US President Donald Trump has been condemned by Jews and Muslim groups as a slur in an attack on the country’s highest ranked elected Jewish officer to use the term “Palestinian”.
In comments to reporters at the Oval Office on Wednesday, Trump said that the Democratic Senator Chak Shumor had become a Palestinian. “
“He used to be a Jew. He is no longer a Jew, he is a Palestinian,” said Trump.
A long -standing Democratic Senator Shumor, a New York, has opposed the Republican pressure this week to refund its stopgap scheme to avoid the government shutdown.
The Senate Minority Leader is a long-time lawyer for Israel, who has supported a two-state solution of the Israeli-Filistini conflict and also criticized Israel’s conduct in Gaza.
Both Jews and Muslim organizations slammed Trump’s comments as aggressive.
Jewish activist group, Anti-Defamation League said in a statement on X, “A President has many powers, but none of them involve to decide who the Jews are and not Jews. Doing so, and using ‘Palestinian’ as a slurry, both are below any (US President).”
Nihad Awadh, Executive Director of the Council on the US-Islamic Relations (CAIR), called Trump to apologize, stating that the word “Palestinian” was used as a racial slur “as” aggressive and below the dignity of his office “.
Jewish Democratic Council of America CEO Heli Soifer also condemned Trump’s statements, called him “disgusting”.
Soifer wrote on X, “Since assuming office, he is elevating the theorists of the antisementary conspiracy and attacks our democracy. Their rhetoric, agenda, and alignment with right -wing extremists are endangered by American Jews.”
Shumor’s office did not immediately respond to the AFP request for comment.
Last month, Trump also referred to Shumar as Palestinian when the President proposed a widely criticized plan to handle the Gaza Strip to the United States and move Palestinians.
And before last year’s election, Trump accused Shumar of being a “proud member of Hamas”.
(This story is not edited by NDTV employees and auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
