Just hours before President trump is to give his first presidential address before Congress, he met with Josh Shapiro, leaving the Pennsylvania Attorney General dazed and confused. During the meeting, Trump told Shapiro that he felt some of the anti-Semitic threats directed at Jewish Community Centers may be false flag operations. The president told him that while horrified by the reports, sometimes it is the “reverse” committing these acts in order to make others look bad. Shapiro told reporters Trump used the word “reverse” two or three times and he really does not know why he said that.
One reporter noted that Shapiro stopped short of saying Trump believes his supporters are being framed for these hate crimes.
Shapiro said Trump’s statement did not make sense but he hopes the president will clarify it during his address before Congress later in the evening. Interestingly, the insinuation that the rash of anti-Semitic threats are being made by those looking to make “others look bad” comes shortly after White House staffer Anthony Scaramucci suggested on Twitter that it might be the Democrats who were really behind the threats. Other attorney generals met with Trump as well, but Josh Shapiro, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, has a personal stake in the matter. Two of his children attend a Jewish school that had to be evacuated on Monday due to a bomb threat.
He told reporters that Trump promised to discuss the issue during his address.
How do you really feel Mr. President?
Attorney General Shapiro is not the only one who is baffled by Trump’s straddling on where he stands. The Anti-Defamation League did not hesitate to release a statement calling on Trump to clarify his remarks.
The fact that one conspiracy theory listed on a white supremacist website is that the recent bomb threats against Jewish community centers were a false flag operation didn’t get lost on them either. It is troublesome to see how the president is relying more and more on a certain cable news network and conspiracy websites for information rather than lean on experienced expert advisors.
The attacks are real the culprits need to be punished
No matter who is behind it, there has been uptick in bomb threats against synagogues and JCC’s with Jewish cemeteries finding themselves victims of vandalism. There is nothing false about that. And yes, it will make others look bad. Themselves and the president if he does not come off as believable in condemning this hate crime, this homegrown terrorist act.
