Donald Trump on Thursday took pride in the role played by Republicans in the downfall of Harvard’s chancellor following pro-Palestinian protests and attacked his rival, Democrat Kamala Harris, portraying her as a candidate who “hates Israel.” “Israel will not exist in two years if Harris is president,” he said at the annual meeting of the American Israel Council (AIC) held on Thursday evening in Washington. This year, the event focused on denouncing anti-Semitism and recalled the victims and hostages captured by Hamas on October 7.
“If I don’t win this election, in my opinion the Jewish people will have a lot to do with losing it,” Trump warned. Jews are considered one of the most liberal and democratic demographic groups in the United States, and that seems to worry Trump.
Even though the former president has once again called the polls “false,” he is aware that the presidential race remains tight less than 50 days before the election and that is why he is seeking the vote of American-Israelis, as well as Jewish people. A poll del Pew Research Center published on September 9 shows Harris is more popular than Trump among Jewish voters. 65% say they preferred Harris, compared to 34% who favor Trump.
“I was there for years, I gave them billions and billions of dollars. I was the best friend Israel ever had. And yet, in 2020, after doing all these things… now the Jewish people have no excuse,” Trump told the audience, adding: “Now, in the polls I’m around 40%, which means 60% of Jews are going to vote for Kamala or a Democrat, and honestly, they should look at their heads. Those votes may be necessary for us to win.”
Trump has boasted of having achieved the Abraham Accords during his presidency or of having recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and having moved the American embassy there. “I am the one who is protecting you,” said the former president, who has contrasted the Democrats as “the people who are going to destroy you.”
The Republican, who said tonight that he was “the best friend American Jews have ever had in the White House,” justified the white supremacist demonstration that took place that year in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017. During the march, clearly anti-Semitic slogans such as “Jews will not replace us” were chanted and swastikas were displayed. Trump, who was in the White House at the time, downplayed the matter and compared it to anti-racist movements.
There was no comment on the recent escalation of tension between Hezbollah and Israel, although there was also the assertion, already recurrent in his rallies, that the world is “on the brink of a Third World War”. Trump has called the attack on 7 October the “deadliest since the Holocaust”, although he later criticised Harris for wanting to conclude a ceasefire, which also implies the immediate release of the hostages. “Kamala Harris has repeatedly demanded an immediate ceasefire to save Hamas. She wants to save Hamas,” he said. Among the audience were relatives of victims and hostages captured by Hamas during 7 October. One of them was Andrey Kozlov, who was released after eight months in Gaza and whom Trump has invited to come on stage.
Trump has also assured that the Democrat “would consider imposing a total arms embargo against Israel. And that is what she wants to do.” An arms embargo is precisely what the pro-Palestinian demonstrators were protesting at the doors of the Democratic Convention. National security adviser Phil Gordon had already said in early August that Harris would not support such a measure and that she “will always make sure that Israel can defend itself against Iran and terrorist groups backed by Iran.” Weeks later, during her first interview on CNN, it was Harris herself who assured that she would not change the policy of sending weapons to Tel Aviv.
As is becoming a regular part of his arsenal to disqualify his rival, the former president has also made fun of Kamala’s name. “I call her Kamala because if I say Harris, no one knows who I’m talking about.” He has not wasted the opportunity to bring up the border and the immigration issue, although this time he has not spoken about Venezuela or Guatemala, countries he frequently mentions. Trump has accused Harris of “importing migrants from terrorist hotspots and now we have armies of jihadist sympathizers marching shamelessly through our cities.”
He speaker House Rep. Mike Johnson and Rep. Elise Stefanik also attended the event representing the Republican Party. Their presence was no coincidence: Johnson took up the fight against the pro-Palestinian protests that spread across college campuses and called them “anti-Semitic.” Stefanik sits on the Education Committee led by Virginia Foxx and was the one who cornered Harvard Chancellor Claudine Gay when she appeared over the pro-Palestinian protests on her campus.
Gay resigned in the wake of that questioning and tonight Trump has stuck his chest out – and even seemed to be making fun of it -: “[Stefanik] “She totally destroyed the president of Harvard. You’d see her there with her big glasses, those big glasses… and she asked her a simple question, and in the end, she didn’t get a very good answer.”
The tycoon has also accused Harris of allowing “anti-Semitism to spread across America” and has assured that he will withdraw federal funding from those universities that do not end the pro-Palestinian protests. “And to confront the crisis of anti-Semitism in our universities, I will tell the presidents that they must end anti-Semitic propaganda, or they will lose their accreditation and all federal support,” he said.
In recent weeks, American universities have resumed classes with the start of the new academic year. Following the pro-Palestinian protests and encampments in the spring, some institutions have modified their policies on the right to protest. At Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, students need approval from the administration to protest. At Indiana University, demonstrations and “expressive activities” cannot be held between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m.
