Donald Trump on Monday night marked the first anniversary of the Hamas terror attacks, which he called “one of the darkest days in history,” by honoring the victims and hostages at his Miami golf resort, but quickly turned things around. The attack on Kamala Harris.
He also repeated an earlier claim that if he were still in the White House, the attack on Israel would never have happened.
Blaming Harris and Joe Biden for the “weakness” that gave Hamas the confidence to attack, the Republican presidential nominee told a crowd of about 300 supporters, mostly from the Jewish community, that a wave of anti-Semitism It is Israel that, he says, the United States and the wider world can be blamed for their government.
“Almost as shocking as October 7 itself is the outbreak of anti-Semitism that we have all seen in its wake,” he said.
“Anti-Semitism is back… and especially in the ranks of the Democratic Party. “The Republican Party has not been infected with this horrible disease, and it will not be as long as I am at the helm.”
He said the attacks, which killed 1,200 people and took 250 hostages by Hamas, created a “terrible moment in history.”
“It seemed like the gates of hell had opened and unleashed its terror on the world. We never thought we’d see it … and a lot of it has to do with the leadership of this country.
After claiming that if he had been re-elected, the attacks would not have happened, Trump said that while both Biden and Harris support the country’s right to defend itself, the rapprochement with Israel, which he insisted America has lost, it will return.
“If and when I become president, the United States will be stronger and closer once again,” he said [to Israel] As always, we must win the elections.”
“What is needed more than ever is unwavering American leadership. The dawn of a new and more harmonious Middle East is finally within our reach. I will not allow the Jewish state to be threatened with destruction. I will not allow another Holocaust for the Jews. I will not allow jihad against America or our allies and I support Israel’s right to win its war.
Trump’s fire-and-brimstone message contrasted with earlier remarks by his Democratic rival Harris in November, who paid tribute to those who lost their lives but also made sure Israel had what it needed to defend itself. spoke
Biden expressed regret for the suffering of all sides in the conflict in the Middle East and in a statement condemned the “vicious rise of anti-Semitism in America” ​​after the attacks.
Trump’s speech began more than two hours later than scheduled. He joked about the bumpy flight from New York, and his concern for Florida over Hurricane Milton, a Category 5 storm expected to hit the state on Wednesday.
His supporters, some wearing yarmulkes embroidered with the former president’s name, cheered as he took the ballroom stage at Trump National in Doral.
He spoke against a backdrop of six American and Israeli flags and images of the nearly 1,200 victims, including 46 Americans killed by Hamas a year ago. A succession of speakers and guests, including two Holocaust survivors, Jewish religious leaders and Republican politicians, lit memorial candles as they took the stage.
Along one wall, rows of candles sat in front of photographs of dozens of hostages. Each name was marked with the word “abducted” in capital letters.
Trump has presented himself as the strongest and most outspoken defender of Israel, but he has also been criticized for his previous statements. A year ago, in the days after the terrorist attack on the Nova music festival, he called Hezbollah, the Lebanese group closely allied to Hamas, “very smart” and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant “obvious.”
At an event in Florida last October, Trump said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was unprepared and that Israel’s enemies were “smart and boy, are they evil.”
The White House condemned his comments, calling them “dangerous and irreversible”.
Trump also bemoaned the lack of support among Jewish voters last month when he claimed he was “the most popular person in Israel” after polls put him below 40 percent.
“Based on what I did… I have to be 100 percent,” he said, insisting he was Israel’s best president ever. Trump did not repeat that boast on Monday.
Some supporters in Miami were pleased to hear Trump speak in defense of Israel.
Kamala Harris will support Hamas. Ben Fisher, a Miami resident, said he is no friend of Israel. Donald Trump speaks as a powerful leader should. “He knows that if your country is attacked, you cannot leave it, if it is an attack on a festival or Tehran missiles.”
Speaking at the vice president’s residence earlier in the day, Harris vowed to “always make sure Israel has what it needs to defend itself” if elected next month.
Unlike Trump, he resisted the opportunity to make political comments and instead focused on the victims, telling the story of two Americans who died and naming each of the seven Americans taken to Gaza by Hamas, four of whom are still alive. .
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