In a Sunday morning appearance on NBC‘s Meet the Press, Senator Lindsey Graham gave former President Donald Trump some advice on how to increase his support among Jewish voters ahead of the 2024 presidential election.
At an Israeli American Council event on Thursday, Trump, the Republican nominee, said, “I’ll put it to you very simply and as gently as I can: I wasn’t treated properly by the voters who happen to be Jewish. I don’t know. Do they know what the hell is happening if I don’t win this election? And the Jewish people would really have a lot to do with that if that happens, because, at 40 percent, that means 60 percent of the people are voting for the enemy.”
Trump’s statements were criticized online by prominent Jewish figures such as Andrew Weinstein, an attorney who serves as a public delegate of the United States at the United Nations.
Donald Trump speaks before Jewish donors at an event titled “Fighting Anti-Semitism in America” on September 19, 2024, in Washington D.C. (Inset) Senator Lindsey Graham. The South Carolina Republican senator has offered some advice to Trump on how to garner support among Jewish voters.
AFP/Getty Images
“This is vile and dangerous and should be condemned by all Americans,” Weinstein wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “Antisemitic rhetoric like this makes Jews less safe.”
The former president also said Thursday at the “Fighting Anti-Semitism in America” event in Washington D.C., that Jewish people who vote for Vice President Kamala Harris in November should have their “head examined,” a statement he has made repeatedly.
“I really haven’t been treated right, but you haven’t been treated right because you’re putting yourself in great danger, and the United States hasn’t been treated right,” Trump added Thursday. “I’m not going to call this as a prediction, but in my opinion, the Jewish people would have a lot to do with the loss.”
On Meet the Press, Graham, a staunch Trump ally, encouraged the former president to focus on persuading Jewish voters on the issues.
“I’m sure Jewish American voters are concerned about the same things as all voters are. To the Jewish American, I’m sure they do care about Israel. there’s been no better friend of Israel [than the U.S.],” Graham told host Kristen Welker.
He continued, “Talk about crime, talk about inflation, talk about border. That’s the way you persuade people in this country. We have an obligation to persuade people to vote for us.”
Newsweek emailed the Trump campaign on Sunday morning for comment.
The Trump team has made winning over Jewish voters in swing states a key part of its 2024 strategy.
For decades, the demographic has leaned heavily toward Democrats, with a recent Jewish Democratic Council of America poll showing Harris had the support of 72 percent of Jewish people, compared to 25 percent for Trump.
While appealing to Jewish voters, Trump has often cited his strong support for Israel.
This includes moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in 2018, meaning that the U.S. officially recognized the holy city as Israel’s capital. Both Israelis and Palestinians consider Jerusalem their first city.
Harris and President Joe Biden‘s administration have said Israel has the “right to defend itself” amid its conflict with the Palestinian militant group Hamas, while also pushing for a ceasefire and a deal to release the hostages taken during the conflict.
In addition, two recent “Nazi” controversies could harm Trump’s plan to appeal to Jewish voters.
On Thursday, CNN reported that North Carolina gubernatorial hopeful Mark Robinson, who Trump had endorsed, allegedly described himself as a “Black Nazi” on a pornographic messageboard site several years ago.
Robinson is accused of writing in 2012 that he would “take Hitler” over the Barack Obama administration. The Republican, who is hoping to become North Carolina’s first Black governor, also said he wished slavery would make a return, adding: “I would certainly buy a few.” Robinson has denied the allegations as “salacious tabloid trash.”
The claims arrived days after NPR reported that Trump’s golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, has twice featured events where a man convicted over the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol who federal prosecutors described as a “white supremacist and Nazi sympathizer” gave speeches.
Timothy Hale-Cusanelli was released from prison in December 2023 after being sentenced to four years in September 2022 for five offenses, including a felony charge for obstruction of an official proceeding. He is said to have appeared at two fundraising events at Trump’s golf course hosted by a group that supports Capitol riot defendants.
