Trump says Jews will be partly to blame if he loses election

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

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 40 percent, I mean, 60 percent 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 percent among American Jews. He also lamented winning less than 30 percent 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 percent to 34 percent.