Emhoff condemns Trump saying Jewish voters would bear some blame if he loses

Second gentleman Doug Emhoff condemned former President Donald Trump for “scapegoating Jews” after he suggested Jewish voters would be partially responsible if he loses November’s election.

Emhoff, who is Jewish, was responding to Trump’s comments at an event in Washington DC, on Thursday billed as combatting antisemitism.

Trump’s comment on Thursday marks the latest escalation in rhetoric attacking Jewish voters who support Democrats. He has repeatedly said Jewish voters who plan to support Harris “should have their head examined.”

Emhoff also called Trump’s repeated criticisms of Harris’ positions on Israel and outreach to Jewish voters “gaslighting,” pointing to the former president’s previous comments about Jewish people.

“He is somebody who has had dinner with known antisemites, he is somebody who during — after the horrific events of Charlottesville, people marching with tiki torches and chanting ‘Jews will not replace us,’ and he said fine people were on both sides of that,” Emhoff said in an interview with ABC News that aired Friday.

“This is a guy who has had a record of saying incredibly vile, antisemitic things,” he said of Trump.

In 2022, Trump hosted Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes at his Mar-A-Lago home during a visit with rapper Kanye West. In 2017, then-President Trump said there were “fine people on both sides” of a clash between white supremacist protesters and counter-protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia.

This post has been updated with comments from Emhoff’s interview with ABC.