Former president Donald Trump, in a speech Thursday to Jewish Republicans, repeatedly denigrated Jewish Americans who vote for Democrats and warned, without evidence, that Israel “will no longer exist” if Vice President Kamala Harris becomes president.
Trump has long questioned how Jewish Americans could vote for Democrats, even as polls show they support the party by wide margins, and Trump’s rhetoric toward the voting bloc is criticized as antisemitic.
“I don’t understand how anybody can support them — and I say it constantly — if you had them to support and you were Jewish, you have to have your head examined,” Trump told the Republican Jewish Coalition. “They’ve been very bad to you.”
Trump addressed the group live via satellite as it held its annual leadership summit in Las Vegas, days after the bodies of six Israeli hostages — including Israeli American Hersh Goldberg-Polin — were recovered in Gaza. The hostages were taken by Hamas in its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel that sparked the war in Gaza.
Trump said Thursday that Harris and President Joe Biden have “sought to cast blame for these deaths on Israel,” though both condemned Hamas in separate statements on the recovery of Goldberg-Polin’s body. Neither statement criticized Israel. In discussing the matter, Trump initially appeared to misstate Goldberg-Polin’s last name as “Goldman.”
Biden’s relationship with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has grown strained during the war. The president said Monday he does not think Netanyahu is doing enough to strike a hostage deal between Israel and Hamas.
Trump did not mention Netanyahu in his speech Thursday but claimed without evidence — as he has before — that the war would not have started if he were still president. He also again expressed some impatience with how long the war has taken. Discussing the war in April, Trump said he would tell Netanyahu to “get it over with” and “get back to normalcy.”
“I will support Israel’s right to win,” Trump told the RJC. “It’s a war on terror, and we will win fast. You have to win and you have to win fast.”
The Harris campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Halie Soifer, CEO of the Jewish Democratic Council of America, denounced Trump’s repeated criticism of Jewish Americans who vote Democratic.
“This is antisemitism, plain and simple, and if any other elected official or candidate said these things even once — let alone on a nearly daily basis — they would be condemned as antisemitic,” Soifer said in a statement.
Despite Trump’s comments to the contrary, Harris has repeatedly expressed support for the existence of Israel and its right to defend itself, including during her Democratic National Convention speech last month. She has also spoken out against the human suffering in Gaza amid the Israel counteroffensive and emphasized the urgent need for a cease-fire deal.
“President Biden and I are working to end this war, such that Israel is secure, the hostages are released, the suffering in Gaza ends and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, security, freedom and self-determination,” Harris said in her DNC speech.
Trump, on Thursday, exaggerated what the implications would be if Harris wins in November.
“You’re not going to have an Israel if she becomes president … Israel will no longer exist,” he said.
Trump received an enthusiastic response Thursday as he addressed the RJC after being introduced by Miriam Adelson, the billionaire and Republican megadonor. She told the GOP Republicans gathered in Las Vegas that Trump is “our best friend” and that she is “eagerly awaiting for him to enter the White House and to save the Jewish people.”
Jewish voters continue to overwhelmingly favor Democrats, according to polling. The group supported Biden over Trump 70 percent to 27 percent in 2020, according to the Pew Research Center’s validated voter survey.
Trump suggested Thursday, without evidence, that he was “probably around the 50 percent mark” with Jewish voters — and once more criticized Jewish Americans who do not support him.
“Who are the 50 percent of Jewish people that are voting for these people that hate Israel and don’t like the Jewish people?” Trump asked, pushing false claims about voters who oppose him.