2023-10-29 05:44:53
Donald Trump promised on Saturday before a Republican Jewish convention to reinstate a controversial travel ban to the United States against a number of majority Muslim countries if he is re-elected.
“We will keep radical Islamic terrorists out of our country,” Trump told the Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual summit.
“Remember the travel ban? On day one I will restore our travel ban,” said Trump, who is aiming to return to the White House in next year’s election.
At the beginning of his presidency in 2017, he restricted the entry of travelers from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen and, initially, Iraq and Sudan.
The order was quickly challenged in court for being discriminatory against a religious group, but the bans, along with Trump’s hardline anti-immigration agenda, were popular among the president’s supporters.
President Joe Biden repealed that measure as soon as he began his term in 2021.
Trump was one of several Republican hopefuls who pledged unwavering support for Israel in its war against Hamas.
“The United States is totally with Israel,” said Trump, who was the most applauded presidential candidate at the annual meeting of the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC).
The annual event, which traditionally serves as a campaign platform for White House hopefuls, took on a tone of urgency with the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East.
“RJC was created for a time like this,” said Norm Coleman, president of the Coalition. “To ensure that the United States supports Israel to do whatever is necessary to eliminate Hamas.”
“This is about good versus evil. You either stand with Israel, or you stand with the people who slaughter women and children and the elderly and kidnap them,” said Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel.
“The United States stands with the Israelis in their mission to ensure that Hamas is decimated and that all these atrocities are avenged,” said Trump, who aimed his darts at Democratic President Joe Biden, and avoided attacking his Republican contenders.
Trump, who leads the Republican primary polls but is beset by judicial problems, drew applause by promising to defend Israel “like no one has ever done.”
“The conflict between Israel and Hamas is not a conflict between equal sides. It is a fight between civilization and barbarism,” he said, referring to the attack carried out by Hamas on October 7 that left more than 1,400 dead in Israel.
The event took a surprise turn in the morning when Mike Pence, Trump’s former vice president, announced his departure from the electoral race. “It’s not my time,” he said.
But other than that, the speeches followed a rhetoric of criticism of Joe Biden’s administration and support for Israel.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis called the Hamas attack “the deadliest attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust.”
De Santis, placed second in the polls, evoked, like other candidates, the fears of an anti-Semitic escalation in American universities, defending a legislative offensive, in addition to an economic blockade against study houses, and immigration measures against foreign students.
DeSantis promised to cancel visas for students who protest in favor of Palestine, a position shared by pre-candidates who preceded him.
“We need cultural chemotherapy to fight this cancer,” Senator Tim Scott said earlier.
“Any student who advocates murder and terrorism should be expelled from campus. Any student with a visa who calls for genocide should be deported,” the senator added.
One of the least energetic positions was that of businessman Vivek Ramaswamy who, although he insisted that there is no half-term in his solidarity with Israel, warned that Washington must offer strong diplomatic support but keep its troops out of the conflict.
This year, with the escalation in the Middle East following the attack by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas on Israel on October 7, the security of the event was reinforced with extraordinary measures and a wide deployment of police and troops.
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