Trump’s History Of AntiSemitism
Highlights:
2017: Trump Said There Were “Very Fine People On Both Sides” Of Charlottesville Violence, Which Included Marchers Carrying Nazi Signs And Chanting “Jews Will Not Replace Us.” According to Vanity Fair, “Waiting to condemn the neo-Nazi violence in Charlottesville, Virginia and then saying there were ‘very fine people on both sides’ of a white supremacist rally in which marchers carried Nazi signs and chanted things like ‘Jews will not replace us.’” [Vanity Fair, 10/17/22]
Ivana Trump Said Donald Trump Read And Kept A Book Of Hitler’s Speeches “My New Order” Near His Bed. According to Business Insider, “According to a 1990 Vanity Fair interview, Ivana Trump once told her lawyer Michael Kennedy that her husband, real-estate mogul Donald Trump, now a leading Republican presidential candidate, kept a book of Hitler's speeches near his bed. ‘Last April, perhaps in a surge of Czech nationalism, Ivana Trump told her lawyer Michael Kennedy that from time to time her husband reads a book of Hitler's collected speeches, My New Order, which he keeps in a cabinet by his bed ... Hitler's speeches, from his earliest days up through the Phony War of 1939, reveal his extraordinary ability as a master propagandist,’ Marie Brenner wrote.” [Business Insider, 9/1/15]
Trump Told John Kelly, “You Fucking Generals, Why Can’t You Be Like The German Generals?” From “World War II” That Were “Totally Loyal” To Hitler. According to the New Yorker, “It turned out that the generals had rules, standards, and expertise, not blind loyalty. The President’s loud complaint to John Kelly one day was typical: ‘You fucking generals, why can’t you be like the German generals?’ ‘Which generals?’ Kelly asked. ‘The German generals in World War II,’ Trump responded. ‘You do know that they tried to kill Hitler three times and almost pulled it off?’ Kelly said. But, of course, Trump did not know that. ‘No, no, no, they were totally loyal to him,’ the President replied. In his version of history, the generals of the Third Reich had been completely subservient to Hitler; this was the model he wanted for his military. Kelly told Trump that there were no such American generals, but the President was determined to test the proposition.” [New Yorker, 8/8/22]
A Longtime Trump Executive Wrote In His Book That Trump Hired A German Man And Then Joked In Front Of Jewish Execs That The Man “Still Reminisces About The Ovens, So You Guys Better Watch Out For Him.” According to the Los Angeles Times, “Barbara Res, a longtime executive in Trump’s real estate company, brushed off the idea right up until he was elected president. Now that he’s in the final weeks of his reelection campaign, Res has written a new book titled ‘Tower of Lies’ urging Americans not to give him a second term. The book recounts racist, anti-Semitic and sexist behavior, along with Trump’s ability to lie ‘so naturally’ that ‘if you didn’t know the actual facts, he could slip something past you.’ […] Res wrote that Trump hired a German residential manager, believing his heritage made him ‘especially clean and orderly,’ and then joked in front of Jewish executives that ‘this guy still reminisces about the ovens, so you guys better watch out for him.’” [Los Angeles Times, 10/16/20]
Trump Said “I Know Nothing About Hitler” While Using Similar Rhetoric About “Poisoning The Blood Of Our Country.” According to the Associated Press, “Donald Trump has centered his unlikely rise from reality television star to onetime — and potentially future — president on the idea that he’s wiser than Washington’s bumbling political class, once going so far as to label himself a ‘very stable genius.’ But when it comes to one of history’s darkest moments, Trump is professing ignorance. Facing criticism for repeatedly harnessing rhetoric once used by Adolf Hitler to argue that immigrants entering the U.S. illegally are ‘poisoning the blood of our country’ Trump insisted he had no idea that one of the world’s most reviled and infamous figures once used similar words. The Nazi dictator spoke of impure Jewish blood ‘poisoning’ Aryan German blood to dehumanize Jews and justify the systemic murder of millions during the Holocaust. ‘I never knew that Hitler said it,’ Trump told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt on Friday, volunteering once again that he never read Hitler’s biographical manifesto, ‘Mein Kampf.’ ‘I know nothing about Hitler,’ he insisted. ‘I have no idea what Hitler said other than (what) I’ve seen on the news. And that’s a very, entirely different thing than what I’m saying.’” [Associated Press, 12/27/23]
Washington Post Headline: Trump’s Long History Of Trafficking In Antisemitic Tropes. [Washington Post, 10/17/22]
2015: Trump Told The RJC Five Times He Did Not Want Their Money. According to the Washington Post, “During another RJC event in 2015 — at a time when some in the party weren’t behind his candidacy — he repeatedly told those assembled that he didn’t want their money. He did so no fewer than five times. ‘Again, I don’t want your money, therefore you’re probably not going to support me, because stupidly you want to give money,’ he said.” [Washington Post, 10/17/22]
2016: Trump Tweeted An Image Of Hillary Clinton Surrounded By Money With The Words “Most Corrupt Candidate Ever” Inside A Star Of David. According to the Washington Post, “Later in the campaign, Trump tweeted an image of Hillary Clinton surrounded by money with the words ‘Most Corrupt Candidate Ever!’ inside a six-pointed star, the shape of the Star of David. Trump also ran an ad featuring several prominent Jews — George Soros, Janet L. Yellen and Lloyd Blankfein — while warning of ‘global special interests.’” [Washington Post, 10/17/22]
2020: Trump Ran An Ad With Bernie Sanders Playing Joe Biden As A Marionette. According to the Times of Israel, “Two left-wing Jewish groups have accused Donald Trump’s presidential campaign of anti-Semitism over an ad showing Bernie Sanders holding Joe Biden as a puppet. The ad, according to screenshots posted on Twitter, has Biden dangling like a marionette from strings that are wrapped around Sanders’ fingers with text reading ‘Joe Biden: The radical left’s puppet.’ Sanders, who challenged Biden from the left in the Democratic presidential primary, is Jewish. IfNotNow and Bend the Arc said the ad perpetuates the anti-Semitic stereotype of Jews nefariously pulling the world’s strings. The accusation that Biden is a puppet of the far left is a frequent one among Trump supporters, who often use images of Sanders to illustrate the argument.” [Times of Israel, 9/16/20]
2021: Trump Said Israel Used To Have “Absolute Power Over Congress.” According to the Washington Post, “And in the December 2021 interview, Trump offered perhaps his most suggestive comments on this front. ‘It used to be that Israel had absolute power over Congress, and today I think it’s the exact opposite,’ he said.” [Washington Post, 10/17/22]
2016: Trump’s Closing Ad Pushed The Idea Of A Global Conspiracy Against America With Images Of George Soros, Janet Yellen, And Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein. According to the Times of Israel, “Donald Trump’s latest campaign ad, likely the final one wrapping up nearly a year of campaigning, contains content that has been criticized for having anti-Semitic overtones and implying a vast international Jewish conspiracy behind Hillary Clinton. The two-minute long ad features audio from Trump’s West Palm Beach speech in mid-October, which was criticized by the Anti-Defamation League for ‘rhetoric and tropes that historically have been used against Jews and still spur antisemitism.’ The video appears to go even further, illustrating Trump’s accusation of a conspiracy against the American people with images of prominent Jews. Philanthropist investor George Soros, Federal Reserve head Janet Yellen and Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein, all of whom are Jewish, appear onscreen as Trump inveighs against ‘levers of power in Washington’ and ‘global special interests’ — both considered anti-Semitic dog-whistles.” [Times of Israel, 11/6/16]
2023: Trump Campaign Email Accused Soros Of Attempting To “Single-Handedly Buy” Biden’s Reelection. According to the Forward, “Former President Donald Trump, the frontrunner in the 2024 Republican presidential primary, assailed Jewish billionaire George Soros in a series of fundraising emails, accusing him of aiming to “single-handedly buy” President Joe Biden’s reelection. “Please make a contribution to help me FIGHT BACK against Soros and the Left’s money machine as they attempt to BUY a second term for Biden,” Trump wrote in an email to supporters Thursday, raising funds for his joint fundraising committee, Donald J. Trump for President 2024 and Save America. The Hungarian-born Democratic megadonor and Holocaust survivor has long been the target of antisemitic tropes and touted as a boogeyman by the far right. Casting a Jewish individual as a puppet master who manipulates national events for malign purposes is a common antisemitic trope.” [Forward, 2/9/23]
2023: A Trump Campaign Email Suggested That Soros Was Behind Trump’s Indictments According to Newsweek, “A fundraising email from the Trump campaign, composed and delivered less than an hour after the indictment announcement, invites supporters to prove their loyalty to the ex-president and their dedication to fighting Biden and ‘the radical left’ with a financial contribution. ‘We are watching our Republic DIE before our very eyes,’ the email states. ‘The Biden-appointed Special Counsel has INDICTED me in yet another witch hunt regarding documents that I had the RIGHT to declassify as President of the United States.’ ‘This witch hunt began when the FBI RAIDED my home and then staged it to look like a made-for-TV crime scene with police sirens and flashing red and blue lights,’ it continues. The fundraiser goes on to claim that the indictment was launched by the so-called ‘deep state,’ while arguing that the Trump campaign grew stronger after the former president was arrested and charged with 34 state felony charges of falsifying business records in New York earlier this year. It concludes by lamenting that the former president has been attacked ‘viciously,’ while challenging Trump supporters to prove their loyalty with donations that have ‘1,500% impact.’ ‘With YOUR support, we will once again surge even higher and prove that our America First movement truly is UNSTOPPABLE,’ it says. ‘Please make a contribution to peacefully stand with me today and prove that YOU will NEVER surrender our country to the radical Left – for 1,500% impact.’ Thursday's email echoed the earlier campaign by also claiming that the ‘attack’ on Trump involved George Soros, a Jewish billionaire and Democratic mega-donor who frequently features in right-wing conspiracy theories.” [Newsweek, 6/8/23]
Trump Had A History Of Using Language That Implied American Jews Had Dual Loyalty. According to the Washington Post, “Trump has regularly spoken about American Jews as if Israel is their country, rather than the United States. At a White House Hanukkah party in 2018, Trump said Vice President Mike Pence and second lady Karen Pence go to Israel ‘and they love your country. They love your country. And they love this country’ — the implication being that ‘this country’ is distinct from ‘your country.’ In a September 2020 call after Rosh Hashanah, Trump told American Jewish leaders, ‘We really appreciate you; we love your country also.’ In 2019, he referred to Benjamin Netanyahu as ‘your prime minister’ at a Republican Jewish Coalition event. Trump also regularly referred to his ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, as ‘your ambassador’ while in the company of American Jews. While that could perhaps be understood as him referring to Americans’ ambassador rather than Jews’, Friedman is the only ambassador Trump has used this construction for, according to Factba.se’s compilation of Trump’s public comments.” [Washington Post, 10/17/22]
Trump Has Said American Jews Should Be Dually Loyal To Israel. According to the Washington Post, “Relatedly, Trump has cast American Jews as insufficiently appreciative of his record on Israel, often stating or implying — as he did Sunday — that his lack of support among them is inexplicable. ‘We have people that are Jewish people that are great people — they don’t love Israel enough,’ he said in 2019. He added the same year, ‘Any Jewish people that vote for a Democrat, I think it shows either a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty.’ When that blew up, Trump doubled down. ‘Jewish people who live in the United States don’t love Israel enough,’ he said in an interview last summer, adding: ‘I believe we got 25 percent of the Jewish vote, and it doesn’t make sense. It just seems strange to me. But I did very well in Florida. I did great in Florida.’” [Washington Post, 10/17/22]
2019: Trump Told A Jewish Audience That They Had “No Choice” But To Vote For Him Or Lose Money Under Democrats. According to the Washington Post, “Numerous Jewish groups castigated President Trump this weekend over his speech on Saturday to the Israeli American Council, accusing him of using anti-Semitic tropes while trying to appeal to Jewish voters. In a 45-minute speech in Hollywood, Fla., Trump sought to convince a Jewish audience that they had ‘no choice’ but to vote for him or else lose money to Democratic presidential contenders’ wealth tax plans. The president, while touting his administration’s relationship with Israel, also said some Jews ‘don’t love Israel enough,’ recalling the time in August that he questioned the loyalty of Jews who vote for Democrats.” [Washington Post, 12/9/19]
A Trump Associate Said Trump Would Often Describe Black People As “Lazy And Stupid.” According to Donald Trump: A Biography Of The Mogul Turned Presidential Candidate, “For instance, a former Trump associate, John O’Donnell, wrote that Trump would often describe black people as being lazy and stupid; he would bemoan the ‘black guys counting my money.’ He would prefer the ‘short guys that wear yarmulkes.’ It wasn’t only African-Americans who had earned Trump’s derision. Years later, Trump told Playboy that these remarks were ‘probably true.’” [Donald Trump: A Biography Of The Mogul Turned Presidential Candidate, 2015]
O’Donnell: Trump Said “I’ve Got Black Accountants At Trump Castle And At Trump Plaza. Black Guys Counting My Money! I Hate It. The Only Kind Of People I Want Counting My Money Are Short Guys That Wear Yarmulkes Every Day.” According to Never Enough: Donald Trump And The Pursuit Of Success, “After years of drama and stress, John O’Donnell would leave Trump’s employ in 1990. When the onetime president of the Trump Plaza Hotel published his tell-all book about his former boss, he presented a picture of an imperious and possibly prejudiced man who seemed indifferent to others. In Trumped!, O’Donnell wrote that his former boss had said, ‘I’ve got black accountants at Trump Castle and at Trump Plaza. Black guys counting my money! I hate it. The only kind of people I want counting my money are short guys that wear yarmulkes every day.’” [Michael D’Antonio: Never Enough: Donald Trump And The Pursuit Of Success, September 2015]
2015: Trump Told The RJC, “Look, I’m A Negotiator Like You, Folks; We’re Negotiators,” And, “This Room Negotiates Perhaps More Than Any Room I’ve Spoken To.” According to the Washington Post, “Trump has often spoken about Jewish people in extremely broad strokes, pitching them as people who stick to their own — or at least, should — and who are successful because of their business acumen. During his 2015 speech to the Republican Jewish Coalition, he suggested that those assembled were “negotiators” without parallel. ‘Look, I’m a negotiator like you, folks; we’re negotiators,’ he said, adding: ‘This room negotiates perhaps more than any room I’ve spoken to — maybe more.’” [Washington Post, 10/17/22]
2020: After Speaking To Jewish Leaders In A Phone Call, Trump Said They Were “Only In It For Themselves” And “Stick Together.” According to the Washington Post, “In 2020, The Washington Post’s Greg Miller reported that Trump has said after speaking to Jewish leaders on the phone that they ‘are only in it for themselves’ and ‘stick together’ in ethnic allegiance. And he’s often suggested that ethnic allegiance should extend to him, because of Jewish members of his family.” [Washington Post, 10/17/22]
2015 RJC: Trump Joked, “You Just Like Me Because My Daughter Happens To Be Jewish.” According to the Washington Post, “In 2020, The Washington Post’s Greg Miller reported that Trump has said after speaking to Jewish leaders on the phone that they ‘are only in it for themselves’ and ‘stick together’ in ethnic allegiance. And he’s often suggested that ethnic allegiance should extend to him, because of Jewish members of his family.” “You just like me because my daughter happens to be Jewish,” he joked to the RJC in 2015.” [Washington Post, 10/17/22]
2019: Trump Complained That He Didn’t Have Larger Numbers Of Jews Voting For Him In 2016 Because Of His Jewish Daughter And Her Children. According to the Washington Post, “He added in 2019: ‘I saw a poll that in the last election, I got 25 percent of the Jewish vote, and I said here I have a son-in-law and a daughter who are Jewish, I have beautiful grandchildren that are Jewish, I have all of these incredible achievements. I’m amazed that it seems to be almost automatically a Democrat vote.’” [Washington Post, 10/17/22]
2022: Trump Wrote That, “US Jews Have To Get Their Act Together […] Before It Is Too Late.” According to Vanity Fair, “There is so, so much to unpack here, starting with the classic antisemitic dual-loyalty trope, which holds that American Jews who neither live in Israel nor are of Israeli descent should care more about what is going on there than in their own country. Because Trump thinks this, he cannot wrap his mind around the idea that Jewish people in the US aren’t falling all over themselves to support him, even when his 2016 election coincided with an uptick in antisemitism that he not only did nothing to stop but outright emboldened. Then there’s the pitting of apparently ungrateful Jewish people against the ‘wonderful’ and ‘appreciative’ evangelical Christians. Trump’s post conveniently fails to include the uncomfortable fact that a number of evangelical Christians are singularly focused on Israel because they believe it will be the site of the Rapture, wherein Jews who have not converted to Christianity will go to hell. And last but certainly not least, there’s the disturbing threat that ‘US Jews have to get their act together…before it is too late.’ What will happen after it’s too late? Trump doesn’t say.” [Vanity Fair, 10/17/22]
Trump Said, “You Do Have People In This Country That Happen To Be Jewish That Are Not Doing The Right Thing For Israel – Too Many” […] “The Democrats Get 75 Percent Of The [Jewish] Vote, Which Is Hard To Believe. We Can’t Let That Continue.” According to Haaretz, “NEW YORK – Former President Donald Trump blasted American Jews for failing to vote for Republicans in sufficient numbers after he accepted the Theodor Herzl Medallion from the Zionist Organization of America, at the right-wing group’s annual gala on Sunday. ‘You do have people in this country that happen to be Jewish that are not doing the right thing for Israel – too many,’ Trump said, echoing a post he made on social media last month that drew heavy criticism from the American-Jewish community. ‘The Democrats get 75 percent of the [Jewish] vote, which is hard to believe. We can’t let that continue,’ he said.” [Haaretz, 11/14/22]
Trump Criticized American Jews Using Anti-Semitic Tropes For Not Praising Him Enough For His Support Of Israel. According to CNN, “Former President Donald Trump on Sunday criticized American Jews for what he argued was their insufficient praise of his policies toward Israel, warning that they need to ‘get their act together’ before ‘it is too late!’ The suggestion, made on Trump’s social media platform Truth Social, plays into the antisemitic trope that US Jews have dual loyalties to the US and to Israel, and it drew immediate condemnation. ‘No President has done more for Israel than I have,’ Trump wrote before saying it was somewhat surprising that ‘our wonderful Evangelicals are far more appreciative of this than the people of the Jewish faith, especially those living in the U.S.’” [CNN, 10/16/22]
Trump Shared A Flier On His Social Media Account Accusing Liberal Jews Of Voting To “Destroy America.” According to the Washington Post, “On the final day of the Jewish New Year, former president Donald Trump shared a flier on social media accusing ‘liberal Jews’ who didn’t support him of having voted ‘to destroy America & Israel.’ In a post Sunday on Truth Social, his social media platform, the 2024 Republican presidential front-runner added a flier created by the organization JEXIT — a group that seeks to draw Jewish voters away from the Democratic Party. Text featured in the flier appears on the group’s Facebook and Instagram pages. ‘Let’s hope you learned from your mistake & make better choices moving forward!’ the flier reads. ‘Happy New Year!’” [Washington Post, 9/18/23]
Trump: “Any Jewish Person That Votes For Biden Does Not Love Israel And Frankly, Should Be Spoken To.” According to CNN, “Former President Donald Trump on Monday again criticized Jewish Americans who don’t support him and said any Jewish person who votes for President Joe Biden doesn’t love Israel and ‘should be spoken to.’ It’s the latest example of the presumptive GOP nominee playing into an antisemitic trope that Jewish Americans have dual loyalties to the US and to Israel. ‘Any Jewish person that votes for Biden does not love Israel and frankly, should be spoken to,’ Trump said in an interview aired Monday night on Real America’s Voice.” [CNN, 4/8/24]
Trump Again Said Jews That Supported Democrats “Should Have Their Head Examined.” According to the New York Times, “Former President Donald J. Trump once again criticized Jews who back Democratic candidates on Wednesday, saying that ‘any Jewish person that votes for a Democrat or votes for Biden should have their head examined.’ His comments, made to reporters in Atlanta as he was attacking President Biden’s approach to Israel’s war in Gaza, marked the third time in the last month that Mr. Trump has cast aspersions on Democrat-supporting Jewish voters, a group that in the past he has accused of disloyalty.” [New York Times, 4/10/24]
Trump Was Amazed That Some Of His Senior Aides Were Jewish. According to Business Insider, “President Donald Trump expressed open amazement during a trip on Air Force One that some of his senior aides were Jewish, according to a new book. ‘Who would have thought my top guys are Jews,’ Trump said to his son-in-law Jared Kushner and senior advisors Stephen Miller and Jason Miller during a pre-2020 election flight, according to Maggie Haberman's ‘Confidence Man.’ Haberman notes that Jason Miller, a top spokesman for Trump's 2016 campaign and later a senior advisor to the president's reelection, is not Jewish. ‘This after months of Trump telling Jason Miller that he has a 'sweet, understanding Jewish wife,'‘ Haberman writes. ‘Except Jason Miller's wife was not Jewish, and neither was he.’” [Business Insider, 10/5/22]
Trump Allegedly Made Nazi Jokes Around His Jewish Employees. According to the Daily Beast, “Donald Trump has claimed he’s better for Jewish Americans than Democrats, but according to a former senior Trump Organization executive, the former president reveled in making Nazi jokes around his Jewish employees. Former Trump Organization executive vice president Barbara Res told MSNBC’s Ali Velshi that Trump once made a joke about a German residential manager the company had hired before turning to some Trump Organization executives who happened to be Jewish. ‘He was bragging amongst executives about how great the guy was and he was a real gentleman and so neat and clean and then he looked at a couple of our executives who happen to be Jewish, and he said, ‘Watch out for this guy, he sort of remembers the ovens,’ and then smiled,’ said Res, who left her role in 1998 after she claimed Trump mistreated her and other employees. The comment left the group dumbfounded according to Res. ‘Everybody was shocked,’ she said. ‘I cannot believe he said that. He was making a joke about the Nazi ovens and eating people.’” [Daily Beast, 6/23/24]
Trump Had Dinner With Prominent Antisemites Kayne West And Nick Fuentes. According to the New York Times, “Former President Donald J. Trump on Tuesday night had dinner with Nick Fuentes, an outspoken antisemite and racist who is one of the country’s most prominent young white supremacists, at Mr. Trump’s private club in Florida, advisers to Mr. Trump conceded on Friday. Also at the dinner was the performer Kanye West, who has also been denounced for making antisemitic statements. Mr. West traveled to meet with Mr. Trump at the club, Mar-a-Lago, and brought Mr. Fuentes along, the advisers said. The fourth attendee at the four-person dinner, Karen Giorno — a veteran political operative who worked on Mr. Trump’s 2016 campaign as his state director in Florida — also confirmed that Mr. Fuentes was there. Attempts to reach Mr. Fuentes through an intermediary on Friday were unsuccessful.” [New York Times, 11/25/22]
Trump Spokesperson Liz Harrington Said Trump Would Not “Shy Away From Meeting With Kanye West Because He's Had A Relationship With Him In The Past.” According to Raw Story, “Liz Harrington, a spokesperson for Donald Trump, was grilled this week after the former president dined with a white supremacist. During a Monday interview with Harrington, right-wing host David Brody could not hide his disapproval of Trump's dinner date with white nationalist Nick Fuentes and rapper Ye. ‘There are a lot of Trump supporters and these are people that want Donald Trump to win the nomination, want to see him back in the White House; we're talking about the MAGA crowd, the true blue MAGA folks, and the only concern they would have is, like, why does even Nick Fuentes — how does he even get on to Mar-a-Lago's property?’ Brody wondered. ‘I mean, just the vetting on all of that,’ he continued. ‘Because he said some really horrible stuff about the Jews and I think that — and this is from friends. This is not from Chuck Todd and these guys. But I think MAGA folks want to know, like, hey, look, if you've got DeSantis or some other people coming at Trump, you know, this is not the type of stuff that he really needs and these are people that are MAGA friends that want to see him do well. They just don't want people like Nick Fuentes and others in his orbit.’ Harrington, however, was defiant. ‘Look, a lot of people don't even know who this person is and President Trump was one of them,’ she replied. ‘Several people on the staff I don't think knew who this person was.’ ‘They did not know that Kanye was bringing anyone else,’ Harrington insisted. ‘Again, Kanye West is very controversial, obviously. But President Trump's not going to, you know, shy away from meeting with Kanye West because he's had a relationship with him in the past.’” [Raw Story, 11/29/22]
Trump Told Nick Fuentes “You’re A Smart Guy.” According to HuffPost, “‘You can’t win!’ Trump yelled at Ye, Montgomery recalled. ‘I have a base of 125 million people! You can’t win.’ Trump looked at Fuentes, urging him, ‘You’ve got to tell him the truth, you’re a smart guy, you’ve got to tell him the truth that he can’t win!’ He told Giorno, ‘Yeah, you’ll get consulting fees off of this, but you’ve got to tell him the truth that he can’t win!’” [Huffpost, 12/2/22]
Trump Allies And Donors Allegedly Tried To Convince Trump To Denounce West, But Were Unsuccessful. According to Rolling Stone, “Republican Jewish activists, leaders, and perennial GOP donors are waging a behind-the-scenes pressure campaign to force Donald Trump into denouncing and disowning rapper Kanye West, Trump’s on-and-off friend and political supporter. It’s not working. According to three sources with knowledge of the matter, this multi-pronged — and so far unsuccessful — effort to get Trump to denounce West follows the ex-president’s ‘Nazi’ Mar-a-Lago dinner last month with the anti-Semitism-spewing, Hitler-lauding West and fascist youth leader Nick Fuentes.” [Rolling Stone, 12/7/22]
Trump Reportedly Lashed Out At Allies Who Questioned His Support For West, And Instead Pivoted To His Accomplishments “For The Jewish People.” According to Rolling Stone, “High-profile Jewish Trump supporters and conservative pro-Israel donors have angrily demanded an audience with the ex-president. Some have managed to get on the phone with Trump, only to be told that the former president has supposedly done all he can, and that he’s already done so much “for the Jewish people” and Israel. ‘I begged him, and it didn’t work…as expected,’ one of these individuals, who spoke to Trump, recounts to Rolling Stone.” [Rolling Stone, 12/7/22]
Sources Said That Trump Refused To Disavow Nick Fuentes After Their Dinner Because He Was Worried He Might Alienate Part Of His Base. According to the Guardian, “Donald Trump repeatedly refused to disavow the outspoken antisemite and white supremacist Nick Fuentes after they spoke over dinner at his Mar-a-Lago resort, rejecting the advice from advisers over fears he might alienate a section of his base, two people familiar with the situation said. The former US president was urged publicly and privately to denounce Fuentes in the aftermath of the dinner, which included the performer Ye, previously known as Kanye West, who has also recently been propagating antisemitic remarks. But Trump eschewed making outright disavowals of Fuentes, the people said, and none of the statements from the campaign or on his Truth Social account included criticism of Fuentes, despite efforts from advisers who reached Trump over the Thanksgiving holiday.” [Guardian, 11/28/22]
Republican Jewish Organizations And Figures Spoke Out Against Trump’s Dinner. According to the New York Times, “For much of Donald J. Trump’s presidency, Jewish Republicans rationalized away the bigoted fringe of Mr. Trump’s coalition, arguing that the unsavory supporters in his midst and the antisemitic tropes he deployed paled in comparison with the staunchly pro-Israel policies of his administration. But last week, Mr. Trump dined at his Palm Beach palace, Mar-a-Lago, with the performer Kanye West, who had already been denounced for making antisemitic statements, and with Nick Fuentes, an outspoken antisemite and Holocaust denier, granting the antisemitic fringe a place of honor at his table. Now, even some of Mr. Trump’s staunchest supporters say they can no longer ignore the abetting of bigotry by the nominal leader of the Republican Party. ‘I am a child of survivors. I have become very frightened for my people,’ Morton Klein, head of the right-wing Zionist Organization of America, said on Monday, referring to his parents’ survival of the Holocaust. ‘Donald Trump is not an antisemite. He loves Israel. He loves Jews. But he mainstreams, he legitimizes Jew hatred and Jew haters. And this scares me.’ Not all Republican leaders have spoken out, but Jewish Republicans are slowly peeling away from a former president who, for years, insisted he had no ties to the bigoted far right, but refused to repudiate it. Jewish figures and organizations that have stood by Mr. Trump, from Mr. Klein’s group to the pro-Trump commentator Ben Shapiro to Mr. Trump’s own former ambassador to Israel and onetime bankruptcy lawyer, David M. Friedman, have all spoken out since the dinner.” [New York Times, 11/28/22]
Trump Appeared To Agree With A Radio Host That Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff Was “A Crappy Jew.” According to the Associated Press, “Former President Donald Trump in an interview on Tuesday claimed Vice President Kamala Harris, who is married to a Jewish man, ‘doesn’t like Jewish people’ and seemed to agree with a radio host who called second gentleman Doug Emhoff ‘a crappy Jew.’ Trump, in an interview on WABC radio on Tuesday, claimed Harris looked uncomfortable while meeting last week with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. […] The interview host, Sid Rosenberg, then mentioned Harris’ husband, second gentleman Doug Emhoff and said, ‘He’s Jewish like Bernie Sanders is Jewish. Are you kidding me?’ ‘Yeah,’ Trump said. ‘He’s a crappy Jew,’ Rosenberg said, continuing. ‘Yeah,’ Trump said again. Rosenberg went on, saying of Emhoff, ‘He’s a horrible Jew.’” [Associated Press, 7/30/24]
Trump Said Vice President Harris “Doesn’t Like Jewish People,” Despite Being Married To A Jewish Man. According to the Associated Press, “‘You can see the disdain,’ he said, adding, ‘No. 1, she doesn’t like Israel. No. 2, she doesn’t like Jewish people. You know it, I know it and everybody knows it and nobody wants to say it.’” [Associated Press, 7/30/24]
Trump Said That Any Jewish Person That Voted For The Democratic Ticket “Should Have Their Head Examined.” According to the New York Times, “In the interview, on ‘Fox & Friends,’ Mr. Trump repeated an attack that he has made many times before and that has been criticized as antisemitic, saying any Jewish person who voted for Democrats 'should have their head examined.’” [New York Times, 8/7/24]
Trump Again Said That Jews Who Vote For Harris Should Have Their Head Examined. According to the Jerusalem Post, “Any Jewish person who votes for Kamala Harris in the US Presidential elections should have their ‘head examined,’ Republican candidate Donald Trump told Elon Musk in an interview on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, on Monday.” [Jerusalem Post, 8/13/24]
Trump Said Any Jewish Voter Who Voted Democratic Was “A Fool, An Absolute Fool.” According to the Associated Press, “In the interview, the Republican former president repeated comments he has made before lashing out at Jewish voters who back Democrats, saying anyone who does ‘should have their head examined’ and ‘if you’re Jewish, if you vote for a Democrat, you’re a fool, an absolute fool. They have let Jewish people down since Obama at a level that nobody could believe.’ As Trump continued on, he again said of Harris, ‘She dislikes Jewish people and Israel even more than Biden did.’” [Associated Press, 7/30/24]
Trump Blasted Jewish Americans That Supported Democrats
Trump Blamed The Jewish People For “Voting For The Enemy.” According to the New York Times, “Former President Donald J. Trump, speaking on Thursday at a campaign event in Washington centered on denouncing antisemitism in America, said that ‘if I don’t win this election,’ then ‘the Jewish people would have a lot to do with a loss.’ Mr. Trump repeated that assertion at a second event, this one focused on Israeli Americans, where he blamed Jews whom he described as ‘voting for the enemy,’ for the hypothetical destruction of Israel that he insisted would happen if he lost in November.” [New York Times, 9/19/24]
Trump Called Jews Who Voted For Democrats “Fools” That Needed Their “Head Examined.” According to The Hill, “The Republican presidential nominee disparaged the estimated 60 percent of American Jews as ‘fools’ who should have their ‘head examined’ if they vote for the Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Harris.” [The Hill, 9/19/24]
Trump Berated Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro As “The Highly Overrated Jewish Governor” From Pennsylvania. According to The Hill, “Former President Trump jabbed Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) late Wednesday for what he called a ‘really bad’ speech at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. Shapiro delivered an impassioned speech Wednesday night, warning that the former president would strip Americans of their rights and freedoms if he won the White House in November. Trump responded to the speech on social media, criticizing the Pennsylvania governor and Vice President Harris for doing ‘nothing’ for Israel amid the ongoing war in Gaza. ‘The highly overrated Jewish Governor of the Great Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro, made a really bad and poorly delivered speech talking about freedom and fighting for Comrade Kamala Harris for President,’ Trump wrote overnight on Truth Social. He added, ‘yet she hates Israel and will do nothing but make its journey through the complexities of survival as difficult as possible, hoping in the end that it will fail.’ The former president also said Shapiro ‘refused to acknowledge that I am the best friend that Israel, and the Jewish people, ever had.’ His comments come after Republicans claimed Harris did not select Shapiro as her running mate because of his faith — an argument many Jewish Democrats have pushed back on. ‘I have done more for Israel than any President, and frankly, I have done more for Israel than any person, and it’s not even close. Shapiro has done nothing for Israel, and never will,’ the former president continued in his post. ‘Comrade Kamala Harris, the Radical Left Marxist who stole the nomination from Crooked Joe, will do even less. Israel is in BIG trouble!’” [The Hill, 8/22/24]