[guest post by Dana]

While immigration has been a central plank of his presidency, and in light of the 14th Amendment, Trump said today that he is once again considering an end to birthright citizenship:

Donald Trump has said the government is weighing whether to abolish birth right citizenship, calling the constitutional right “ridiculous”.

Currently a child born in the US is entitled to a US passport. The constitution’s 14th amendment, passed after the civil war to ensure that black Americans had full citizenship rights, grants citizenship to “all persons born or naturalized in the United States”.

Speaking to reporters outside the White House on Wednesday, Trump said: “We are looking at birthright citizenship very seriously. It’s frankly ridiculous.”

Trump did not elaborate any further.

The 14th Amendment:

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

Back in October, right before the midterms, Trump said that he would abolish birthright citizenship via executive order:

“You can definitely do it with an act of Congress. But now they’re saying I can do it just with an executive order,” he said at the time.

Uncoincidentally:

The president’s announcement came hours after the White House said it would move to scrap a major court agreement in order to allow for migrant families to be detained longer as their cases are being considered, instead of having to release them after 20 days.

And then there are the legal issue involved:

Legal experts say the ultimate question regarding birthright citizenship is whether the 14th Amendment – which affords citizenship to “[a]ll persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside” – encompasses the children of illegal immigrants.

The unresolved legal dispute centers on whether those children are “subject” to the jurisdiction of the United States.

You can read the opinions of legal experts here, here, here and here.

–Dana

[guest post by Dana]

After Rep. Ilhan Omar suggested that aid to Israel should be reconsidered after not being allowed to make a planned official visit with Rep. Tlaib because of the congresswomen’s public advocacy for the boycott of Israel, Trump made a jarring comment:

“I can’t even believe that we’re having this conversation. Five years ago, the concept of even talking about this — even three years ago — of cutting off aid to Israel because of two people that hate Israel and hate Jewish people. I can’t believe we’re even having this conversation,” Trump fumed.

“Where has the Democratic Party gone? Where have they gone where they’re defending these two people over the state of Israel? And I think any Jewish people that vote for a Democrat — I think it shows either a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty, alright?”

As we discussed briefly in the comments, it’s a little bit difficult to ascertain exactly who Trump thinks the Jews would be being disloyal to because his thought process is, well, difficult to follow at best. However, Phillip Klein has a good examination of the president’s “disloyalty” comment and why it is troubling:

Was he talking about disloyalty to America? Disloyalty to Trump? Disloyalty to Israel? Disloyalty to Jews? No matter which way one wants to interpret this comment, it’s sickening coming from an American president — all the more bizarre coming as he has been unleashing a barrage of attacks on Tlaib and Omar for anti-Semitism.

Among the litany of anti-Semitic remarks made by Tlaib and Omar, the most horrific involved accusations of dual loyalty (see background here and here). Accusations of dual loyalty have been at the center of anti-Semitic attacks on Jews for centuries. Yet here is Trump throwing out the “disloyalty” charge.

One potential interpretation is that he was suggesting it would be disloyal to Israel to vote Democrat. But American Jews are first and foremost American, not Israeli. Suggesting that Jewish votes should be determined primarily by U.S. policy toward Israel is in fact to suggest divided loyalties.

If he was trying to say Jews would be disloyal to their faith by voting Democrat, he needs to shut right the heck up, because he is in no position to criticize somebody’s relationship to their faith.

As a conservative, I have found it difficult to get behind Trump despite supporting a number of his policies, and a big reason why is the manner in which he speaks about many minority groups. He has up to this point avoided turning his wrath on Jews, but given his history of flipping on people he views as “disloyal,” his comments make me wonder what would happen if, as is most likely, Jews overwhelmingly vote against him despite his pro-Israel policies. Is there a point at which American Jews essentially become the next Anthony Scaramucci?

As a result of his remarks receiving criticism, conspiracy theorist and Newsmax TV host Wayne Allyn Root pushed back in support of Trump:

“I happen to be Jewish by birth and 75% of all Jews vote Democrat, and they don’t like Trump,” Root said Tuesday. “This is the greatest president for Jews and for Israel in the history of the world. Not just in America, Trump is the best president for Israel in the history of the world. And the Jewish people love him like he is the King of Israel. They love him like he is the second coming of God.”

“In America, American Jews don’t like him,” he continued. “They don’t even know what they’re doing or saying anymore. It makes no sense. But that’s okay. He keeps doing what he’s doing. He’s good for all of us. Good for Jews, good for blacks, good for gays.”

“He is good for everyone in America who wants a job,” Root finished.

This morning, unsurprisingly, Trump enthusiastically retweeted Root’s comments:

“Thank you to Wayne Allyn Root for the very nice words. “President Trump is the greatest President for Jews and for Israel in the history of the world, not just America, he is the best President for Israel in the history of the world…and the Jewish people in Israel love him….

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 21, 2019

Some of Wayne Allyn Root’s conspiracy theories involved the suggestion that Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Hillary Clinton, Donna Brazile, Bill Clinton, etc. were involved in the murder of Seth Rich, falsely claiming white supremacist James Alex Fields Jr. who killed Heather Heyer was a paid actor hired by Soros, and that the mass shooting in Las Vegas was a coordinated Muslim terror attack.

–Dana