Trump says antisemitism is not welcome in MAGA

President Donald Trump said that he does not believe there is a place in the Republican Party or the broader MAGA movement for people who hold antisemitic views. “I think we don’t need them,” Trump said in an interview with The New York Times when asked whether people with antisemitic views had a role in his movement. “I think we don’t like them.” He added that he condemns antisemitism.

Trump’s remarks come after a series of high-profile controversies involving conservative figures and antisemitic rhetoric, exposing fractures within the Republican coalition. During the interview, Trump pointed to his record on Israel and his personal ties to Jewish family members as evidence that he is not aligned with antisemitic sentiment. “Look, if you talk about the antisemitic views, there’s been nobody better for us,” he said, adding that he considered himself a strong ally of Israel, noting that he had received the Israel Prize, the country’s highest honor. It was the first time it had been given to a non-Israeli.

Trump added that his daughter, Ivanka Trump, and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, are Jewish, as are their children. “My daughter happens to be Jewish, beautiful, three grandchildren are Jewish,” he said. “I’m very proud of them. I’m very proud of the whole, that whole family. I am the least antisemitic person probably there is anywhere in the world.” In that interview, he also said that the civil rights movement of the 1960s has led to discrimination against white people.

During the interview, Trump pointed to his administration’s actions to combat antisemitism, especially on college campuses, which has included withholding or rescinding millions in federal grants. The Trump administration has taken action against Ivey League schools like Harvard and Columbia, both of which tolerated antisemitic Gaza protests on campus where Jewish students were routinely harassed. These protests came in the wake of the OCt. 7, 2023 massacre by Hamas in Israel.