OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Former President Donald Trump made his feelings towards anti-Israel, pro-terrorist Hamas protesters known during a recent donor meeting, taking a position that the vast majority of his supporters likely back.
Trump criticized the anti-Israel protests on U.S. college campuses as a “radical revolution” and pledged to expel any foreign students involved if he were re-elected.
“One thing I do is [with] any student that protests — I throw them out of the country. You know, there are a lot of foreign students,” Trump told a group of donors during a May 14 roundtable, according to the New York Post. “As soon as they hear that, they’re going to behave,” the 45th president added.
At least one of the donors allegedly expressed concern during the discussion about the potential for one of the student protesters to become a powerful politician in the future.
However, Trump told the contributors that he would try to put an end to the “radical revolution” occurring on college campuses, saying that it “has to be stopped now,” according to the Post.
In a statement to The Post on Monday, Karoline Leavitt, a spokeswoman for the Trump campaign, accused President Biden of giving the demonstrators more authority.
“Joe Biden has sided with radical leftist Democrats like Ilhan Omar and Rashida Talib and empowered antisemitic protestors destroying our college campuses and threatening to undermine our democracy,” Leavitt said.
“President Trump will side with Jewish Americans and American citizens, period, and he will not tolerate terrorist sympathizers on our college campuses,” Leavitt added.
Meanwhile, Trump told the Republican Jewish Coalition in Las Vegas back in October: “If you hate America, if you want to abolish Israel, if you sympathize with jihadists, then we don’t want you in our country, and you’re not going to be getting into our country. I will cancel the student visas of Hamas sympathizers on college campuses and all resident aliens who join in pro-Jihadist protests. Come 2025, we will find you, and we will deport you.”
Several Republicans have made similar proposals in the past.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) attempted to have a resolution to cancel the visas of foreign nationals residing in the United States who assist Hamas, for example, in October.
It is stated that during this month’s roundtable in New York, Trump informed contributors that if he were to win the presidency again, he would support Israel.
This comes as Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign is receiving a financial boost from a group of billionaires as he aims to narrow the fundraising gap with President Joe Biden.
Fox Business Network reports that billionaire Stephen Schwarzman, CEO and co-founder of Blackstone, announced on Friday that he will support former President Trump in the 2024 race. Schwarzman previously called for the Republican Party to turn to a “new generation of leaders.”
Worth an estimated $39 billion, Schwarzman said he shares many Americans’ concerns “that our economic, immigration, and foreign policies are taking the country in the wrong direction” and added that the “dramatic rise of antisemitism has led me to focus on the consequences of upcoming elections with greater urgency.”
His announcement comes as other billionaires rally to support the Trump campaign, which is closing in on the Biden campaign in terms of fundraising. The Biden campaign had been outpacing Trump in monthly fundraising until April when Trump’s campaign took the lead for the first time this cycle. Additionally, mounting legal bills have strained the Trump campaign’s finances.
In April, the New York Times reported that Biden’s campaign had about $84.5 million in net cash, while Trump’s had $48 million. The Biden campaign’s funds remained relatively unchanged from the previous month, while the Trump campaign’s funds increased by about $3 million from March.
Support from Schwarzman and other billionaire backers could significantly aid the Trump campaign in narrowing the fundraising gap with Biden. In early April, billionaire hedge fund founder John Paulson hosted a fundraiser at his Palm Beach, Florida, home. Guests were asked to contribute $814,600 per person to be a “chairman” contributor, which included sitting at Trump’s table, or $250,000 to be part of the “host committee.”