Trump Pledges to Restore Israel Lobby's Power Over Congress: "You're Gonna Have The President, Okay?"

Chris Menahan
InformationLiberation
Aug. 15, 2024

Former President Donald Trump pledged to restore the power of the Israel Lobby over Congress during a "Fighting Antisemitism" event with pro-Israel megadonor Miriam Adelson on Thursday.


Trump said that "years ago" if you said "anything bad about Israel or Jewish people you were finished as a politician."

"The most powerful lobby in this country by far was Israel and Jewish people," Trump noted. "Today, it's almost like what happened? What happened? What happened to [Sen. Chuck] Schumer? What happened to all these people? Schumer is like a Palestinian!"

"The power, Miriam, of this lobby this powerful-- and it was for the good, not for bad," Trump said.

"Fifteen years ago it was the absolute most powerful -- you couldn't have an 'AOC plus three' -- they wouldn't have a chance of being elected anywhere and today you have AOC and some of these people and they're uh, pretty violent, pretty violent and they hate Israel and they hate Jewish people."

Trump then told the Jewish group not to worry because he will be their man in the White House.

"You're going to end up winning because you're going to have the president, okay?" Trump said. "So you're going to end up winning."

Here's some other highlights:





Earlier this year, it was reported that Miriam Adelson, the widow of the late billionaire casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, was going to give Trump $100 million for his campaign in return for his signing off on Israel annexing the West Bank.

As a reminder, this was the Trump that won the presidency in 2016.


Incidentally, Joe Biden made remarkably similar comments to Trump in a 2013 speech he gave to a Jewish group in honor of Jewish American Heritage Month.

From New York Magazine, MAY 22, 2013, "Biden Praises Jews, Goes Too Far, Accidentally Thrills Anti-Semites":
Joe Biden spoke last night in honor of Jewish American Heritage Month. [...]

Biden's remarks were not anti-Semitic. They were very, very philo-Semitic. The thrust of his largely unscripted monologue is that Jews have contributed enormously to the United States. That's obviously a standard spiel for praising any ethnic group, but Biden took care to emphasize that Jews have not just contributed their share to the United States, but far more:

The Jewish people have contributed greatly to America. No group has had such an outsized influence per capita as all of you standing before you, and all of those who went before me and all of those who went before you ...

You make up 11 percent of the seats in the United States Congress. You make up one-third of all Nobel laureates ...

I think you, as usual, underestimate the impact of Jewish heritage. I really mean that. I think you vastly underestimate the impact you've had on the development of this nation.

... "The embrace of immigration" is part of that, as is the involvement of Jews in social justice movements.

"You can't talk about the civil rights movement in this country without talking about Jewish freedom riders and Jack Greenberg," he said, telling a story about seeing a group of Jewish activists at a segregated movie theater in Delaware. "You can't talk about the women's movement without talking about Betty Friedan" ...

"I believe what affects the movements in America, what affects our attitudes in America are as much the culture and the arts as anything else," he said. That's why he spoke out on gay marriage "apparently a little ahead of time."

"It wasn't anything we legislatively did. It was 'Will and Grace,' it was the social media. Literally. That's what changed peoples' attitudes. That's why I was so certain that the vast majority of people would embrace and rapidly embrace" gay marriage, Biden said.

"Think behind of all that, I bet you 85 percent of those changes, whether it's in Hollywood or social media are a consequence of Jewish leaders in the industry. The influence is immense, the influence is immense. And, I might add, it is all to the good."
"Biden's intentions here are obviously as friendly as can be, but the execution is awkward," commented NY Mag's Jonathan Chait at the time.

"The main problem here is that gay rights, unlike black civil rights, are politically controversial at the moment."

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