Live Update arrow right icon From the Liveblog of Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Trump: Jews who vote for Democrats ‘hate their religion, hate everything about Israel’

By Jacob Magid 19 March 2024, 12:20 am 96 Edit

Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief

Former US president Donald Trump speaks during a Buckeye Values PAC Rally in Vandalia, Ohio, on March 16, 2024. (Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP)
Former US president Donald Trump speaks during a Buckeye Values PAC Rally in Vandalia, Ohio, on March 16, 2024. (Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP)

Former US president and presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump says, “Any Jewish person that votes for Democrats hates their religion. They hate everything about Israel and they should be ashamed of themselves.”

The remarks on a podcast interview with his former far-right adviser Sebastian Gorka come a day after Trump criticized Israel for trying to maintain ties with the Democratic party, which is “very bad for Israel.”

Trump is again asked about Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s speech last week in which he called for early elections in Israel to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“I actually think they hate Israel,” Trump says, reiterating his belief that Schumer used to be pro-Israel and has turned on Jerusalem in pursuit of votes.

He claims that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came to the US “crying [and] begging” then-president Barack Obama not to sign a nuclear deal with Iran in 2015. Trump boasts having pulled out of the deal three years later but laments that “they didn’t do anything with the ending of it.” The Biden administration has blasted Trump for withdrawing from the accord, arguing that it left no curbs on Iran’s nuclear production which has accelerated significantly since.

“They’re very close to getting a nuclear weapon right now, and once they have that it becomes a… much more difficult negotiation,” Trump warns.

While he has criticized Schumer for his speech, Trump himself has made some highly critical remarks about Netanyahu. Recalling how the Israeli premier congratulated Biden for winning the 2020 election, Trump told an Israeli reporter, “f**k him,” in reference to Netanyahu. He has also blasted the prime minister in campaign events for allegedly pulling out of commitments to help the US assassinate top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in 2020.

 

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