Jewish writers have taken to Twitter to say they want to “refund” Speaker of the House Paul Ryan’s Jewish heritage after he found out he was three percent Jewish while participating in the PBS show “Finding Your Roots With Henry Louis Gates Jr.”
“Yo, Jews, let’s take up a collection to refund him his 3%,” Israeli-American novelist Ayelet Waldman wrote on Twitter Tuesday.
Yo, Jews, let’s take up a collection to refund him his 3%. https://t.co/vfR1SAbSEX via @deadline
— Ayelet Waldman (@ayeletw) August 1, 2018
Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg heard the news and took to Twitter to tell Ryan that now that he knows he is Jewish, he should be pro-choice and pro-Affordable Care Act.
“Judaism not only permits abortion, but even sometimes requires it (to save the mother’s life),” she wrote Wednesday. “Glad to know you’ll be working to protect choice now!”
Hey @SpeakerRyan! I hear the next Finding Your Roots discovers that you have Jewish heritage! As such: Judaism not only permits abortion, but even sometimes requires it (to save the mother’s life).
Glad to know you’ll be working to protect choice now! https://t.co/XxYSPjXTSq
— Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg (@TheRaDR) August 1, 2018
.@SpeakerRyan, you’ll also be glad to know that your newfound Jewish heritage holds protecting life as the greatest value of all. Looking forward to your enthusiastic support in protecting the ACA. https://t.co/iurljBFOVd
— Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg (@TheRaDR) August 1, 2018
Wisconsin Republican Ryan is part Ashkenazi Jewish, Gates revealed at a TV critics meeting Tuesday, reported The Associated Press. (RELATED: Democratic Congressional Hopeful Forced To Return College Speaking Fees)
“You could have knocked [Ryan] over with a feather and then he was very proud of it,” Gates said, according to the AP. “We don’t know who that Jewish person was, but we know it was on his mother’s German line, which makes sense. So somebody who was a Christian German slept with a Jewish German person and that’s where that came from.”
Gates “traced Ryan’s heritage back to his 10th great-grandfather born in 1531 in Germany,” reported the AP. Ryan’s episode will air during the fifth season of “Finding Your Roots,” which airs in January. Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio will also be featured on the show.
Follow Evie on Twitter @eviefordham.
Send tips to evie@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.