WASHINGTON — Ahead of the first anniversary of the Oct. 7 terrorist attack against Israel, former President Donald Trump challenged Vice President Kamala Harris to condemn Hamas, the group behind the violence.
“I am calling on Kamala Harris to officially disavow the support of all Hamas sympathizers,” Trump said while speaking to an intimate crowd at the Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill on Thursday evening.
“But she won’t do it,” Trump said of his challenge to the vice president.
The “Fighting Anti-Semitism in America” event was hosted in partnership with Miriam Adelson, the billionaire Israeli American GOP donor and widow of Sheldon Adelson. It comes before another Washington event Trump and Miriam Adelson are attending Thursday evening with the Israeli American Council.
The Hamas attack against Israel on Oct. 7 was the “worst attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust,” Trump told the mostly Jewish crowd of supporters.
He used the remarks to excoriate Harris for doing “absolutely nothing” to help Jewish Americans as college students have hosted pro-Palestinian protests on campuses. “She has not lifted a single finger to protect you or to protect your children or to even protect you with words,” Trump cautioned.
In contrast, Trump would “inform every college president that if they don’t end antisemitism they will lose accreditation” in his first week back in office, he said.
Harris has repeatedly voiced support for Israel’s right to defend itself, and she also expressed sympathy for innocent Palestinians who have been killed as the battle in Gaza continues.
The war in Gaza has brought tensions between progressive Democrats, who have pushed for the U.S. to stop funding Israel, and establishment Democrats, who are hesitant to end any funding to the beleaguered nation.
On Thursday, the “uncommitted” movement, which has pushed for a ceasefire deal, declined to endorse Harris and also urged supporters not to vote for Trump either. During the Democratic primary when President Joe Biden was the nominee, the group had organized supporters in several states to vote uncommitted in a sign of its disapproval of the Democrats’ handling of the Gaza war.
Trump reprised his claim that had he been president, the attack “would have never happened,” and he questioned the rationale of some Jewish Americans who are backing Harris’s presidential campaign.
“Any Jewish person who votes for her or the Democratic Party should have their head examined,” Trump warned while claiming his administration would be one of Israel’s strongest allies.
“My promise to Jewish Americans is this, with your vote, I will be your defender, your protector, and I will be the best friend Jewish Americans have ever had in the White House,” he said.
During his rare visit to the nation’s capital, Trump specifically thanked fellow GOP lawmakers, including Sens. Rick Scott (R-FL), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Bill Haggerty (R-TN), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), and Joni Ernst (R-IA), along with Reps. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), Ronny Jackson (R-TX), Virginia Foxx (R-NC), and Byron Donalds (R-FL), who were in attendance.
Miriam Adelson, in her brief remarks before Trump spoke, also implored those in the audience to support Trump, citing the antisemitism that has spread in the United States.
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“The world is changing fast and not always for the better,” she warned.
But citing Trump’s support of Israel, Miriam Adelson said, “You should already have made up your mind on who to vote for: Donald J. Trump.”
