Trump reportedly questions authenticity of JCC bomb threats
The ADL says that the spike in antisemitic vandalism nationwide and rhetoric online coincides with Trump's political rise and has been fueled by his supporters.
By MICHAEL WILNERUpdated: MARCH 1, 2017 13:36Donald Trump speaks during a joint press conference with Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the East Room of the White House in Washington , DC on Feb. 15, 2017 with an Israeli flag in the background(photo credit: SAUL LOEB / AFP)
WASHINGTON – Meeting with state attorneys-general on Tuesday, US President Donald Trump allegedly suggested that bomb threats against Jewish community centers nationwide might be false flag operations intended to “make others look bad,” according to one attendee.Pennsylvania Attorney-General Josh Shapiro said that Trump plans to condemn the targeted desecration of Jewish cemeteries in Missouri and Pennsylvania in his address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night. But he also apparently questioned whether the bomb threats – of which there have been over 70 since the beginning of the year – are authentic.The threats may have come from “the reverse,” he allegedly told the group, according to a local Philadelphia reporter. The reporter, Anna Orso, said that Shapiro “stopped short of saying Trump thinks his supporters are being framed for bomb threats. But he seems to think that’s what he meant.”Philadelphia Jewish cemetery desecrated by vandals , suspected antisemitism (credit: REUTERS)Recent bomb threats and desecration at Jewish cemeteries have coincided with a measurable spike in antisemitic vandalism nationwide and rhetoric online, according to law enforcement officials and the Anti-Defamation League. The ADL says that the spike tracks with Trump’s political rise and has been fueled by his supporters.