On Friday, the White House hosted a Rosh Hashanah reception, marking the first time the Jewish new year was celebrated there. During his remarks, the Catholic Joe Biden made the bizarre quip that he went to Jewish services more than most of the Jews in the audience did.
“I probably went to shul more than many of you did,” he said, prompting laughter from the audience. “You all think I’m kidding, he can tell you I’m not. I’m not.”
He added, “I’m a practicing Catholic but I’d go to services on Saturday and on Sunday. You think I’m kidding.”
Joe Biden at his event celebrating Rosh Hashanah:
"I probably went to shul more than many of you did… I'm a practicing Catholic but I went too services on Saturday and Sunday. You think I'm kidding." pic.twitter.com/g3OPT2TGaf
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) September 30, 2022
This ranks up there as almost as bad as Bill Clinton dubbing himself the first black president. It seems rather uncouth for Biden to suggest at a Rosh Hashanah event that he’s a better Jew than the Jews in the audience, especially when he’s not even a good Catholic because of his radical views on abortion.
Related: Biden’s Jewish Outreach Director Tells Jews: Hide Your Faith
But, perhaps the most insulting aspect of his remark is not the way he insulted the Jewish people in the audience but that he made the comments despite his legacy of anti-Semitism. Biden himself has been criticized for making several racist and anti-Semitic comments over the years, including using the slur “Shylocks” back in 2014. His tenure in the White House has hardly been without casual anti-Semitism, including his nomination of suspected anti-Semite Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court.
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