White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders refused to say whether President Donald Trump believes Democrats "hate Jews," after the president called the Democratic party "anti-Jewish" last week.
On Friday, Trump slammed a House resolution condemning "all forms of hatred" put forward last week by the Democratic leadership after Rep. Ilhan Omar made comments about Israel that some believed were anti-Semitic.
Trump and many other Republicans believed the resolution should have explicitly condemned Omar, a Minnesota Democrat and Somali refugee. The president called the resolution, which passed with 23 GOP "no" votes, "disgraceful" and said Democrats are becoming "anti-Israel" and "anti-Jewish."
"Yes or no, does the president truly believe that Democrats hate Jews?" MSNBC reporter Hallie Jackson asked Sanders during a rare White House press briefing on Monday afternoon.
"I think they've had a lot of opportunities over the last few weeks to condemn some abhorrent comments," Sanders replied, refusing to give a yes or no response. "That's a question that, frankly, I think you should ask Democrats."
Other reporters followed up on the question, but Sanders repeatedly brushed it off.
Q: "Does he (President Trump) really believe Democrats hate Jews?”
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) March 11, 2019
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders: “I think that’s a question you oughta ask the Democrats” https://t.co/suJfifwwfL pic.twitter.com/e7vyJvbdSJ
Despite Trump's claims, 65% to 75% of Jewish voters have supported Democratic candidates in the last five presidential elections, with Hillary Clinton carrying 71% of the Jewish vote compared to Trump's 24% in 2016.
And 32 of the 34 Jewish members of Congress are Democrats.
Grace Panetta contributed to this report.
