Mike Pompeo Boosts Claim Trump Was Sent by God to "Save the Jewish People from the Iranian Menace"

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was asked by the Christian Broadcasting Network’s Chris Mitchell, “Could it be that President Trump right now has been sort of raised for such a time as this, just like Queen Esther, to help save the Jewish people from the Iranian menace?”

Pompeo responded, “As a Christian, I certainly believe that’s possible.”

The context of the conversation made it clear that by “the Jewish people,” Mitchell and Pompeo were in fact referring to the State of Israel — an antisemitic conflation frequently made by Trump, the GOP, and conservative movements. Similarly, the Iran is often used as a stand-in for Muslims by those perpetuating Islamophobia.

Mitchel and Pompeo’s exchange advanced a false narrative that presents Jews and Muslims as natural enemies. It also presents white Christianity as Jews’ “savior” from a Muslim “menace.” There is a long and bloody history associated with Christians seeking to “save” Jews through forced conversion under the thread of death.

The antisemitism does not end there. It is not just that this claim invokes the history of forced conversion and European Christian violence against Jews and Muslims. It specifically presents Donald Trump, whose presidency has brought about a sharp rise in antisemitic violence (including the deadliest antisemitic attack in U.S. history) as the “savior” of Jews. Trump has actively emboldened far-right extremists, invited white nationalists into the halls of power, and put Jews in increased danger. The suggestion that the president whose administration has ushered in a resurgence of violent antisemitism against American Jews will “save” Jews from Muslims — another group Trump has further endangered — is untrue and offensive.