Eric Trump might think it was no big deal to use an anti-Semitic slur, but others — including the subject of the offending language — believes that the second son of Donald Trump took the low road. Trump went on Fox & Friends to disparage author Bob Woodward and his new tell-all book, Fear: Trump In The White House .
The New York Post reported that Eric Trump said that Woodward — a journalist with the Washington Post whose claim to fame was his participation in breaking the Watergate story — wrote his new book in an effort to cash in and make some extra money. Eric Trump suggested that everyone could see through Woodward’s motives.
“Don’t you think people look through the fact that you can write a sensational, nonsense book, CNN will definitely have you on there because they love to trash the president. It will mean you sell three extra books, you make three extra shekels.”
In this context, the word “shekel,” which is an “ancient form of currency still used in modern Israel,” is used herein to describe Woodward’s alleged desire for personal profit over factual reportage. The term can be construed to hold strong anti-Semitic overtones.
The first person to react on Twitter was Bill Kristol, a Never Trump conservative political pundit — and writer for The Weekly Standard — who also happens to be Jewish.
“Eric Trump said this morning that Bob Woodward made ‘three extra shekels at the behest of the American people’ with his book. Is Eric too stupid to know he’s being anti-Semitic?”
Eric Trump slams Bob Woodward’s book as a way ‘to make three extra shekels’ https://t.co/jweJXMgN66
— Britton George (@BuckeyeSquadron) September 18, 2018
Bob Woodward seemed to initially shake it off, wondering why anyone would still use such offensive language, particularly in a public forum.
“I just hope no one would talk like that, frankly. It sets us back.”
Woodward added, according to PageSix , that there is no point in having a visceral reaction to hateful comments like the one from Trump.
“We shouldn’t have comments like that from anyone… It’s unfortunate, but I think you can’t kind of overreact to it… Having an emotional reaction to it gets you off track.”
And then the author of Fear hinted that Eric got the wrong Watergate reporter.
“Technically I’m not Jewish.”
Did Trump think Woodward was writer Carl Bernstein? Some Twitter users apparently thought so. One person tweeted a message straight to Eric Trump, telling him that he slammed the wrong guy.
“Hey @ EricTrump, you got the wrong journalist to insult with your anti-Semitic “shekel” remark, @carlbernstein is Jewish, not @realBobWoodward. Idiot!”
Others wondered why more people weren’t offended by Trump using loaded language on television, and one woman suggested that it’s because people don’t listen to Eric Trump.
“That’s because Eric is the gummy nonrelevant one — I am surprised he knew the word shekel — the whole lot of them are bargain bin value and he’s the cheapest of the lot — he performs to daddy’s satisfaction.”
