--- title: Donald Trump: Anti-Semitism Question Sparks Response description: President Trump has a habit of talking about his Electoral College win at inappropriate moments. canonical: https://time.com/4672402/donald-trump-anti-semitism-netanyahu/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-02-15T20:15:20.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T03:21:24.410Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump Was Asked About Anti-Semitism. Here's How He Responded og:description: By talking about his campaign win. og:url: https://time.com/4672402/donald-trump-anti-semitism-netanyahu/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta932dd446376eedd/6988ba7efb4eac1d8d890ca3/trump-netanyahu-settlement-expansion.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: US-ISRAEL-NETANYAHU-TRUMP-DIPLOMACY og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Was Asked About Anti-Semitism. Here's How He Responded twitter:description: By talking about his campaign win. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta932dd446376eedd/6988ba7efb4eac1d8d890ca3/trump-netanyahu-settlement-expansion.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # President Trump Was Asked About Anti-Semitism. He Responded by Talking About His Win by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Feb 15, 2017 8:15 PM UTC  President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hold a joint press conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 15, 2017. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hold a joint press conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 15, 2017.Saul Loeb—AFP/Getty Images by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith Feb 15, 2017 8:15 PM UTC President Trump has a habit of talking about his Electoral College win at inappropriate moments, but his [reference on Wednesday](http://time.com/4672101/donald-trump-netanyahu-settlement-expansion-hold-off/) was perhaps the most unexpected. The scene: A joint press conference with [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu](http://time.com/4642753/donald-trump-benjamin-netanyahu-israel-jerusalem/). An Israeli reporter asked a straightforward question about “a sharp rise in anti-Semitic incidents across the United States” since his election. Here’s how Trump responded: --- > “” --- At least one Democratic lawmaker criticized Trump over his response. > [](https://twitter.com/RepJerryNadler/status/831942402315321345) Trump previously raised eyebrows when [he talked about his campaign win](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-cia-speech-transcript/) while speaking in front of a CIA memorial to fallen intelligence officers. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4672402/donald-trump-anti-semitism-netanyahu/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4672402/donald-trump-anti-semitism-netanyahu/"},"headline":"President Trump Was Asked About Anti-Semitism. 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