Trump Says Jewish Democrats Hate Their Religion and Israel

(Bloomberg) -- Donald Trump accused Jews who support Democrats of hating their religion and Israel, resurfacing an attack he made as president on many Jewish Americans.

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Trump said Jews who back Democrats “hate Israel” during an interview on former White House aide Sebastian Gorka’s online radio show published Monday. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee was asked about recent criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, which President Joe Biden endorsed.

“Any Jewish person that votes for Democrats hates their religion,” Trump continued. “They hate everything about Israel, and they should be ashamed of themselves because Israel will be destroyed.”

Jewish groups and Democrats condemned Trump’s comments, which play on an antisemitic trope that Jewish Americans share a dual loyalty to Israel — a theme Trump has touched on for years. Trump’s campaign refused to back down, with spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt saying in response the former president is “right” and that Democrats have “turned into a full-blown anti-Israel, anti-Semitic, pro-terrorist cabal.“

Trump accused Democrats on Monday of failing to support Israel because they want “votes more than anything else” from people who sympathize with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and have demonstrated against Israel’s war against Hamas.

“Guys like Schumer see that, and to him it’s votes,” Trump said. “He was always pro-Israel. He’s very anti-Israel now.”

Schumer said Trump “is making highly partisan and hateful rants.”

“To make Israel a partisan issue only hurts Israel and the US-Israeli relationship,” he posted on X. “I am working in a bipartisan way to ensure the US-Israeli relationship sustains for generations to come, buoyed by peace in the Middle East.”

Democrats Respond

Trump’s comments come after a frosty period between Netanyahu and Biden as the US president has stepped up criticism of Israel’s military strategy in Gaza. The two men spoke by phone Monday for the first time in a month and are making plans for their teams to meet Washington in the coming days.

Read More: Biden and Bibi Back Off Their Feud But Suspicion Lingers at Home

As president, Trump drew widespread backlash in 2019 when he said Jews were “disloyal” to themselves and Israel when they voted for Democrats. Roughly seven in 10 Jewish Americans identify with Democrats, polls show.

“Accusing Jews of hating their religion because they might vote for a particular party is defamatory & patently false,” Jonathan Greenblatt, chief executive officer of the Anti-Defamation League, posted on X, formerly Twitter.

“Trump is going to lose again this November because Americans are sick of his hateful resentment, personal attacks, and extreme agenda,” Biden campaign spokesman James Singer said in a statement.

Trump’s comments are the latest in a string of incendiary rhetoric he has used against minorities and immigrants. He has said immigrants are “poisoning the blood” of the country, a line that echoes Adolf Hitler’s call to eliminate Jews before the Holocaust. He’s also recently said migrants accused of crimes are “not people,” suggested Black people support him because of his criminal indictments and warned of a “bloodbath” if he loses the November election.

Trump and his allies have accused Democrats of sensationalizing the “bloodbath” remark, claiming that he was talking only about the future of the auto industry if he wasn’t elected.

The former president drew fire shortly after announcing his run for the White House in November 2022 when he dined with Nick Fuentes, a White nationalist and Holocaust denier. Fuentes was brought to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago in Florida resort by Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, who has praised Hitler and made antisemitic comments.

--With assistance from Stephanie Lai.

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