Donald Trump tells Jews to ‘be loyal,’ without mentioning Kanye West
Former President Donald Trump told a crowd of Orthodox Jews on Friday that “you have to be loyal” to pro-Israel politicians like him, not to mention his controversial dinner last month with anti-Semites. Holocaust deniers Kanye West and Nick Fuentes.
Trump, 76, received multiple standing ovations during a 26-minute address at a conference of teachers and social workers hosted by Torah Umesorah, the National Society of Hebrew Day Schools at his Trump National Doral Miami golf resort.
Trump spent much of his remarks rattling off a list of his pro-Israel achievements, including moving the US embassy to Jerusalem, recognizing Israel’s annexation of the Golan Heights, scrapping the interstate nuclear deal United States and Iran and supervision of the Recognition of Israel by four Arab states as part of the Abraham Accords brokered by his son-in-law and Jewish adviser Jared Kushner.
But Trump also complained bitterly about not getting a bigger chunk of the Jewish vote in 2020, when his narrow defeat in a handful of swing states sealed his defeat in the Electoral College.
“I got 25% of the Jewish vote the first time [in 2016]. And the second time, with all the stuff I did, I got 26%,” Trump told his audience. “It doesn’t make sense for Jews and people who love Israel to get a Democrat.”
Trump is seeking a second non-consecutive term in the 2024 election, but faces potentially tough competition for the Republican nomination, including from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who met Thursday with Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Michael Herzog.
“I just want to give you a little piece of advice: I think it’s very important, because I see what’s happening in Congress: 10 years ago, 12 years ago, 15 years ago, Israel had a tremendous friend in Congress. They don’t have a friend in Congress today,” Trump said.
“Today Congress is almost anti-Israeli, I would say, with COC plus threewith all these people that are in there that hate Israel with a passion. And you have to treat your friends with respect. You have to treat your friends with dignity. And you have to be loyal to those friends, because the friends are no longer there for Israel like they used to be.”
Trump proceeded to abruptly end his remarks as he received a standing ovation in praise of himself.
“There is a group that is very opposed to Israel and, frankly, the Jewish people and you just can’t let that happen. So when you have an ally, and I think I’m the best ally you’ve ever had,” Trump said before being interrupted by applause.
The former president added before getting off the stage: “thank you all, thank you very much.”
Trump made no mention of his decision to dine at his Mar-a-Lago club with West last month despite a spate of recent anti-Jewish comments. West brought in Fuentes and later claimed that Trump was impressed by the 24-year-old fan.
Trump was reportedly infuriated that the rapper, who is also purporting to be a 2024 presidential candidate, “tried to fuck me” and insisted that he did not know who Fuentes was before the meeting. West went on to give an increasingly deranged series of interviews, even saying “I love Hitler” to conspiracy theorist Alex Jones
Trump’s own emphasis on urging American Jews to show greater loyalty to him has been criticized by Democrats.
white house press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre accused Trump of being “anti-Semitic” in October when the wrote on social media:: “No president has done more for Israel than me. Surprisingly, however, our wonderful evangelicals appreciate this much more than people of Jewish faith, especially those living in the US. Those living in Israel, however, are a different story: highest approval rating in the world could easily be PM! American Jews need to get their act together and appreciate what they have in Israel, before it’s too late!”