Donald Trump has been hounded by accusations of anti-Semitism for much of this election, and for good reason. Between the “sheriff star” tweet, his army of anti-Semitic supporters who routinely harass and threaten Jewish members of the media, and a recent ad that was condemned by a number of Jewish groups, Trump has done a great deal to court and little to condemn anti-Semites.
Late Monday night, Ann Coulter, a prominent supporter, did him no favors when she tweeted this:
If only people with at least 4 grandparents born in America were voting, Trump would win in a 50-state landslide.
— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) November 8, 2016
The Nuremberg Laws defined Jewishness by blood, rather than belief. Any person with three or four Jewish grandparents was often considered a Jew, not a true German. Coulter’s point was already a racist dig at Latinos, but the historical symmetry makes it even more vile. (Parsing intent when it comes to Coulter’s writing is always a fool’s errand—she’s a troll—but she does have a history of palling around with anti-Semites.)
As many, many people have pointed out on Twitter, this is also a fairly obvious own goal. If America had racial codes like this, Donald Trump wouldn’t be allowed to vote, let alone run for president—all four of his grandparents were born abroad. Of course, Coulter isn’t really talking about immigrants here—she’s talking about non-white people.