'Atrocious antisemitism': AOC attacks Trump for comments about Jewish people protecting money

Freshman Democrat says president's remarks are 'dangerous'

Ms Ocasio-Cortez in Washington last month (REUTERS)

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has decried Donald Trump as anti-semitic, after his recent comments suggesting that Jewish people base their votes primarily to protect their own wealth.

The Democrat’s attack followed after the president delivered remarks at the Israeli American Council over the weekend in Florida, where he told the pro-Israel convention attendees that they have no choice but to vote for him because Democrats have flouted increased taxes on the wealthy.

“This is outright and atrocious antisemitism coming from the President, and it is dangerous,” Ms Ocasio-Cortez wrote in response to a video posted online of the president’s remarks.

During his speech, Mr Trump told the attendees that they are “not nice” but “you have to vote for me.” Then, Mr Trump referenced a slur he has frequently used to reference Ms Warren, a leading Democratic candidate who has proposed a 2 per cent wealth tax on estates larger than $50 million.

“You’re not nice people at all, but you have to vote for me,” Mr Trump said on Saturday. “You have no choice. You’re not going to vote for Pocahontas, I can tell you that. You’re not going to vote for the wealth tax!”

Ms Ocasio-Cortez was not alone in criticising Mr Trump’s Saturday speech, with several prominent Jewish organisations speaking out against what was seen as a speech littered with anti-semitic tropes. During the speech, Mr Trump also touted his administration’s cosy relationship with Israel, suggested that some American Jews “don’t love Israel enough”, and recalled August remarks of his in which he questioned the loyalty of Jewish people who cast votes for Democrats.

Among those groups was the Jewish Democratic Council of America, which said in a statement that the president’s remarks were “deeply offensive” and used stereotypes that were “unconscionable,” according to a statement from the group. They said his Saturday speech “only reinforced our belief ... that Donald Trump is the biggest threat to American Jews.”

“We strongly denounce these vile and bigoted remarks in which the president — once again — used anti-Semitic stereotypes to characterise Jews as driven by money and insufficiently loyal to Israel,” said Halie Soifer, the group’s executive director.

The statement continued: “He even had the audacity to suggest that Jews ‘have no choice’ but to support him. American Jews do have a choice, and they’re not choosing President Trump or the Republican Party, which has been complicit in enacting his hateful agenda.”

The Jewish group J Street also tweeted a response to the president, saying on Twitter: "The President of the United States is incapable of addressing Jewish audiences without dipping into the deep well of anti-Semitic tropes that shape his worldview."

Still, some right wing Jewish groups did support Mr Trump, including the Republican Jewish Coalition, whose executive director Matt Brooks wrote the following on Twitter: "To all those who are saying [Mr Trump] trafficked in anti-semitic tropes in his speech last night by talking about how the Dems will tax them see their wealth evaporate - get over yourselves," Mr Brooks wrote. "He literally talks about this at every rally!"