Santorum: Obama Admin Ignored Growing Acts of Anti-Semitism

Many of the people responsible for a wave of anti-Semitic attacks since President Donald Trump's inauguration are from the "pro-Palestinian or Muslim community," former Sen. Rick Santorum said Tuesday, while also claiming the Obama administration ignored increasing incidents on college campuses.

"If you look at the fact of the people who are responsible for a lot of this anti-Semitism that we're seeing, I hate to say it, a lot of it is coming from the pro-Palestinian or Muslim community," said the former Republican senator and presidential candidate on CNN's "New Day" program. "So let's just lay out that fact."

"You have white haters historically ... who target the Jews in this country," Chris Cuomo told Santorum, who is now a political commentator on CNN.

"That's not what's going on, on college campuses, Chris, white haters," Santorum replied. "Let's say the truth about this."

Santorum's argument came toward the end of a contentious discussion with Cuomo and former Hillary Clinton campaign surrogate Christine Quinn about Trump's reaction to the growing number of violent anti-Semitic acts after Trump's election, and after he'd called on the pair to look at Trump's record on Israel in comparison with former President Barack Obama's.

"Let's look at the president's record and compare it with what we've seen in the last eight years," Santorum argued. "Number one, the president has stood by Israel in ways that President Obama has not, and stood very solidly with the state of Israel."

For eight years, Santorum continued, CNN ignored the story.

"I've got to tell you, Chris, this is why you hear about fake news," he argued, raising his voice.

"For eight years — eight years — the Obama administration sat by and said nothing about the increasing anti-Semitism on college campuses. It's an outrage you guys are pointing to this 30 days in, and for eight years you ignored that story."

Quinn responded that Trump should worry about defining himself, rather than being compared to Obama, and that the college campus incidents were about debates and discussions. The current actions, Quinn continued, include bomb threats, violence and desecrating cemeteries, not debates.

"If you think President Obama didn't do enough, then do more," she said. "This is not about being compared to your predecessor, and it's about defining yourself. Does President Trump want to be defined as someone who fights hate crimes and supports Jewish people?" she said.

Santorum said he agrees that Trump should have been more forceful and that he should say more about what is going on, but has been incredibly forceful for his support for Israel, and much more than Obama, and there's a harmony between the state of Israel and the United States and the White House that we have not seen in eight years. He further accused Quinn of "whitewashing" the college issues from Obama's era.

Trump, Santorum said, is "more pro-Israel, more pro-Jewish" than anyone.

"If you talk to anybody in the pro-Israel movement, they will tell you the bedrock of that is the evangelical Christian community in this country," said Santorum. "In fact, the folks who have been walking away are liberal Jews, who are walking away from Israel, not conservative Christians."

Trump, after a visit to the National Museum of African-American History and Culture Tuesday morning, denounced the growing threats being made to Jewish community centers across the nation.

"The anti-Semitic threats targeting our Jewish community and community centers are horrible and painful and a very sad reminder of the work that still must be done to root out hate and prejudice and evil," he said.

On Monday, several Jewish community centers were evacuated after bomb threats were received, and vandals tipped over headstones on nearly 200 graves at St. Louis' Chesed Shel Emeth Society Cemetery.

Overall, reports CNN, 48 centers in 26 states and one Canadian province have been threatened, mostly on Jan. 9, 18, and 31, and Trump has faced calls from Democrats and Jewish leaders alike urging him to comment.

Cuomo asked Santorum why the new administration wasn't doing more.

"You guys have no problem going after Muslims for things they don't do, let alone what they do, do," said Cuomo. "So why doesn't Trump go after the Muslims who are doing this on college campuses against the Jews?"

"I am for him doing that," Santorum replied. "I think he should."