Former President Donald J. Trump asked if a documentary filmmaker recording an interview with him last year was a “good Jewish character,” described Persians as “really good salespeople,” and complained that Israeli Jews favored him more than Jews in the United States, a new clip released by the filmmaker shows.
“In Israel, I’m about 94%, but I got 27, 28%,” Trump says in the video, referring to what he claimed was his approval rating among Israeli Jews over to American Jews.
The video was recorded on May 20, 2021 and was provided to The New York Times by documentary filmmaker Alex Holder. He was filmed at an event at Mr. Trump’s golf club in Bedminster, NJ as he spoke with several people.
The comment appears to have started after a woman approached Mr Trump and referred to “Jews who didn’t vote for you”. At one point during the recording, the former president asked if the camera was rolling, then added, “Don’t let it roll.”
As the camera recorded him, Mr Trump bragged about signing an executive order in 2019 recognizing Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights. And he complained that his polls among American Jews were a far cry from what they were in Israel.
Pointing to Mr. Holder and speaking to someone off-camera, Mr. Trump asked, “Is that a good Jewish character here? People standing nearby laughed. “You must love Trump,” Mr. Trump said.
He continued, “In Israel, I am the most popular. With the Orthodox, I am the most popular.
Footage of Mr. Holder was subpoenaed by the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the Capitol. He interviewed Mr. Trump and those close to him, including some of his children, during the crucial months surrounding the 2020 election, when Mr. Trump refused to concede defeat. The clip was ultimately not included in the documentary, which is titled “Unprecedented” and aired on Discovery Plus, a streaming service.
The former president’s remarks echoed anti-Semitic comments Mr. Trump posted on his social media site, Truth Social, on Sunday, in which he excoriated American Jews and said they needed to “pull themselves together” and enjoy it the way the Israelis do. The Jews do it, “before it is too late”.
Mr. Trump has a long history of racist statements about black people and immigrants, among others. He also has a habit of invoking anti-Semitic stereotypes.
A spokesperson for Mr. Trump did not respond to a request for comment.
At another point in Mr. Holder’s footage, Mr. Trump pointed to “what I did for the rabbi in Iowa,” referring to Sholom Rubashkin, whose kosher meatpacking plant in the Iowa was raided in 2008 by federal agents, who found hundreds of undocumented immigrants. who worked there, including several children.
Mr Rubashkin – who in fact was not a rabbi – was later convicted of bank fraud. Mr Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, was among those who urged him to reduce Mr Rubashkin’s prison sentence, according to people familiar with the events. Mr Trump commuted the sentence in 2017, a move some White House officials disagreed with.
The clip breaks off when Mr. Trump asks someone else, “You Persian? Very clever. Be careful, these are very good sellers.
In an interview, Holder said the clip was not made into the documentary due to editing constraints, among other reasons.
Mr. Holder said that in one of their meetings, Mr. Trump had expected, off camera, that Mr. Holder would appreciate the fact that as president he had moved the United States Embassy. United in Israel in Jerusalem from Tel Aviv. Mr Trump, he said, appeared surprised when Mr Holder explained he was British. “But you are Jewish,” he recalled, saying Mr. Trump.
“That’s the typical trope, right?” said Mr. Holder. He was referring to the anti-Semitic “double loyalty” attack that is often used against Jews, in which they are accused of being more loyal to each other than to their country.