Trump's White House Hanukkah Party Is Exactly What He Mocked Obama For

Although Hanukkah is next week, President Donald Trump decided to throw a White House bash for the Jewish members of his party five days in advance, so that it did not clash with his Mar-a-Lago trip. While holding celebrations in advance was a common practice among presidents in the past, it was also something Trump apparently mocked his predecessor Barack Obama for.

In a tweet sent out Dec. 9, 2011, Trump wrote: “Why was the Hanukah celebration held in the White House two weeks early? @BarackObama wants to vacation in Hawaii in late December. Sad.”

The obvious stab at the-then POTUS was long forgotten until it was dug up by Twitterati recently, after Trump announced the White House Hanukkah party will be held Thursday.

Soon people on the social media called out Trump's hypocrisy of Trump as he followed in the footsteps of Obama after having mocked him.

Also controversial was the fact that the White House did not make the effort to put up any decorations pertaining to Hanukkah in the party. Instead the attendees were surrounded by extensive Christmas decorations, which quickly became a hot topic of discussion among the social media users.

The holiday season is normally a time where people, regardless of their political standing, come together to celebrate and have a good time. However, according to six Congressional offices, Trump chose not to extend Hanukkah party invitations to any of the Jewish Democratic lawmakers in Congress.

“I think its an unforced error on the president’s part and a missed opportunity,” Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, (D-FL) told The Sacramento Bee. “Why would you make partisan decisions about invitations that are entirely not partisan? Hanukkah is something that’s important to all Jews; the tradition is to invite the Jewish members of Congress. My feelings certainly aren’t hurt by not being invited but the few opportunities that we do have to come together certainly should include a celebration like Hanukkah.”

Rep. Lois Frankel (D-FL) mentioned Trump also failed to send out “Happy Hanukkah” cards even though he had sent out “Merry Christmas” cards to the members of the Congress.

“Let me just say this, not to be a hypocrite, I wouldn’t be going to any party at the White House with him,” Frankel said. “If you think about it, all members should probably be invited. We were all invited to the Christmas party; we should all probably be invited to the Hanukkah party.”

The Hanukkah party came a day after Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, causing authoritative figures such as Pope Francis and the European Union to condemn the president’s decision as he risked disrupting the peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

Although Trump began his speech at the party with allusions to Israel in regards to Hanukkah, he ended his speech by giving a shout out to his recently made decision.

"The miracle of Hanukkah is the miracle of Israel,” he said, the Times of Israel reported. “The descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob have endured unthinkable persecution and oppression. But no force has ever crushed your spirit, and no evil has ever extinguished your faith... And right now I’m thinking about what’s going on and the love that’s all over Israel and all about Jerusalem.”