Former President Donald Trump‘s son Eric doesn’t mention the specific accusation he’s refuting when he posted a photo of his wedding in an attempt to demonstrate that anti-Semitism is not part of his arsenal.
Citing what he characterizes as an “offensive narrative against his family,” Eric Trump‘s response is likely a reaction to an S.E. Cupp opinion piece in the New York Daily News that links his father and family with a group of alleged anti-Semitic proponents.
[Note: Cupp is not the only person covering these links; Trump tags Rachel Maddow in the post.]
Cupp writes:
“Eric Trump, Lara Trump, former California Rep. Devin Nunes, former Trump advisors Peter Navarro and Mike Flynn, My Pillow guy Mike Lindell and convicted felon Roger Stone may not actually call themselves Hitler’s American friends.
But they are, as of today, happy to appear alongside some self-avowed antisemites and Hitler promoters at an upcoming stop on the ‘ReAwaken America’ tour.”
The timing of this offensive narrative against my family should come as no surprise on the eve of the Congressional probe into Biden family corruption. Irrespective @maddow, please see below which is a picture of my Orthodox Jewish brother-in-law, Jared Kushner, who Lara and I… pic.twitter.com/B2tF18ezar
— Eric Trump (@EricTrump) May 10, 2023
Mr. Trump does two things with his response. The first is a political evergreen: He points to Republican investigation into the business dealings of Hunter Biden. Distract and deflect, as Roy Cohn would advise.
The second is also a venerable, if much derided, defense against prejudice and bias. Trump says essentially that he can’t be an anti-Semite because his Orthodox Jewish brother-in-law officiated at his wedding. It’s the age-old “Some of my best friends are…” tactic to deflect accusations of bias.
The “some of my best friends are” tactic is so well-known, there have been books and movies about it.
Trump plays the card like this: “please see below which is a picture of my Orthodox Jewish brother-in-law, Jared Kushner, who Lara and I chose to marry us on our wedding day. Such an ‘anti-semitic’ family…”
