Trump: If I lose election, Jewish people will ‘have a lot to do with’ it
GOP nominee fumes most Jews back Harris, intensifies warning of Israel’s annihilation to ‘within 2 years’ if she wins, calls rescued hostage to stage; Walz meets hostage families
Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
Former US president Donald Trump twice asserted that Jewish Americans would be a leading cause of his electoral loss if more don’t vote for him in November, as he fumed over his level of support in the community while addressing events on combating antisemitism and supporting Israel on Thursday.
“If I don’t win this election… the Jewish people would have a lot to do with a loss,” Trump declared at an event branded “Fighting Antisemitism.”
“I will put it to you very simply and gently: I really haven’t been treated right, but you haven’t been treated right, because you’re putting yourself in great danger,” he added.
The Republican presidential candidate was quickly called out by left-leaning Jewish community leaders.
“This is dangerous antisemitism intended to sow division and distrust and undermine our democracy. And it’s going to lead to (more) violence against Jews,” tweeted Jewish Council for Public Affairs CEO Amy Spitalnik.
Later Thursday evening, Trump doubled down on the message at an event organized by the Israeli American Council (IAC).
Trump tells a Jewish group the Jews will be to blame if he loses: "I will put it to you very simply and gently: I really haven't been treated right, but you haven't been treated right because you're putting yourself in great danger." pic.twitter.com/lEr0kcH5iC
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 19, 2024
As he did in the first speech, the GOP nominee cited unspecified polling that placed support among Jewish voters for US Vice President Kamala Harris at 60 percent.
“Do they know what the hell’s happening if I don’t win this election? The Jewish people would really have a lot to do with that if that happens, because… 60% of the people [are] voting for the enemy,” he said.
Jews make up just two percent of the US population and have long voted overwhelmingly for the Democratic Party. Trump regularly criticizes the phenomenon, but Thursday’s comments marked an intensification of that rhetoric.
After declaring earlier this month that Israel would be annihilated if US Vice President Kamala Harris wins in November, he further upped the stakes by telling the supportive IAC crowd that Israel would be annihilated within two years if he loses.
Trump: If I don’t win this election.. the Jewish people would have a lot to do with that if that happens pic.twitter.com/N9skHU0hnu
— Acyn (@Acyn) September 20, 2024
He claimed that Iran will quickly obtain a nuclear weapon and “terrorist death squads will conduct constant raids into Israeli territory from all sides, going door to door and torturing, raping, kidnapping and massacring innocent civilians… Tel Aviv and Jerusalem will become unlivable war zones, as suicide attacks grind life to a halt.”
“I said to [IAC funder] Miriam [Adelson] today, ‘They have to go through a little tough love here today because we have to tell them the fact that Israel will not exist within two years if [Harris] becomes president,'” Trump declared.
“You have to defeat Kamala Harris more than any other people on Earth. Israel, I believe, has to defeat her,” he said, claiming Harris “makes Barack Hussein Obama look like he loved Israel by comparison.”
Support for hostages
In one of the few non-partisan moments of the evening, Trump gave shoutouts to rescued Hamas hostage Andrey Kozlov, to Dedi Simchi, whose son Guy was killed during Hamas’s October 7 onslaught, and to the families of several American-Israelis still being held hostage.
He even called Kozlov and Simchi separately to the stage to offer a message to the crowd. Seemingly unprepared for the moment, both sufficed with thanking the president.
Addressing the hostage crisis himself, Trump said, “Hopefully we’re going to be getting them back very, very soon.”
“I will support Israel’s right to win its war on terror… but you have to win it fast if you can,” he urged.
Hours earlier, Harris’s running mate Tim Walz held his own first meeting with the families of the seven American hostages, pledging to use his platform to raise awareness for their cause, while assuring the families that Harris and US President Joe Biden would work tirelessly to bring about the release of their loved ones, his campaign said.
Today I met with the loved ones of Americans held hostage by Hamas to hear their heartbreaking stories – something no family should have to endure.
President Biden and Vice President Harris will continue doing everything possible to bring them home. pic.twitter.com/OxDxsvkeBx
— Tim Walz (@Tim_Walz) September 19, 2024
Both of Trump’s Thursday’s events were in front of largely Jewish audiences and both were bank-rolled by Israeli-American casino magnate Miriam Adelson, a major campaign donor.
Speaking at the second event, Adelson urged attendees to follow her in supporting Trump. He “has helped craft Jewish faith and preserve Jewish continuity… He is the father of a beautiful Jewish woman… and he recognizes the justice of our 2,000-year-old cause.”