Trump doubles down on controversial Jewish voters' comments after casting primary ballot
PALM BEACH — Donald Trump cast a vote for himself in Tuesday's Florida primary, then doubled down on his recent controversial comments about Jewish voters.
Earlier this week, Trump, in a broadcast interview conducted by one of his former White House aides, Sebastian Gorka, said any Jewish voter who backs Democratic Party candidates "hates Israel" and "hates their religion."
He stuck by those comments after voting, in person, with former first lady Melania Trump at the Morton and Barbara Mandel Recreation Center in his town of Palm Beach just after 4 p.m.
"I think that the Democrats have been very, very opposed to the Jewish people, that's true, and to Israel," he said before pushing back on comments that U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-New York, made over the weekend.
More: Melania Trump joins former president as they cast votes in Palm Beach on Florida primary day
Senate leader Schumer, like Trump, has been critical of Israeli PM Netanyahu
Schumer, the Senate Majority leader, criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying Israelis would be better off with new elections and that many "have lost their confidence in the vision and direction of their government.”
Trump said Schumer's statements were ill-advised.
"I think Israel will not probably forget it very soon, it's a very sad situation," Trump said of Schumer's comments, although he, too, was critical of Netanyahu in a speech in West Palm Beach last October in which he discussed how the Israeli government had backed out of an attack on an Iranian general in January 2020.
Trump insisted he was "doing very well" with Jewish voters and lauded his administration's policies toward the staunch Middle East ally saying he "was by far the best for Israel."
Trump did not address a weekend controversy about his warning that a "bloodbath" would follow if he is not elected in November. The comment received scathing criticism, but on Monday Trump said in a social media post that he was referring to the demise of the U.S. auto industry.
What did he mean by 'bloodbath'? Trump blasts coverage of his 'bloodbath' remarks saying he was talking about auto industry
Is Trump going to hire back Paul Manafort?
Trump also said Tuesday he was unaware of plans by his campaign to hire Paul Manafort.
"I don't know anything about it," he said. "But he was another person that was treated badly. He was a patriot."
Trump did leave the door open saying "we'll see what happens with that."
Manafort briefly served as Trump's campaign chairman during his successful 2016 presidential run. Manafort, a Palm Beach Gardens resident, was indicted in 2017 as part of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian interference in the previous year's presidential election. On Monday, various news organizations reported that Manafort and the Trump campaign were in discussions about his return.
"We have a lot of people involved in the campaign, they're doing a tremendous job," Trump added. "Based on the polls we're doing extremely well."
The former president also railed at the four-month prison sentence his one-time White House aide Peter Navarro began serving on Tuesday in Miami.
Navarro, who grew up in Palm Beach County, was a key player in the effort to overturn the 2020 election in Congress on Jan. 6, 2021. He was convicted of contempt of Congress for not complying with a subpoena issued by U.S. House committee that investigated the violence at the U.S. Capitol that day.
"It's a disgrace," Trump said, lauding Navarro for working on key trade deals negotiated by his one-term administration. "They treated him very badly."
Antonio Fins is a politics and business editor at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at [email protected]. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Trump doubles down on Jewish voter comment, unaware of Paul Manafort deal
