New Jersey Governor Chris Christie recently spoke out against surging antisemitism in the United States, insisting that it is not necessarily a “rise” but rather an “unmasking” of longstanding antisemitic views.
“I don’t think it’s a rise,” said Christie on the Today show last week. “I think it’s an unmasking, more than anything else. And I think this is one of the things we should pay attention to and make sure we’re doing everything we can to fight it, because it’s been there for a long time, just people haven’t wanted to admit it.”
Christie emphasized that the country must make sure to oppose antisemitism in any form, pointing out incidents such as the recent desecration of a downtown St. Louis cemetery, where more than 170 Jewish gravestones were vandalized and antisemitic language sprayed onto the monuments.
Governor Christie also emphasized the importance of education in combatting antisemitism: “We all have to educate — educate our children, young people, about what’s wrong, why it’s wrong, and why we can’t allow it in the United States. Whether you’re Jewish, or Christian, or Muslim, or any other faith, or no faith at all, we have to stand together and say that this will not be tolerated in our country.”
