Jake Tapper pressed Tom Cotton on whether he’s comfortable with Donald Trump blaming a potential election loss “on the Jews, preemptively.” The Republican senator fired back that his party’s nominee was “the most pro-Israel president we have ever had” Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
Trump told a crowd of supporters on Friday, “If I don’t win this election — and the Jewish people would really have a lot to do with that if that happens, because if 40%, I mean, 60% of the people are voting for the enemy [then] Israel, in my opinion, will cease to exist within two years.”
“Are you comfortable with that, with Donald Trump saying, if he loses, preemptively, it’s the fault of the Jews, a group already experiencing a rise of antisemitism in this country — from the left and the right — but still, preemptively, it’s the fault of the Jews?” host Jake Tapper asked Cotton in response to Trump’s claim.
“Well Jake, Donald Trump has been saying things like this for at least 11 months since the Oct. 7 attacks,” Cotton replied. “I think the only reason the Democrats latched onto it this week is they see the polling that reflects Donald Trump winning record-high amounts of Jewish voters who are Republicans.”
“The point he’s been making all along is that any Jewish voter, Christian voter, any other kind of voter who cares about Israel, who cares about a relationship with Israel should not vote for Kamala Harris and Joe Biden. Joe Biden has not backed Israel very much over the last 11 months. Kamala Harris has been much worse,” he added.
Tapper reminded Cotton that the topic at hand was American Jews and not Israel, to which the senator said that Harris “has consistently been the most anti-Israel voice in this administration,” before he asked of the Democratic candidate, “When was the last time Kamala Harris spoke at an event about combating antisemitism?”
“Her husband is Jewish and holds — and is in charge of a group about combating antisemitism in the United States,” Tapper returned.
The pair also discussed the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. The United States has failed diplomatic ally Israel, Cotton argued. The U.S. has not given “them the political and diplomatic support that they needed from the very beginning,” he insisted. Cotton also said Israel “has every right” to defend itself against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
“Rather than trying to put constant pressure on Israel, more pressure than we put on Iran and its terrorist networks, if Joe Biden and Kamala Harris would simply adopt a policy to let Israel win and back them to the hilt, the war on Hamas probably would have ended a long time ago,” Cotton asserted.
As Tapper attempted to interject, Cotton continued, “Consistently, the Biden-Harris administration has put more pressure on Israel than it has put on Israel’s enemies. That’s probably had the effect of prolonging the fighting.”
Tapper asked Cotton about the hostages still believed to be held in Gaza by Hamas, including several Americans, and criticism of the Israeli government by their family members. Cotton said he has the “deepest heartfelt sympathy for them and the agony they can go through” but repeated his point.
“If you look at what’s happened over the last 11 months, the only time Hamas has released hostages or hostages have been rescued is when Israel’s putting maximum military pressure on Hamas,” the senator said. “If the Biden-Harris administration had backed Israel from the beginning, not only would this war likely have already ended with fewer civilian casualties, but we would have gotten more hostages out earlier and alive.”
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