(JTA) — Donald Trump is still trying to figure out why more American Jews didn’t vote for him, arguing in a haredi Orthodox magazine interview this week that they “don’t love Israel enough” and the Israel-related moves he made as president should have earned him a larger share of the Jewish vote.
“You know what really surprised me?” Trump told Ami Magazine. “I did the Heights, I did Jerusalem, and I did Iran — the Iran Deal was a disaster, right? And I also did many other things. Jewish people who live in the United States don’t love Israel enough. Does that make sense to you? I’m not talking about Orthodox Jews. I believe we got 25% of the Jewish vote, and it doesn’t make sense. It just seems strange to me.”
Trump referred to his decisions to recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights, to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and move the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal, which Israel’s government loathes.
Exit polls election night found Trump scored between 21% and 30.5% of the Jewish vote. He is also correct that an overwhelming majority of Orthodox Jews voted for him.
Jewish groups slammed Trump in 2019 after he said that Jews were disloyal for voting for Democrats and doubling down on the claim.