Fox News’ Ari Fleischer defends Donald Trump's claim that Jews who have voted for Democrats hate their religion

Fleischer: “Trump is basically right”

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From the March 19, 2024, edition of Fox News' Special Report with Bret Baier

ARI FLEISCHER (GUEST): You know, Donald Trump, as he has a habit of doing, puts things in the most blunt, tough form you can ever say them. But this has been a long-standing debate inside the Jewish community. And let me just set the table. When George H.W. Bush ran for president in 1992 and lost, he got only 11% of the Jewish vote as a Republican, George H.W. Bush. Donald Trump almost tripled it. He got 30% of the Jewish vote. The Jewish vote has been increasingly trending Republican. It still has a Democratic bloc but it's trending Republican. And there's long been a debate inside Jewish circles the more religious just Jews definitely are more conservative. The Jews who never go to synagogue are definitely more liberal. That's true of all religions, Bret.

In the Fox News poll of 2020, it showed that among those who go to church every week, Donald Trump won by 24 points. Among those who never go to church, Joe Biden won by 28 points. So, the more religious you are, the more you tend to be conservative and vote Republican, that is the bigger point Donald Trump was making. And when it comes to the Israel and Gaza, certainly for people who are Jewish, if Israel is your first concern, you tend to vote Republican. If abortion is your first concern or fear of Christian conservatives is your first concern, you tend to vote Democrat. This is a long standing issue. Trump puts it indelicately, but Trump is basically right on the bigger issue.