NEW YORK (Press Release) — The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) on Thursday welcomed a statement by Donald Trump that he “totally disavows” conspiratorial anti-Semitic remarks made by David Duke suggesting that “Jewish supremacists” were attempting to undermine his bid for the White House.
In a statement shared with various media outlets Thursday, Trump added: “Anti-Semitism has no place in our society, which needs to be united, not divided.”
“While no one should associate Mr. Trump’s own views with David Duke’s hatred, it is vital for political leaders to use their bully pulpit to speak out against bigotry,” said Jonathan A. Greenblatt, ADL CEO. “We think it is important that Mr. Trump denounced the anti-Semitism of David Duke and has made clear that he disavows anti-Semitism.”
Earlier Thursday, after learning of David Duke’s anti-Semitic remarks on a radio program, ADL called on Trump to reject Duke’s remarks and to make clear that anti-Semitism has no place in political campaigns or in the public discourse.
The earlier story follows:
NEW YORK (Press Release) — In response to remarks by white supremacist David Duke that opposition to Donald Trump shows that “Jewish supremacists” are “the real problem” — as well as a barrage of anti-Semitic comments by a minority of Trump supporters on social media, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) called on Mr. Trump to make unequivocally clear anti-Semitism has no place in presidential politics or American society.
“David Duke’s latest remarks – smearing Jews and Jewish Republicans specifically – are as unsurprising as they are hateful. The onus is now on Donald Trump to make unequivocally clear he rejects those sentiments and that there is no room for Duke and anti-Semitism in his campaign and in society,” said Jonathan A. Greenblatt, ADL CEO. “Mr. Trump can and should speak up now. If not, his silence will speak volumes.”
A former KKK Grand Wizard and one of the nation’s most recognizable white supremacists, Duke previously expressed support for the Trump campaign, saying to his white listeners that a vote against Trump was “treason to your heritage.”
Wednesday on his radio program Duke went a step further, blaming Republican Jews for attempting to block him from becoming the nominee, and expostulated: “I think these Jewish extremists have made a terribly crazy miscalculation, because all they’re going to be doing by doing a ‘Never Trump’ movement is exposing their alien, their anti-American, anti-American majority position. … They’re going to push people more into an awareness that the neocons are the problem, that these Jewish supremacists who control our country are the real problem, and the reason why America is not great.”
As a 501c3 nonprofit organization, ADL takes no position on behalf of or in opposition to any candidate for office.