A former Trump confidant claims Donald Trump made Nazi jokes about “remembering the ovens” around Jewish executives.
Barbara Res, a former Trump Organization executive vice president, was asked on MSNBC if Trump’s odd rants seen at some of his rallies were something new. She said Trump was a little “saner” in the 1990s but added that he would at times make “ridiculous remarks.”
She told a story about when the organization hired a German residential manager when he made a joke about the Holocaust.
“He was bragging amongst executives about how great the guy was and he was a real gentleman and so neat and clean and then he looked at a couple of our executives who happen to be Jewish, and he said, ‘Watch out for this guy, he sort of remembers the ovens,’ and then smiled,” Res told MSNBC host Ali Velshi.
She said Trump’s statement left everybody “shocked.”
“I couldn’t believe he said that, but he was making a joke about the Nazi ovens and killing people,” Res said. “And that’s the way he was, he was making a joke about Hannibal Lecter and eating people.”
Res left her post in 1998, claiming mistreatment by Trump of her as well as other members of staff.
Trump has previously said that Jewish Americans who vote for Democrats “hate Israel” and “their religion.”
The former president made the remarks in March on the radio show of his former aide Sebastian Gorka. Gorka asked Trump about Democratic criticism of Israel and its warfare in Gaza.
“I actually think they hate Israel. And the Democrat party hates Israel,” Trump said at the time.
He added: “Any Jewish person that votes for Democrats hates their religion. They hate everything about Israel, and they should be ashamed of themselves because Israel will be destroyed.”
