- White House counselor Kellyanne Conway on Monday claimed a massacre at a Pittsburgh synagogue over the weekend was motivated by "anti-religiosity" she claimed is prevalent in the US at present.
- Saturday's events in Pittsburgh marked the deadliest attack on Jews in US history.
- Federal prosecutors have filed hate crime charges against Robert Bowers, who has been accused of killing 11 people in the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh on Saturday.
White House counselor Kellyanne Conway on Monday claimed a massacre at a Pittsburgh synagogue over the weekend was motivated by "anti-religiosity" she claimed is prevalent in the US at present.
"The anti-religiosity in this country that is somehow in vogue ... making fun of people who express religion, the late night comedians ... it's always anti-religious," Conway told "Fox and Friends."
But evidence from the shooting and law enforcement data suggest Conway might have downplayed the issue of anti-Semitism in the US.
Federal prosecutors have filed hate crime charges against Robert Bowers, who has been accused of killing 11 people in the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh on Saturday. During the shooting, Bowers reportedly made anti-Semitic statements. Evidence of deeply anti-Semitic sentiments were also found on Bowers' social medial.
Saturday's events in Pittsburgh marked the deadliest attack on Jews in US history.
Jews were targeted for religiously motivated hate crimes more than any other faith in the US in 2016, according to FBI data, and anti-Semitic incidents in the US surged roughly 60%, according to the Anti-Defamation League.
Conway on Monday lauded President Donald Trump's response to the shooting.
"He denounced anti-Semitism. ... He called for the death penalty for this murder," she said. "He said the word 'anti-Semitism.'"
In a separate interview with CNN, Conway said Trump can unite the country after a series of attempted bombings of high-profile Democrats, CNN, and other public figures in addition to Saturday's synagogue attack.
"The president is trying to heal the country," Conway said.
Trump has continued his attacks on political opponents and the media in recent days, even after the bomb threats and synagogue mass shooting.
On Monday, Trump tweeted, "There is great anger in our Country caused in part by inaccurate, and even fraudulent, reporting of the news. The Fake News Media, the true Enemy of the People, must stop the open & obvious hostility & report the news accurately & fairly. That will do much to put out the flame of Anger and Outrage and we will then be able to bring all sides together in Peace and Harmony. Fake News Must End!"
Conway tries to frame Pittsburgh shooting as really being about "anti-religiosity" writ large.
"The anti-religiosity in this country that is somehow in vogue... making fun of people who express religion, the late night comedians,.. It's always anti-religious." pic.twitter.com/yw6ZvY1CIQ
- Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) October 29, 2018