”
You can watch the portion of Root’s show in which he made the remarks below or by watching on Media Matters.
Writing in New York Magazine, Jonathan Chait posits that Trump’s praise for Root’s statements could be problematic for American Jews. For example, Chait claims that Trump has failed to gain the support of American Jews, so he’s attempting to “castigate” them for “failing to worship the true King of the Jews and veritable Second Coming of God.”
“‘They don’t even know what they’re doing or saying anymore’ is not usually a good pitch for any constituency,” Chait writes.
