WASHINGTON: Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said on Thursday that Jewish-American voters would be partly to blame if he loses the Nov 5 election to Vice President Kamala Harris.

During comments to the Israeli-American Council National Summit in Washington, the former president lamented that he was trailing Harris among American Jews. Israel would likely cease to exist within two years should Harris win the election, and Jews would be partly to blame for that outcome because they tend to vote for Democrats, Trump argued.

“If I don’t win this election _ and the Jewish people would really have a lot to do with that if that happens because if 40pc, I mean, 60pc of the people are voting for the enemy _ Israel, in my opinion, will cease to exist within two years,” Trump told the crowd.

Trump was citing a poll that he said showed Harris polling at 60 per cent among American Jews. He also lamented winning less than 30 per cent of the vote among American Jews in the 2016 election, which he won, and the 2020 election, which he lost to Democratic President Joe Biden.

It was not clear what poll the former president was citing, but a recent Pew Research Survey found American Jews favor Harris over Trump, 65 per cent to 34 per cent.

Trump made similar comments at a separate summit earlier in the evening, also in Washington, which was dedicated to fighting antisemitism in America.

The Trump campaign has made winning over Jewish voters in key battleground states a priority. US Jews have leaned heavily towards Democrats in federal elections for decades and continue to do so, but just a small shift in the Jewish vote could determine the winner in November.

Published in Dawn, September 21st, 2024