President Donald Trump told a gathering of Jewish leaders at his estate in Bedminster, New Jersey, on Thursday evening that his rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, is “pandering” to antisemitism instead of “expunging” it.
Trump described antisemitism on college campuses as “loco,” and said that Jewish leaders like Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) had led to a decline of Jewish leadership in the United States, to the point where politicians who hate Israel and the Jewish people could become prominent representatives within the Democratic Party.
Vice President Harris has faced criticism in recent weeks for passing over Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro as her running mate because he is Jewish and pro-Israel. She has also hired anti-Israel advisers. Trump also noted that she had avoided Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to a special joint session of Congress last month, and that she had supported President Joe Biden’s bad policies, such as removing the Houthis from the terror list.
He noted that “hundreds of thousands” of people would be arriving in Chicago to protest against Israel at the Democratic National Convention next week.
Jews had to make a difference by changing their voting behavior, he said, and voting for him and for Republicans. “You vote by habit for Democrats. … You have to stop. You have to be smart.”
“There will be no jihad coming to America under Trump,” he quipped, describing Kamala Harris as “the candidate of those who want to destroy western civilization and Israel.”
He said that her “weakness” and “indulgence” of the enemies of Israel and America encouraged the Hamas terror attack of October 7, which he said would not have happened if he had remained president.
When he returned to office, Trump said, he would allow Israel to win its war against terror.
Trump also blasted the antisemitism in America’s cities and on college campuses — “What’s going on now is exactly what was going on before the Holocaust,” he said — and noted that Kamala Harris had praised the “emotion” of anti-Israel protests.
“This is a radical-left lunatic that we have running for office,” he said of his rival.
So, too, was Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, he said, noting that Harris’s running mate had praised a Hitler-supporting imam.
If Harris and Walz won, Trump warned, those who hated Israel and Jews would be running the U.S. government, including foreign policy.
If he won, Trump said, he would put colleges on notice that if they did not stop antisemitism on campus, they would lose their accreditation and their federal funding.
“As your president, I will, once again, stand with the State of Israel. I will protect [the] American Jewish community,” he concluded. “I will put America first. I will keep America safe, and I will defend Judeo-Christian civilization from the barbarian savages and the left-wing extremists who want to destroy it.”
The gathering was well-attended by Jewish notables from across the country, including Boca Raton, Florida, mayor Scott Singer, who was visible in video footage of the event.
One speaker noted the hostile climate on college campuses reminded many Jews of conditions in Germany in the 1930s, and that Jews “would feel more safe walking down the streets of those [Arab] countries” that signed Trump’s Abraham Accords than in the “hallowed halls” of Columbia, Harvard and other elite American universities.
Dr. Miriam Adelson, a physician who specializes in treating addiction, and the widow of the late Republican mega-donor Sheldon Adelson, addressed the gathering, telling attendees of the effect of the terror attack of October 7 on Israel. She lamented the antisemitism that had arisen after the attack, in a world that had lost its moral compass.
“There is one president, just one, who fully shares the values” of fighting against antisemitism, Adelson said. “That President is Donald Trump.” She went through a list of promises Trump had kept to Israel — moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, withdrawing from the Iran deal, recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, and making peace between Israel and Arab states.
“Politicians make promises,” Adelson continued. “Real leaders keep promises. Which is why President Trump deserves the full support of the entire Jewish people, and of anyone who cares about Israel’s security and prosperity.”
She said that Jews had a duty to make sure Trump won reelection.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of “”The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days,” available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of “The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency,” now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.