New York City mayor Bill de Blasio was under fire on Wednesday after seemingly singling out the Jewish community in a warning to arrest New Yorkers who don’t adhere to social distancing orders.
Following a funeral in an ultra-orthodox Jewish community in Brooklyn, de Blasio blasted the large gathering. And despite the fact that the procession had received prior authorization from the NYPD, the Democratic mayor of the Big Apple took to Twitter on Tuesday saying: “My message to the Jewish community, and all communities, is this simple: the time for warnings has passed. I have instructed the NYPD to proceed immediately to summons or even arrest those who gather in large groups. This is about stopping this disease and saving lives. Period.”
My message to the Jewish community, and all communities, is this simple: the time for warnings has passed. I have instructed the NYPD to proceed immediately to summons or even arrest those who gather in large groups. This is about stopping this disease and saving lives. Period.
— Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) April 29, 2020
The alleged bigotry was the target of condemnation by Jewish community leaders from across the spectrum.
But it wasn’t only Jews who pushed back against de Blasio’s alleged antisemitism.
President Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., who is also a native New Yorker joined the Jewish community in calling out de Blasio’s ‘bigotry’. He even took it a step further comparing the mayor’s sentiments towards Jews with his those towards New York’s Muslim community.
Trump Jr. retweeted a side by side comparison of de Blasio’s message to Muslims and his message to Jews.
In a Ramdan message to Muslims, the mayor said “To the Muslim New Yorkers beginning their celebrations tonight who need halal meals, we have them across our 400+ grab and go meal sites, and are bringing hundreds of thousands more to the 32 sites most frequented by our Muslim communities.”
The comparison was originally noticed by ex New York police officer John Cardillo. Trump Jr. retweeted Cardillo’s tweet calling de Blasio’s discrimination “scary” saying: “I wonder why theses two communities would be treated so differently? This is crazy and scary.”
I wonder why theses two communities would be treated so differently?
This is crazy and scary. https://t.co/Q0jkA2Bcod— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) April 29, 2020
Mayor de Blasio, who was caught violating his own stay-at-home orders responded to his statements’ backlash stopping short of issuing an apology while insisting that it was said from a place of love saying: ” I regret if the way I said it in any way gave people a feeling of being treated the wrong way. That was not my intention. It was said with love, but it was tough love.”
