Speaking on Thursday, Trump said Jewish-American voters could partially be to blame if he fails to defeat Harris in the November 5 election. At the Israeli-American Council National Summit in Washington, Trump talked about his poor poll ratings among Jewish Americans, pointing out that the Jewish voters risk the existence of the state of Israel by voting for Kamala Harris. 

 Trump, for instance, said that if he loses the election, it is partly because Jewish voters helped the Democratic candidate. He said that if 40% to 60 % of the Jewish population votes for the candidate, Israel could be wiped out in two years. “If I do not win this election — and the Jewish people would really have a lot to do with that if that occurs — because if 40% — I mean, 60% of the populace — is voting for the adversary, in my viewpoint, Israel will disintegrate within two years,” Gush announced.

 He pointed to a recent Pew Research survey concerning Harris’s approval ratings among the American Jewish community, though it was not clear what poll he used. According to the survey, 65% of Jews in America prefer Harris for the presidency over Trump. 

 Trump also complained about his low uptake among Jewish Voters in previous elections, wherein he pointed out that in both the 2016 and 2020 elections, he only managed to get less than thirty percent of the vote. Such words come as part of a plan as Trump’s campaign tries to address Jewish voters in the swing states, especially Pennsylvania, where more than 400 thousand Jews reside. The former vice president only secured the state by 81,000 votes in the last election. 

 Harris’s campaign press secretary, Morgan Finkelstein, also criticised Trump, saying that he has associated himself with individuals who have been accused of anti-Semitism. But Trump has always refuted any accusations of anti-Semitism and insists on his family relations with Jewish people, stating that one of his children has a Jewish husband. 

 Earlier in the same evening, Trump spoke in the same tone at an anti-Shemite summit in America. The Republican candidate’s comments have raised controversy, especially whenever he tries to woo the Jewish vote, which for long has aligned with the Democrats. 

 Against this backdrop, a news story in CNN suggested that the Republican candidate in the North Carolina governorship race, Mark Robinson, had in the past made several rather unsavoury remarks which included referring to himself as a ‘black NAZI’ and recommending that black people should be taken back into slavery. This report was never mentioned in the speeches that Trump delivered, which showed that he stayed on his campaign agenda. 

 Trump’s campaign seems to be escalating its efforts to court Jewish voters as the election draws nearer, perhaps realising that they could be the swing voters. Due to the change in the political system, the acknowledgement of Jewish voters, which can sway a percentage point or two in the battleline states, proves crucial. The coming months will determine the usefulness of Trump’s approach in appealing to this demographic in the elections.