Former president Donald Trump said on Saturday that there has “never been a more dangerous time since the Holocaust” to be Jewish in the U.S., referring to the raging antisemitism in the wake of the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel.
The Republican presidential nominee made the remark after he claimed Vice President Kamala Harris snubbed Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro as her running mate because he’s Jewish.
“They turned him down because he’s Jewish,” Trump said during his campaign rally in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., doubling down on the accusation he made earlier this month. “Now, we can be politically correct and not say that. I could say, ‘Well, they turned him down for various reasons.’ No, no. They turned him down because he’s Jewish.”
Shapiro himself has denied the claim, saying “antisemitism had no impact” on Harris’s selection of Minnesota governor Tim Walz as the Democratic vice-presidential nominee. The Harris campaign said something similar, calling the claim “absurd” and “absolutely ridiculous and offensive.”
Working hard to court Jewish voters, Trump has often criticized President Joe Biden for responding weakly to antisemitism amid the widespread anti-Israel protests on college and university campuses this spring. Trump has also slammed the Biden administration’s months-long push for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas.
The former president said any Jewish person in their right mind should vote for him rather than Harris this election cycle.
“Any Jewish person that votes for her or a Democrat has to go out and have their head examined,” he continued, echoing a statement he made in a Fox & Friends phone interview on August 7.
A poll at the time showed Trump having a slight, one-point edge over Harris among likely Jewish voters in New York, which has one of the largest Jewish populations in the U.S.
“If you see what’s happening with Israel and Jewish people right now, there has never been a more dangerous time since the Holocaust if you happen to be Jewish in America,” Trump remarked Saturday night. “I’m seeing things, I can’t even believe it.”
He noted that there will be “nothing but riots” in Chicago during the Democratic National Convention, set to start on Monday. About 100,000 anti-Israel protesters are expected to descend on the DNC this week, according to the New York Post.
Chicago police superintendent Larry Snelling has said his officers have been trained to quell riots if any break out. Snelling hopes to avoid violence in the coming days.
Among the protest groups in attendance will be the Coalition to March on the DNC, whose main demand is to end U.S. aid to Israel amid the war in Gaza. Anti-Israel protesters plan to march for one mile on Monday and Thursday to coincide with the start and end of the four-day convention.