Washington (CNN)Donald Trump touted his pro-Israel bona fides and tried to connect with the audience of wealthy Jewish donors, repeatedly referring to them as “negotiators” during his Thursday address at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s Presidential Forum.
“I’m a negotiator like you folks, we are negotiators,” Trump said, drawing laughter before pivoting to how he would renegotiate the Iran deal. “Is there anybody that doesn’t renegotiate deals in this room? This room negotiates them — perhaps more than any other room I’ve ever spoken in.”
The comments were largely met with laughter and smirks, and RJC spokesman Mark McNulty downplayed suggestions that Trump’s comments pointed to Jewish stereotypes.
“Donald Trump is well aware of the composition of our board and our audience — one that includes many successful businessmen and women as well as deal makers like him,” McNulty told CNN.
But while Trump tried to win over the audience of wealthy Jewish Republicans, the billionaire presidential candidate said he didn’t believe the assembled crowd would support him.
“You’re not gonna support me because I don’t want your money. You want to control your politicians, that’s fine. Five months ago I was with you,” Trump said, pointing to his recent past as a much sought-after political donor who filled the campaign coffers of both Republicans and Democrats. “I do want your support, but I don’t want your money.”
Trump also faced boos from the crowd when in the question-and-answer portion of his appearance he would not pledge to keep Jerusalem as the undivided capital of Israel.
“I want to wait until I meet with Bibi,” Trump said, referring to his upcoming meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when Trump is scheduled to visit the country later this month.
As he faced boos, Trump fired back at the crowd, singling out one man who booed Trump: “Who’s the wise guy? Do me a favor, just relax, OK?”
As Trump leaned into elements of his standard stump speech, he came face to face with a very different reception than what he is used to on the campaign trail.
Instead of roaring applause, the candidate’s lines touting his front-runner status in the polls and his great successes in business were met with chuckles. And his broad platitudes as to how he would handle certain issues were met with blank stares and not whoops and cheers.
Trump’s refusal to vow Jerusalem would remain Israel’s undivided capital — a sticking point in negotiations with Palestinians — came as Trump defended himself from remarks he made in an interview with The Associated Press.
Midday on Thursday, Donald Trump gave a speech to the Republican Jewish Coalition. These are three real things that he said:
“Stupidly, you want to give money. …You’re not going to support me because I don’t want your money.”
“I’m a negotiator, like you folks.”
“Is there anyone in this room who doesn’t negotiate deals? Probably more than any room I’ve ever spoken.”
The nicest thing that you can say about these comments is that they play on ancient stereotypes of Jews as money-grubbing merchants. The meanest thing you can say is that they’re outright anti-Semitic. The crowd appeared to laugh it off, but observers watching the speech were struck:Trump to the Republican Jewish Coalition: “You’re not going to support me because I don’t want your money.” What the hell does that mean?
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) December 3, 2015
You have to give plaudits to Donald Trump for chutzpah. Who else gives a border line anti-Semitic speech at the Republican Jewish Coalition?
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) December 3, 2015
The time that Trump spit on a Jewish audience and everyone pretended they were in a water park
— Chemi Shalev (@ChemiShalev) December 3, 2015
That wasn’t the end of Trump’s problems during the address. When asked about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the candidate whiffed. He refused to tell the strongly pro-Israel group whether he thought Jerusalem should be the undivided capital of Israel, and was outright booed. He appeared to apportion blame to Israel for the failure of the peace process, and the room was dead silent.
Democratic and Republican presidential candidates have long appreciated the importance of tapping into the pool of Jewish donors, who are among the most generous political contributors in the nation.
But until recently, Orthodox Jews have been an elusive target.
Like their Democratic counterparts, Republican candidates chose to go after more secular — albeit more conservative — Jewish donors, many of whom were hawkish on Israel; a demographic embodied in the old-line Republican Jewish Coalition, founded in 1985.
But now, Republican hopefuls from the right end of their party’s spectrum are beginning to discover the potential of a separate new breed of Orthodox Jews — wealthy enough to make significant donations, secure enough to pronounce their conservative social preferences and fueled by their anger at the Democratic administration’s policy toward Israel.
The emergence of these new donors has moved libertarian-leaning candidate Rand Paul to take interest in the Talmud studies of yeshiva students; it has motivated Ted Cruz to read up on the weekly Torah portion, and it has sent Jeb Bush to a Modern Orthodox high school to celebrate Israel’s independence day. Outreach to the Orthodox community is no longer a novel idea in the Republican camp — it has become a must.
Tevi Troy, a former official in the administration of George W. Bush and a leading voice among Orthodox Republicans, described the dual attraction Orthodox donors have, especially to candidates on the right end of the Republicans’ already conservative spectrum: “Orthodox Jews like the story Republicans have to tell on Israel,” he said, “and at the same time they’re not frightened by the Republicans’ social agenda.”
Described by some as “Modern ultra-Orthodox,” these potential new donors and activists are, according to a longtime Orthodox political operative, typically “very successful in business, very prosperous, with a yeshiva background and deeply involved in public life.”
It’s a description that fits Richard “Kasriel” Roberts perfectly. Roberts, who is now viewed as the biggest Orthodox name in Republican political giving, lives in an ultra-Orthodox enclave of yeshivas and synagogues in Lakewood, New Jersey. In the previous presidential election cycle, he gave $750,000 to the pro-Romney super political action committee Restore Our Future and $1 million to Treasure Coast Jobs Coalition, another Republican Super PAC. His total political giving in the 2012 elections exceeded $2 million.
This time around, Roberts has been spreading his support between the libertarian-leaning candidate Rand Paul and Wisconsin’s governor, Scott Walker, a potential presidential candidate who has yet to declare his intentions.
In 2013, Roberts invited Paul to visit his home and a nearby yeshiva in Lakewood, and accompanied and funded the senator’s trip to Israel the same year. Paul’s views on Israel have been so cool that he was shunned by the RJC, but they have warmed considerably. As he toured the Lakewood yeshiva, Roberts described him as “real” and “authentic.”
On April 27, Roberts’s courtship with Paul continued at the offices of Torah Umesorah, an association of religiously right-leaning Orthodox day schools headquartered in Brooklyn. During a meeting with Paul that Roberts sponsored there, the GOP candidate focused almost exclusively on Israel and the Iranian nuclear deal. Only one participant asked about schools, an issue where Paul’s stand in favor of government-funded vouchers for private schools pleases many Torah Umesorah members.
