American Jewish leaders are pushing President Donald Trump to clarify his views after he reportedly said that recent bomb threats against Jewish centers could have been done in "the reverse" to "make others look bad."
Some in the Jewish community have interpreted the remarks, which Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro said came during Trump's meeting Tuesday with attorneys general from around the country, as suggesting that bomb threats leveled at more than 60 Jewish institutions since last month were made to harm Trump's image or that of his supporters.
"Early today, I asked the president about the recent threats against minority communities, specifically the threats against Jewish institutions in Pennsylvania. The president first condemned the threats and intimidation then also suggested the 'reverse' may be true and that he planned to address the matter in his remarks tonight," Shapiro said in a statement. He added that he wasn't sure what the president meant. By "remarks" he referred to Trump's speech Tuesday night before Congress.
White House deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said she was not at the meeting and could not confirm the quotes from Shapiro.
The reported remarks have added to an already tense relationship between Trump and American Jews, which has been rocky since his campaign where he re-tweeted white nationalists. Jewish groups criticized the White House when administration officials said the president intentionally did not mention Jews in a statement on the Holocaust last month. Criticism increased after weeks passed without him addressing bomb threats at Jewish centers that have been called in since Jan. 9.
All of the threats have been hoaxes. Trump addressed them on Feb. 21 at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, where he called anti-Semitism "horrible" and "painful." In addition to the bomb threats, at least two Jewish cemeteries in the St. Louis area and in Philadelphia have been vandalized this month.
"We are astonished ... It is incumbent upon the White House to immediately clarify these remarks," Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said in a statement.
Steven Goldstein, executive director of the Anne Frank Center, said in a statement that if the reports are true, Trump owes the American Jewish community an apology.
"To cast doubt on the authenticity of anti-Semitic hate crimes in America constitutes anti-Semitism in itself, and that's something none of us ever dreamed would disgrace our nation from the White House," he said.
