It is strange he said these things....
I've known the guy since I was a kid. He has multiple connections to my family, and used to come to my grandparents place regularly. When this first happened, I was shocked. I know that he's eaten supper with us when my lone Jewish relative was there. He was always the most gentle, understanding man. I thought there must be something wrong, so when this first happened I checked with some other people who know Dave.
Apparently he's always had a streak of racism in him, especially against Jews. It's gotten more prominent as he's gotten older, so his age and diabetes likely played a part in it coming out in public, but a lot of people who know him better than we thought we did aren't all that surprised.
It's sad.