Trump: This is the most dangerous time to be a Jew ‘since the Holocaust’

Former president and current Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump declared during a campaign rally on Saturday night that there has “never been a more dangerous time since the Holocaust” to be Jewish, footage and media coverage of the speech showed. 

“They turned him down for other reasons, but the primary reason is because he’s Jewish,”  Trump claimed. “any Jewish person that votes for [Harris] or a Democrat has to go out and have their head examined.”

דונלד טראמפ בעצרת בחירות בפנסילבניה הלילה: "האריס לא בחרה במושל שלכם ג'וש שפירו כמועמד שלה לסגן הנשיא - בגלל שהוא יהודי. מאז השואה, לא היה מסוכן להיות יהודי באמריקה כמו עכשיו"@GLZRadio pic.twitter.com/FylOqZIjaS

— איה אילון Aya Eilon (@AyaEilon) August 18, 2024

The comments were made during a campaign rally event in Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania. 

Trump, continuing his speech on antisemitism, went on to claim that his opponent, VP Kamala Harris, had rejected selecting Penn. Gov. Josh Shapiro as her running mate because he is Jewish. 

“They turned him down because he’s Jewish,” Trump told crowds in Connecticut. 

“What’s happening with Israel and Jewish people? There has never been a more dangerous time since the Holocaust if you happen to be Jewish in America,” he said.

Similar comments made by Trump

Trump made similar comments on Thursday in Bedminster, New Jersey. Delivering a speech at his golf club, Trump told attendees “What’s going on now is exactly what was going on before the Holocaust…Instead of aggressively confronting these venomous antisemites in her party, Kamala Harris has maneuvered for their support.” 

The Republican nominee also made the same “head examined” comments to X CEO Elon Musk earlier in the week. 

"If you're a Jewish person or if you're a person that is very pro-Israel, if you vote for [Kamala], she's worse than Biden, and Biden was bad, but if you vote for her, you ought to have your head examined," Trump told Musk.

Trump’s comments on Saturday came only shortly after he acknowledged that he didn’t think Shapiro was a “good person.” Trump did not clarify why he thought Shapiro was not a good person.

Why wasn't Shapiro picked?

While Shapiro has reportedly denied that his Jewish identity is what cost him the position, Arab-American groups had said that their vote for Harris would come at a cost. Community leaders in the Arab American community told ABC News earlier this month that while they were optimistic Harris would take a strong stance in support of Gaza, they didn’t trust the openly pro-Israel Shapiro.

“Josh Shapiro was one of the first ones to criticize the students on campus. So it doesn’t differentiate Harris very much if she picks him. That just says I’m going to continue the same policies as Biden,” said Rima Meroueh, director of the National Network for Arab-American Communities.

Additionally, while Shapiro didn’t attribute Harris’s decision to antisemitism, many said that Jew-hatred fueled a campaign to keep him off the ticket, as previously reported by the Jewish Telegraph Agency. 

Jewish and non-Jewish commentators, among them Democrats in Congress, say that Shapiro is being unjustly singled out because he is Jewish. That’s because all of the other candidates — Gov. Andy Beshear of Kentucky, Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, and Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly — also have pro-Israel records.

“There are several incredible options for vice president. The superb Governor of Pennsylvania, @JoshShapiroPA, is one of them,” tweeted Jewish California Rep. Adam Schiff, a celebrity among Democrats for his role in prosecuting impeachments and investigations of former President Donald Trump.

“Singling him out, or applying a double standard to him over the war in Gaza, is antisemitic and wrong,” said Schiff, who is comfortably leading in polls as he runs for Senate. “Don’t go there.”

Shortly before Harris’s campaign announced their decision, Shapiro’s college article resurfaced. The article, which claimed Palestinians are “too battle-minded” to ever have their own state or peace with Israel, came as sympathies for Palestinians are high. Internationally, crowds have turned up to protest in support of Gaza and Palestinian statehood amid the Israel-Hamas war.