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By Maya Mehrara
News Reporter
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Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer had just three words to say following the viral claim made by conservative talk radio host Erick Erickson that "no Jews [are] allowed at the top of the Democratic party."
In direct response to Erickson's statement, posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, Schumer said, "News to me."
Erikckson's post, which gained 8.7 million views, was fact-checked by X users, leading to a community note being added on the post disputing its claim.
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Schumer is one of many high-profile Jewish Democrats, including to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, head of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, and first gentleman Doug Emhoff. There were also numerous Jewish past Democratic presidential candidates including the late Joe Lieberman, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, and businessman Michael Bloomberg.
Erickson's claim came after Tim Walz was announced as Kamala Harris' running mate. Walz was picked over Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, who was considered a frontrunner for the role and would have potentially become the first Jewish vice president.
Newsweek reached out to Erickson for comment.
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Erickson, a former lawyer and political commentator for CNN and Fox News, was a Republican member of the Macon City Council in Georgia from 2007 to 2011 before becoming a blogger and hosting his own radio show.
While he identified as a member of the Presbyterian Church in America in 2022, he has spoken about his "love" for Jews in the past, while expressing support for Israel following the attack from Hamas on Oct. 7, saying he "believes in a Jewish state."
As of 2023, there were 33 Jewish members of the 118th U.S. Congress, making up 6.2 percent of Congress according to Pew Research.
The House passed the Antisemitism Awareness Act of 2023 in May to combat antisemitism as protests regarding the war in Gaza broke out on university campuses.
The act mandates that the Department of Education adopt the definition of antisemitism provided by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance to enforce anti-discrimination laws, as reported by NBC News.
Like Erickson, Trump has recently made statements about Jews and criticized Jewish Democrats, agreeing with New York radio host Sid Rosenberg's claim that Emhoff is a "crappy Jew" in an interview on July 30.
In the same interview, Trump said, "If you love Israel, or if you're Jewish, because a lot of Jewish people do not like Israel, and they happen to be in New York, you know that. But if you are Jewish, regardless of Israel, if you're Jewish, if you vote for a Democrat, you're a fool, an absolute fool," as reported by ABC News.
Emhoff responded on X saying, "Donald Trump uses stereotypes to demean Jewish Americans. He called Neo-Nazis at Charlottesville 'very fine people.' And his former Chief of Staff said he even praised Adolf Hitler."
He continued, "This hateful and antisemitic rhetoric is toxic. Donald Trump is the one who should be ashamed."
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