In an interview with Fox News, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio seemingly blamed President Trump for the wave of anti-Semitic acts in and around New York City, saying, “An atmosphere of hate has been developing in this country over the last few years. A lot of it is emanating from Washington and it’s having an effect on all of us.”
Fox News host Ed Henry played for De Blasio the remarks of former Democrat state assemblyman Dov Hikind, who in the wake of the mass stabbings at a synagogue in Monsey, New York over the weekend voiced his fury on Fox News at New York’s elected officials, saying, “Unfortunately, the leadership, the mayor of New York, what’s his plan? That’s all what I wanted to know. I want to know what’s his plan? For him to tell me, every time there’s an anti-Semitic incident, that he condemns it, that he feels the pain, and then he goes home and waits for the next incident and does the same thing; what is going to be done by the mayor? The governor?”
Henry noted that Hikind had openly condemned the anti-Semitic rhetoric of the Left, then asked De Blasio if he would condemn the rhetoric of Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI).
De Blasio protested, “I have! I have! When I think something is anti-Semitic, I say it. I’ve said it about fellow Democrats. But I also want us to be clear about what’s happening: An atmosphere of hate has been developing in this country over the last few years. A lot of it is emanating from Washington and it’s having an effect on all of us.”
Henry interrupted, “Wait, so you’re blaming the president by saying it comes from Washington.”
De Blasio answered, “Not just the president, I’m saying, but we have to be clear: we need a different tone starting in Washington; we had, by the way, with Democrats and Republicans both in the White House, that encourage this country to actually find some unity and some common ground. We haven’t had that the last few years.”
Last June, after a string of anti-Semitic acts had taken place in and around New York City, De Blasio blamed the political Right. As the New York Post reported, De Blasio stated, “I think the ideological movement that is anti-Semitic is the right-wing movement.”
The Post noted, “De Blasio said he did not agree with a claim by a reporter that there is also rising anti-Semitism ‘on the left in the BDS movement and around the world.’”
De Blasio stated, “I want to be very, very clear: the violent threat, the threat that is ideological is very much from the Right.” Chaim Deutsch, a Brooklyn Democrat, snapped back, “I don’t agree with the mayor. I have not seen any white supremacists coming in here committing these hate crimes.” Staten Island Republican Borelli mocked De Blasio, saying, “A simple look at where anti-Semitic hate crimes have occurred just disproves this– unless you count central Brooklyn as the home of a vast right-wing conspiracy. Bill de Blasio regularly says stupid things, but this is literally the stupidest effing thing he’s ever said.”