Donald Trump has stirred religious controversy again in his presidential comeback bid, lashing out at Jewish voters who back President Joe Biden and framing Election Day as a referendum on Christianity’s strength in America.
Jews who support Biden “should have their head examined,” he said.
Trump made his comments Wednesday as part of his continuing criticism of Biden’s reaction to the Israel-Hamas war and of Biden’s support for the rights of transgender persons.
Trump accused Biden of abandoning Israel, according to PBS news.
He added that Election Day would be Christian Visibility Day, a response to the recent Transgender Day of Visibility that fell on Easter Sunday this year, angering many conservative Christians when Biden issued an official recognition.
Speaking in Atlanta ahead of a fundraiser, the presumptive Republican nominee renewed his running criticism of Biden’s reaction to the Israel-Hamas war and the administration’s support for the rights of LGBTQ Americans, including transgender persons.
“Biden has totally lost control of the Israel situation,” said Trump, whose rise in 2016 depended heavily on white Christian conservatives. “Any Jewish person who votes for a Democrat or votes for Biden should have their head examined.”
Trump spoke after Biden last week warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that future U.S. support for Israel’s Gaza war depends on the swift implementation of new steps to protect civilians and aid workers.
The Gaza conflict has sandwiched Biden between conservatives — both Christian and Jewish — who want stalwart support for Netanyahu’s government, and progressives. The matter is important to conservative Christians, among Trump’s most supportive constituencies, who see the political state of Israel as the modern manifestation of God’s chosen people, the Israelites of the Old Testament in the Christian Bible.
Biden’s left flank, though, is dominated by progressives incensed by Israel’s retaliation in Gaza that has resulted in thousands of Palestinian deaths. The president has repeatedly been greeted by protesters throughout his spring travels, and activists have organized votes against Biden in many Democratic primaries, even as he coasts to renomination.
“Jewish Americans do not need to be ‘spoken to’ or threatened by Donald Trump,” said Biden spokesman James Singer. “This is what Trump does, using division and hate as political weapons while seeking power for himself. Voters of all stripes will reject his chaos, violence and unhinged threats once again in November.”
In Georgia, Trump stoked his Christian base anew by putting the Election Day stakes in religious terms.
“November 5th is the most important day in the history of our country, and it’s going to be Christian Visibility Day,” Trump said, repeating for emphasis: “Christian Visibility Day.”
Christians, he predicted “are going to come out, and they’re going to vote like never before.”
The former president was nodding to conservative Christian anger over the International Transgender Day of Visibility, a worldwide celebration of transgender persons and acknowledgement of their struggles, and Biden’s recognition of the occasion.
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