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Donald Trump pledged to “remove the Jew haters” as he spoke at an October 7 memorial event at his Trump National Doral Golf Club in Florida – on the first anniversary of the horror attacks on Israel.
Approximately 1,145 people were killed and 251 taken hostage in the Hamas assault on a music festival in southern Israel 12 months ago, which sparked an ongoing conflict in Gaza at the cost of more than 40,000 Palestinian lives.
On Monday, the Republican presidential nominee told his audience at the Doral that he “will defend our American Jewish population.”
“I will protect your communities, your schools, your places of worship and your values. We will remove the jihadist sympathizers and Jew haters,” he said.
“We’re going to remove the Jew haters who do nothing to help our country, they only want to destroy our country.”
Trump did not elaborate on who precisely he was referring to but went on to hit out at the student protests at colleges across the country this year in response to Israel’s campaign in Gaza.
He also alleged, baselessly, that the Democratic party is riddled with antisemitism.
“The anti-Jewish hatred has returned even here in America, in our streets, our media and our college campuses and within the ranks of the Democrat Party, in particular, not in the Republican Party,” he said.
“I will tell you that it’s not in the Republican Party.”
Trump has long touted himself as a friend of Israel, pointing to his ordering that the American embassy be relocated from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem during his presidency, as well as his recognition of the Golan Heights as Israeli territory and the signing of the Abraham Accords – intended to normalize relations between Israel and several Arab nations – as evidence to support the claim.
He returned to that theme on Monday, commenting: “The bond between the United States and Israel is strong and enduring… if and when I’m president of the United States, it will, once again, be stronger and closer than it ever was before.
“We have to win this election. If we don’t win this election, there’s tremendous consequence for everything.”
As he left the stage following the conclusion of his remarks, the disco anthem YMCA by The Village People was blasted out and greeted by Trump with a series of fist pumps to the crowd – a moment that was slammed on social media given the solemn nature of the occasion.
Trump expressed a rather more complicated attitude towards his Jewish allies that same day when he gave an interview to conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt and complained: “I think that Israel has to do one thing. They have to get smart about Trump, because they don’t back me.
“I did more for Israel than anybody. I did more for the Jewish people than anybody. And it’s not reciprocal, as they say, not reciprocal.”
Trump previously sparked an uproar in March this year when he attacked Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer for his criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, declaring: “Any Jewish person that votes for Democrats hates their religion. They hate everything about Israel, and they should be ashamed of themselves because Israel will be destroyed.”
Earlier on Monday, Trump had been in New York City visiting the gravesite of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson at Ohel Chabad-Lubavitch in Queens – considered a sacred site amongst Hasidic Jews – where he wore a yarmulke to pay his respects but gauchely offered to autograph a prayer book.
He subsequently mingled with Rabbis and chatted with right-wing political commentator Ben Shapiro before posing for pictures with a beaming smile and thumbs-up gesture, again appearing to forget the gravity of the moment and memorial setting.
