Trump claims ‘Israel literally owned Congress’ in bizarre attack on the Squad

Former President Donald Trump said during an interview on Monday that the US Congress was “rightfully” controlled by Israel’s government until members of the Squad joined Congress in 2018.

In an eyebrow-raising tirade against progressive members of the Democratic Party that occurred during an interview with the Ari Hoffman show, Mr Trump told a nodding Mr Hoffman that “Israel literally owned Congress” for years before the left-leaning Democrats were elected and began clearly espousing scepticism and criticism of Israel’s treatment of Palestinian civilians.

“It was so powerful, so powerful, and today it’s almost the opposite,” the former president continued, adding: “Between [Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez] and [Rep Ilhan Omar], and these people who hate Israel ... with a passion.”

“Israel is not a force in Congress any more,” he went on to claim.

The remarks were startling for a number of reasons; most obviously, they far exceeded the suggestion made by Ms Omar in 2019 that the Israel lobby was involved in “political influence in this country that says it is okay to push for allegiance to a foreign country”. In his remarks, Mr Trump flat-out suggested that Israel “owned” and “controlled” US politicians; such claims echo antisemitic conspiracy theories claiming that Jewish people have undue influence over global financial systems and politics.

Beyond that, the claim that Israel has no sway in Congress clashes deeply with the recent fight in Congress over $1bn in additional funding for the country’s Iron Dome defence system (on top of the millions the US has provided annually for the system).

The former president and his allies have long sought to demonise their political opponents for supposedly antisemitic remarks while making at best similar comments themselves. In 2019, just a few months after Ms Omar faced criticism for her above comment, Mr Trump found himself in hot water over his suggestion that Jewish Americans who vote for Democrats were being “disloyal” to their people and to Israel.

"In my opinion, you vote for a Democrat, you're being very disloyal to Jewish people, and you're being very disloyal to Israel,” he said to reporters, adding: "And only weak people would say anything other than that."

Antisemitic threats and violence are an ongoing issue in America. In 2017, white nationalists famously chanted “Jews will not replace us” as they marched through Charlottesville, Virginia, and in 2018 a mass shooting occurred at a Pittsburgh-area synagogue committed by a man who espoused antisemitic and white nationalist views.