Former Minnesota Sen. Norm Coleman, chair of the Republican Jewish Coalition, told Newsmax on Tuesday that President Joe Biden's words regarding support for Israel and a rise in antisemitic incidents across the U.S. are not in sync with his actions.
"Actions do speak louder than words," Coleman told "American Agenda." "And the actions of this administration, the actions of Democrats against antisemitism [in their] own party have been zero."
It is among the reasons why Coleman predicted that Trump will gain a larger percentage of the Jewish vote in November's election than he did in his two previous presidential campaigns.
"Jews in America are turning more and more to Republicans, which, by the way, is challenging some long historical trends," Coleman said.
Jewish voters traditionally lean heavily Democrat in presidential elections, and Trump gained 30% of their vote in 2020 compared with 68% for Joe Biden, according to data from the Jewish Virtual Library. In 2016, Trump got 24% of the Jewish vote compared with 71% for Hillary Clinton. No Republican presidential candidate has won a larger percentage of the Jewish since Warren G. Harding in 1920.
Biden is in a political pickle. The more he supports Israel and its war against Iranian-backed Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip, the more support he loses from pro-Palestinian voters in battleground states such as Michigan and Minnesota.
But if he tries to placate those voters by lessening his support for Israel's war, such as delaying shipments of weapons, and not taking tough stands against antisemitic incidents – such as violence Sunday in Los Angeles when pro-Palestinian demonstrators blocked access to a Los Angeles synagogue – the more he risks losing Jewish voters.
The problem has affected Biden in New York, which has the largest Jewish population of any state in the U.S. A Siena College poll released June 20 showed Trump gaining 46% of support among registered Jewish voters to 52% for Biden, a remarkable figure considering Trump won only 20% of the state's Jewish vote in 2020, according to the New York Post. Plus, the poll was heavily weighted toward Democrats, with 49% of the respondents saying they were registered Democrat voters compared with 22% who said they were Republicans and 29% saying they were independent or other.
"For Jews who care about Israel, there's been a profound shift," Coleman said. "And it's interesting because typically we don't even look at the numbers in the very liberal states like New York or California. If you look at what Trump did last time in the battleground states, in the Georgias or the Pennsylvanias, he was getting 50% of the vote. He's going to do better than that this cycle because, in fact, Jews are saying that Democrats are not standing strong with Israel.
"This administration originally stood strong with Israel, and I patted the president on the back. I applauded him, [but] that's changed. I think all of a sudden he had a Michigan problem and was more concerned about some of the votes of the Arab community in Michigan than he was about support for our Democratic ally in the Middle East that is facing an existential fight for its existence and underwent a massive, brutal, horrendous massacre on Oct. 7. … We're seeing enthusiasm among the former Democrat donors turning to the Republican Party … and you'll see with Donald Trump on Election Day getting a significant higher portion of the Jewish vote than he has historically."
About NEWSMAX TV:
NEWSMAX is the fastest-growing cable news channel in America!
- Find Newsmax channel in your home via cable and satellite systems – More Info Here
- Watch Newsmax+ on your home TV app or smartphone and watch it anywhere! Try it for FREE -- See More Here: NewsmaxPlus.com