Trump’s Divisive Statements: The Link Between Jewish Voters and Election Losses

Trump once again targeted Jews who voted for Democrats, saying that the party had a “hold, or curse, on you.” He made this statement as he was speaking at a campaign rally that condemned antisemitism in the United States.

He stated that “if I don’t win this election,” then “the Jewish people would have a lot to do with a loss.” This statement was made by former President Donald J. Trump on Thursday, during a campaign rally in Washington that was concentrated on denouncing antisemitism in the United States.

At a second rally, which focused on Israeli Americans, Mr. Trump repeated that allegation. At this event, he blamed Jews, whom he referred to as “voting for the enemy,” for the hypothetical annihilation of Israel that he insisted would occur if he were to lose the election which took place in November.

A lengthy airing of Mr. Trump’s complaints against Jewish Americans who have not voted for him was provided on Thursday by the president. Before stating that the Democratic Party had a “hold, or curse,” on Jewish Americans and that he should be getting “100 percent” of Jewish votes due of his stance on Israel, he did not hesitate to reiterate his condemnation of Jews who voted for the Democratic Party.

A pattern that Mr. Trump has lamented on multiple occasions this year as he attempts to chip away at their longstanding association with Democrats is the fact that Jews, who make up just over 2 percent of the population in the United States, are considered to be one of the most dependably liberal communities in the country.

Mr. Trump has asserted that Israel will “cease to exist” within a few years if he does not win the election in November, despite the fact that he spins an apocalyptic vision of America on multiple occasions during his campaigning this year. He has pointed to the atrocity that took place on October 7 and to the war in Gaza.

During his earlier speech on Thursday, he stated, “With all that I have done for Israel, I received only 24 percent of the Jewish vote.” He was speaking to an audience of notable Republican Jews, including Miriam Adelson, a megadonor who is a big benefactor to Trump, as well as MPs that were present at the campaign event. “I really haven’t been treated very well, but it’s the story of my life,” Mr. Trump continued the statement by saying.

The lieutenant governor of North Carolina, Mark Robinson, was not mentioned by Mr. Trump at any point throughout his addresses. CNN claimed that Mr. Robinson, the Republican nominee for governor, had once advocated slavery and dubbed himself a “black NAZI” on a pornographic forum. This led to Mr. Robinson coming under assault from the media when CNN reported this information. During one of his campaigns, Mr. Trump praised him and referred to him as “Martin Luther King on steroids.”

But as Mr. Trump was speaking, he made a comment about how, in the past, “if you said something about a Jewish person or something about Israel that was bad, you were out of politics.” He was, in fact, lamenting the loss of the pro-Israel lobby over the course of the past 15 years.

Comments made by Mr. Trump that either insulted Jewish Democrats or drew on antisemitic stereotypes have generated a great deal of criticism on multiple occasions. It was condemned for conjuring a long-standing cliche that suggests Jews have a “dual loyalty” and are frequently more loyal to Israel than they are to their own nations. During his administration, he made the accusation that American Jews who did not support him were disloyal. When Mr. Trump was asked openly on Thursday why he was not receiving greater support from American Jews for his foreign policy concerning Israel, he returned to that topic and asked how it was possible.

In 2022, Mr. Trump was subjected to severe criticism for having a meal with Nick Fuentes, a prominent white supremacist and ardent antisemite, shortly after he began his campaign for the presidency in 2024.. The far-right activist Laura Loomer, who is renowned for making antisemitic, homophobic, transphobic, anti-Muslim, and occasionally antisemitic statements, accompanied Mr. Trump on a trip earlier this month.

The former president also consistently downplayed the violence that took place at a white supremacist gathering in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017, which took place during his term as president. This tragedy took place earlier this year. In the aftermath of the events that took place in Charlottesville, Mr. Trump asserted that there were “very fine people on both sides,” implying that there was a moral equivalence between the white supremacists wearing swastikas, Confederate flags, and “Trump-Pence” placards and the nonviolent counterprotesters.

Also, during his previous speech on Thursday, Mr. Trump rattled off a list of antisemitic incidents and hate crimes against Jews, notably on college campuses. He attempted to link these occurrences to Vice President Kamala Harris, his Democratic opponent, and asserted that Ms. Harris “hates Israel.” Most of these incidents occurred on college campuses.

Mr. Trump, on the other hand, presented himself to Jewish people as “your defender, your protector,” and declared himself to be “the best friend Jewish Americans have ever had in the White House.”

Near the close of his speech, Mr. Trump made the statement, “I am the one that is protecting you.” He went on to say, regarding Democrats, that “these are the people that are going to destroy you.”

In a later speech, Mr. Trump made reference to the Holocaust while he was addressing at the summit of the Israeli American Council. He compared the current geopolitical moment to the time period that preceded the methodical murder of six million Christians. According to him, if Ms. Harris were to win the election in November, “you will have the most anti-Israel president by far.” He followed by saying this.

The claims made by Mr. Trump were refuted by Morgan Finkelstein, a spokeswoman for the Harris campaign. She stated that Ms. Harris “stands steadfastly against antisemitism both at home and abroad and will do the same on the job as president.”