COMMENTARY: Donald Trump should undo Barack Obama’s appointment of Ben Rhodes to the Holocaust Memorial Council
President Donald Trump just drained the Justice Department swamp. He fired the acting attorney general on Monday. That’s good news.
He needs to fire everyone associated with Barack Obama. They are all poison, a cancer inside his administration. They are “plants” left in position to undermine Trump’s agenda to make America safe, prosperous and great again.
But I have another drain-the-swamp mission near and dear to my heart that I hope President Trump will make a priority. Because I am a Jewish-American who loves this country — and our No. 1 ally in the world, Israel.
Obama made many shocking, damaging attacks on Israel. It accelerated in his final days. The Iran deal … the U.N. condemnation of Israel … the $221 million sent to the Palestinian Authority in Obama’s last hour in office.
But all of that pales in comparison to the Ben Rhodes story.
It’s a story familiar to very few Americans. I’m going to play the role of Paul Revere. On his third to final day in office, Obama named Ben Rhodes to the Holocaust Memorial Council — the most sacred Jewish commission in all of America. The council oversees the National Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.
Who is Ben Rhodes? He happens to be Obama’s point man behind the scenes for the Iran deal and U.N. resolution condemning Israel. Rhodes sold the merits of both deals in the media. He was Obama’s chief rainmaker, messenger and salesman for the two most damaging and insulting deals towards Israel and the Jewish people in U.S. history.
Remarkably, Obama’s people have no shame in their hatred and disrespect for the American people. Rhodes was caught bragging to The New York Times Magazine about misrepresenting the Iran deal to the American people. In other words, Ben Rhodes is another Jonathan Gruber, the architect of Obamacare who bragged on video that he lied and misrepresented the merits of the law to sell it to “the dumb America people.”
Rhodes did the exact same thing. And Obama appointed that man to the Holocaust Memorial Council to oversee the National Holocaust Memorial Museum. The selection was a lead story in The Times of Israel newspaper last week. The Israeli people are shocked, dismayed, disgusted and insulted.
Think about this: Obama just gave the man who sold the Iran deal — a deal that could lead to a second Holocaust of the Jewish people — a five-year term on the Holocaust Memorial Council.
This is tantamount to a president of the United States naming a white extremist to the board of the NAACP.
Can you even imagine what the liberal media would say about that?
Former President Obama was the worst president in history from an Israeli perspective. And Ben Rhodes was the final insult to the Jewish people.
But I have great news for President Trump. All members of the Holocaust Memorial Council serve at the pleasure of the U.S. president. It’s never been done before, but a president can demand a member of the council step down. Donald Trump has never been shy about doing things that have never been done before.
Mr. President, it’s time to take a stand.
Obama has placed a bad man in a position of importance to undermine you and hurt Israel. He cannot be allowed to remain on that board.
Mr. President, you fired the acting attorney general because she undermined your position on immigration. Ben Rhodes is a “plant” put on the Holocaust Memorial Council by Obama to undermine your support of Israel every step of the way. It’s a thumb in your eye. It’s a middle finger to the Jewish people.
President Trump must demand that Ben Rhodes step down from the Holocaust Memorial Council immediately. Rhodes has been on that board for two weeks. That’s two weeks too long.
This offers the president another perfect “drain the swamp” opportunity.
Wayne Allyn Root (Wayne@ROOTforAmerica.com) is a best-selling author and host of “WAR Now: The Wayne Allyn Root Show” from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. daily at 790 Talk Now. His R-J columns run Thursday and Sunday.
