Former President Donald Trump agreed to an interview on the first anniversary of the horrific massacre and mass kidnapping in Israel on October 7, 2023. The focus was primarily on Israel of course, but also on the explosion of antisemitism in the United States.
There were three key exchanges. (The complete transcript is here.)
The first exchange:
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The second exchange:
Exchange three:
Some pro-Israel Americans would prefer that zero attention be given to the outliers, but as the excellent Commentary Magazine podcast occasionally mentions the insidiousness of Jewish Americans attacking Israel and defending, implicitly or even explicitly, Hamas, then it should not be shocking when the former president notices it too.
I highlight these three exchanges because the result in November’s election will reverberate around the world but most especially in Israel.
US ON ALERT FOR POSSIBLE ‘VIOLENT EXTREMIST ACTIVITY’ ON AMERICANS ONE YEAR AFTER OCT. 7
It seems clear to me that a President Kamala Harris will be the least supportive American president of the Jewish State in Israel’s 76-year history.
By contrast, the argument is solid that Trump in his first term was at least the equal of any previous president when it comes to a record of support for Israel in peacetime. (Richard Nixon ordering the Pentagon to “send everything that can fly” to Israel in an arms resupply during the 1973 Yom Kippur War is the sole example of when an American president stepped up at a moment of existential peril to Israel and does everything to help it short of sending American forces. Trump did not face such a choice in his first term, but might very well in a second if Iran crosses the nuclear threshold.)
The choice should be clear for any American who supports Israel and for whom the continued existence and vibrancy of the Jewish State and the Middle East writ large is a priority: They should vote for Trump.
Hugh Hewitt is host of “The Hugh Hewitt Show,” heard weekday mornings 6am to 9am ET on the Salem Radio Network, and simulcast on Salem News Channel. Hugh wakes up America on over 400 affiliates nationwide, and on all the streaming platforms where SNC can be seen. He is a frequent guest on the Fox News Channel’s news roundtable hosted by Bret Baier weekdays at 6pm ET. A son of Ohio and a graduate of Harvard College and the University of Michigan Law School, Hewitt has been a Professor of Law at Chapman University’s Fowler School of Law since 1996 where he teaches Constitutional Law. Hewitt launched his eponymous radio show from Los Angeles in 1990. Hewitt has frequently appeared on every major national news television network, hosted television shows for PBS and MSNBC, written for every major American paper, has authored a dozen books and moderated a score of Republican candidate debates, most recently the November 2023 Republican presidential debate in Miami and four Republican presidential debates in the 2015-16 cycle. Hewitt focuses his radio show and his column on the Constitution, national security, American politics and the Cleveland Browns and Guardians. Hewitt has interviewed tens of thousands of guests from Democrats Hillary Clinton and John Kerry to Republican Presidents George W. Bush and Donald Trump over his 40 years in broadcast, and this column previews the lead story that will drive his radio/ TV show today.