Fact Sheet on CPAC 2013: Jewish Voter Repellent
Listed in: Israel, Other Domestic Policy, Fact Sheets, NJDC News
As thousands of Republican activists gather in Washington DC for the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) to plan the future of the conservative movement, it is clear that the key speakers do not reflect the political values of most American Jews. Below is a small selection of the outrageous rhetoric espoused by CPAC’s chosen speakers.
Representative Michelle Bachmann (R-MN)
* Bachmann compared the national debt to the Holocaust on the day before Holocaust Remembrance Day.
* Bachmann’s ‘anti-Muslim conspiracy theories’ were condemned by the Anti-Defamation League.
* Bachmann advanced a vision for foreign aid that would have ended Israel’s aid.
Former Speaker Newt Gingrich
*Frequently invokes and disrespects the Holocaust to attack his political opponents, including President Obama.
*Gingrich wrote in his 2010 book:
“The secular-socialist machine represents as great a threat to America as Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union once did.”
*Gingrich wrongfully declared that the United States is run by an “anti-Jewish” elite.
*Gingrich sides with those seeking to blur the separation of church and state.
*In his opposition to constructing Cordoba House, he suggested that we should take a religious freedom approach similar to that of Saudi Arabia—and used the Islamic faith as a straw man to make his points.
*Click here to learn more about Gingrich.
Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin
*Palin accused the media of engaging in a “blood libel” against her following the tragic shooting in Tucson, AZ.
*Palin tweeted an article comparing the BP escrow fund to Nazism.
*Palin tried to whitewash former Representative Ron Paul’s (R-TX) well-known anti-Israel record.
Senator Rand Paul (R-KY)
*Paul (R-KY) has pushed multiple times for ending U.S. aid to Israel, including in January 2011 and September 2011.
*In January 2013 Paul called for slowly ending American foreign aid to Israel.
*While President Obama and the rest of Congress have ruled out containment for Iran, Paul was the only “no” vote on a Senate resolution ruling out containing a nuclear armed Iran.
*Paul is a serial user of inappropriate Holocaust comparisons.
Texas Governor Rick Perry
*Perry declared that he would start aid to Israel at zero. He emphasized, “Israel will get its foreign aid, but it starts at zero just like anybody else.” His proposal was directly against the 2007 Memorandum of Understanding providing Israel with 10 years of financial assistance.
*Perry attended the exclusively Christian “Response” prayer rally in Houston hosted and sponsored by a collection of radical groups that included hate groups and elements that expressed theological justifications for the Holocaust.
2012 Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney
*Romney declared that he was “severely conservative” in order to pander to CPAC’s 2012 conference.
*Despite the President Obama’s strong record of support for Israel, Romney said that he would do “the opposite” of the President, without stating specifics.
*During nationally-televised debates, Romney lied about the President’s record on Israel, and he used Israel as a partisan wedge issue whenever possible.
*Click here to learn more Romney.
Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL)
*In his response to President Obama’s State of the Union Address, Rubio failed to mention anything about Israel, the U.S.-Israel Relationship or preventing Iran from becoming a nuclear power
*Rubio failed to condemn Glenn Beck’s extensively documented record of Holocaust rhetoric as well as his claims President Obama is a racist when confronted with Beck’s statements.
Representative Paul Ryan (R-WI)
*Ryan authored regressive budgets that made deep cuts to vital social safety net programs that would harm many in the middle class, seniors, and children.
*Pushed for cuts to the foreign aid budget that are strongly opposed by the pro-Israel community.
*Click here to learn more about Ryan
Former Senator Rick Santorum
*Santorum-who does not believe in an absolute separation of church and state- declared “We Always Need a Jesus Candidate” on the ballot.
*Santorum offensively compared the stakes of his campaign against President Barack Obama to the threats posed by Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan during WWII.
*Santorum’s campaign sent out Hanukkah cards that contained a verse from Christian scripture.
*Santorum prided himself on being the most extreme anti-choice candidate in the Republican field and has even invoked the Holocaust to attack Planned Parenthood.
*Click here to learn more about Santorum
Donald Trump
*Trump has repeatedly attacked President Obama with his outlandish and now infamous ‘birther’ statements.
Former Representative Allen West (R-FL)
*West has compared the Democratic Party to the Nazis and Joseph Goebbels.
*West personally attacked Democratic National Committee Chair Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL).
*Rabbis and other religious leaders strongly rebuked West’s religiously-motivated attack on Representative Keith Ellison (D-MN).
