Harris campaign and Jewish groups slam Trump, preemptively blaming Jewish voters if he loses

Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign and Jewish advocacy groups on Friday sharply criticized what they called “dangerous” and “anti-Semitic” comments by former President Donald Trump, saying Jewish voters would be to blame if he loses the presidential election.

“I’ll tell you very simply and as kindly as I can: I was not treated right by voters who happen to be Jewish,” Trump said at an event in Washington on Thursday night aimed at highlighting anti-Semitism. “I don’t know. Do they know what’s going to happen if I don’t win this election? And the Jewish people would be a big part of that if that happened, because at 40 percent, that means 60 percent of the people are voting for the enemy.”

The reaction was violent.

“Donald Trump is resorting to the oldest anti-Semitic tropes in his history because he is weak and can’t stand the fact that the majority of Americans will reject him in November. But we know that words like these can have dangerous consequences,” Morgan Finkelstein, a national security spokesperson for Harris’ campaign, said in a statement. “As Trump has proven, particularly in recent weeks with his lies about Springfield, Ohio, he will cling to fear and intimidation no matter the cost.”

Trump and his running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, have in recent days made the baseless charge that Haitian migrants in Springfield, most of whom are here legally, steal and eat neighbors’ pets — a charge that local officials have categorically denied.

“When Donald Trump loses this election, it will be because Americans of all faiths, ethnicities and backgrounds have come together to turn the page on the divisions he displays every day,” Finkelstein added.

Harris’ husband, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, who is himself Jewish, wrote on X on Friday that American Jews are not being ‘intimidated’ by Trump’s attacks. “Last night, Donald Trump once again fanned the flames of anti-Semitism by using tropes that blame and scapegoat Jews. He did it at an event that was supposed to combat anti-Semitism, no less,” Emhoff wrote. “This is dangerous and must be condemned. We will not be intimidated and will continue to live openly, proudly, and fearlessly as Jews.”

Nonpartisan Jewish rights organizations also expressed strong opposition to Trump’s comment.

“Regardless of which candidate the majority of the Jewish community votes for, Jews – approximately 2 percent of the American population – cannot and should not be held responsible for the outcome of the election,” the American Jewish Committee wrote in a statement. “To mislead anyone by saying, ‘We lost because of the Jews’ is outrageous and dangerous. Thousands of years of history have shown that scapegoating Jews can lead to anti-Semitic hatred and violence.”

Some Jewish voters will vote for Harris, and some will vote for Trump, the AJC said, adding that “none of us, in supporting the candidate we choose, are ‘voting for the enemy.'”

Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblat wrote on social media that Trump’s comments contradicted the message of the anti-Semitic event he was speaking at and could make matters worse for American Jews.

“Preemptively blaming American Jews for your potential election defeat does nothing to help American Jews. It increases their sense of alienation at a vulnerable moment when right-wing extremists and left-wing anti-Zionists continually demonize and smear Jews,” Greenblat wrote. “Let’s be clear, this speech is likely to stir up more hostility and further inflame an already bad situation.”

Amy Spitalnick, who heads the progressive Jewish Public Affairs Council, encouraged more people to join the growing chorus of critics of Trump’s comment.

“Last night, Trump preemptively blamed Jews for his possible election defeat, after spending months calling Jews who don’t support him “crazy.” “And disloyal.” Speaking out against this is not about partisan politics, but about the fundamental security of Jews,” Spitalnick wrote. “We need everyone to do it.”

Trump has received support from some on the political right. The Republican Jewish Coalition, a major Jewish political group that has supported Trump, praised Trump for his comments on the fight against anti-Semitism.

Matt Brooks, the organization’s CEO, told ABC News in a telephone interview that he believed the comments about Jewish voters and the election were intended to motivate Jewish voters, and that Democrats’ claims to the contrary were a distraction.

“I think the president has tried to motivate the Jewish community,” Brooks said, adding that Trump “realizes what’s at stake” for American Jews, who feel unsafe in the United States because of rising anti-Semitism. (Brooks cited the bullying Jewish students face on college campuses as an example.)

“It’s an absolute distraction, to divert that [Trump] “He made many significant and important contributions to the Jewish community,” Brooks said.

He added that Trump was also indicating how close the election could be in key states, where, given the likely narrow margin, “if the Jewish vote doesn’t move in his favor, it could cost him the election.”