Speaking at the Republican Jewish Coalition 2016 candidate forum, GOP frontrunner Donald Trump repeatedly returned to a riff about being a good negotiator like “you folks.” He also said the attendees wouldn’t support him because “I don’t want your money.”
Early in his remarks, he bragged about how little money he spent on his campaign thus far, adding, “I think you, as business people, will feel good about this and respect it.”
The speech then drifted to his criticisms of how President Obama negotiated the Iran deal.
“I am negotiator like you folks,” Trump said to his Jewish audience, before bashing how much money the Obama administration spent on gas station in Afghanistan. The bashing of Obama’s negotiation skills continued.
“And maybe better than any audience, the people in this room understand what I’m saying,” Trump said.
Minutes later, Trump returned to the subject of negotiation skills, zeroing in on the Bowe Bergdahl prisoner swap.
“Some of us renegotiate deals… is there anybody that doesn’t renegotiate deals in this room?” Trump said. “Perhaps more than any room I’ve ever spoken to,”
Towards the end of the speech, Trump claimed that the attendees were “not going to support me even though you know I am the best thing that could ever happen to Israel.”
“I know why you’re not going to support me,” Trump said. “Because I don’t want your money.”
At least he didn’t address them as “you people,” as Ross Perot did to an audience of African Americans in 1992.
Oy. Vey. Iz. Mir.
I predict this negotiation is going…not so well.
If anyone else said this, they would be justifiably crucified by the media pundits and political opponents. Since it’s Trump, it’ll probably be ignored altogether. Fatigue processing these kinds of unbelievable statements has set in for most people, except those who share his way of thinking–for them it’s like catnip.
“I know why you’re not going to support me,” Trump said. “Because I don’t want your money.”
Well, Big Door just locked up his base and won the South Carolina GOP primary