WASHINGTON — A Muslim civil rights group said President Donald Trump’s use of “Palestinian” to describe Jewish Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., in an Oval Office meeting Wednesday is a racial slur.

Trump made the comment during a meeting with the taoiseach of Ireland, Micheál Martin, as the Senate considers a stopgap funding bill to keep the federal government running and avert a possible shutdown at midnight Friday.

What You Need To Know

  • A Muslim civil rights group said President Donald Trump’s use of “Palestinian” to describe Jewish Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., in an Oval Office meeting Wednesday is a racial slur

  • Trump made the comment during a meeting with the taoiseach of Ireland, Micheál Martin, as the Senate considers a stopgap funding bill to keep the federal government running and avert a possible shutdown at midnight Friday

  • After saying Democrats would be blamed and taxes would go through the roof if Democrats didn’t vote for the bill, Trump said, “Schumer is a Palestinian as far as I’m concerned. He's become a Paleestinian. He used to be Jewish. He’s not Jewish anymore. He’s a Palestinian"

  • The Council on American-Islamic Relations said the comment was beneath the dignity of his office

After saying Democrats would be blamed and taxes would go through the roof if Democrats didn’t vote for the bill, Trump said, “Schumer is a Palestinian as far as I’m concerned. He's become a Palestinian. He used to be Jewish. He’s not Jewish anymore. He’s a Palestinian.”

The Council on American-Islamic Relations said Trump's comment was beneath the dignity of his office.

“He should apologize to the Palestinian and American people,” CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad said in a statement. “It is the continuing dehumanization of the Palestinian people that has resulted in horrific hate crimes against Palestinian-Americans, the U.S.-enabled genocide in Gaza and decades of denial of Palestinian human rights by successive presidential administrations.”

Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish official in American history, has criticized both Hamas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the war in the Gaza Strip.

Trump has a long history of nicknaming his adversaries in insulting and derogatory ways. While campaigning for president, he often referred to Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris as “Comrade Kamala” and former President Joe Biden as “Sleepy Joe.” 

During Wednesday’s Oval Office meeting, he also referred to Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., as "Pocahontas," a reference to her claims to have Native American ancestry.