DNC chair: ‘No room in this nation for targeting or scapegoating’

Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (R-Fla.) on Wednesday condemned Republican presidential candidates for politicizing the recent Paris terror attacks and lambasted their calls for pausing Syrian refugees from entering the county.

During a press call timed for the day before all of the GOP presidential candidates speak to a group of Republican Jews, Wasserman Schultz chastised the rhetoric and “fear-mongering” of some of these GOP hopefuls, speaking specifically about real estate mogul Donald Trump and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.). 

{mosads}Trump has said he wouldn’t rule out heightened surveillance of Muslim Americans, and Rubio went a step further saying the United States should close “any place where radicals are being inspired.”

Wasserman Schultz, joined by National Jewish Democratic Council Chair Greg Rosenbaum, and GBA Strategies Principal Jim Gerstein, said those attitudes stand “in stark contrast to American and Jewish values. There’s no room in this nation for targeting or scapegoating a minority community.”

Wasserman Schultz, who is Jewish, cited a past example from May 1939 when the SS St. Louis carried about 900 Jewish refugees fleeing Germany.

“Our country turned them away, and many who were sent back to mainland Europe were killed in the Holocaust,” she said. “Instead of learning from that mistake, Republican candidates and politicians were eager to repeat it.”

Rosenbaum said Jewish Americans affiliate with the Democratic Party because of “inclusion” and that Republican hopefuls are “out of sync” with Jewish concerns and values such as raising the minimum wage and healthcare reform.

“It is very clear that when it comes to issues at the top of agenda for the Jewish community that they overwhelmingly and consistently support Democratic candidates,” Wasserman Schultz said. 

Gerstein noted that more Jewish Americans supported President Obama’s Iran nuclear deal deal than Americans overall, according to a survey from July. He said, “If anything, that should be a positive for Democrats with Jewish voters.” However, an American Jewish Committee poll in September found that Jews were split on the deal.

Obama’s deal, which lifts economic sanctions on Iran and imposes limits on its nuclear program, has become a hot-button issue in the 2016 election. GOP candidates quickly blasted the deal, but some said they wouldn’t immediately reverse the agreement if elected president.

Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton cautiously backed the Iran deal and her Democratic opponents, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, also support the deal.

“I think as we turn the corner in 2016, you’re going to find more agreement than disagreement with implementation and enforcement of the Iran deal,” Rosenbaum said.

“These candidates are coming to speak to over 700 donors and activists as well as the nation about how they will keep America safe, defeat and destroy ISIS, improve relations with Israel and prevent a nuclear Iran,” Republican Jewish Coalition spokesman Mark McNulty said in an email. 

“We are confident that when their records are matched against any Democratic candidate they win not only with Jews but with Americans,” McNulty added. 

“[Wasserman Schultz’s] comments are filled with hyper-partisan invective and hyperbole something all Americans have come to expect from her and as a result ignore anything she has to say.”

The GOP candidates are all scheduled to speak and answer questions at a day-long presidential forum Thursday sponsored by the Republican Jewish Coalition.

– Updated at 9:12 p.m.