General Discussion

In theory, Donald Trump might recognize the electoral opportunity and try to appeal to those who disapprove on the incumbent president’s Israel/Gaza policy from the left. In practice, the former president has an unsubtle message for Biden’s critics: If given the chance, the Republican intends to be vastly worse.

The Biden White House, for example, acknowledged this week that it is, as the Associated Press reported, “weighing measures to help Palestinians living in the United States who want to bring family from the war-torn region.”

Soon after, as Reuters reported, the presumptive GOP nominee shared his thoughts on the subject at a campaign rally.

“Your towns and villages will now be accepting people from Gaza and various other places,” Trump said, eliciting boos from the crowd. “Under no circumstances shall we bring thousands of refugees.” Last week, Trump described the pro-Palestinian protests as driven by “tremendous hate” while asserting that the violence at a 2017 white nationalist rally with some Trump supporters in Charlottesville, Virginia, when he was president was small by comparison.

Note, at one of his campaign events yesterday, Trump appeared to goad his followers in Wisconsin into booing Palestinian refugees.

Link to tweet

At the same event, the former president also vowed to restore and expand the Muslim ban he imposed during his first term......

The former president also endorsed ongoing Israeli military operations, saying, “We have to let Israel complete their war on terror. It’s a horrible thing, but they have to do it.” Trump added that Israel must “clean out the cancer.”

Let’s also not forget a New York Times report from March that said top members of Trump’s team want to expel Palestinians from Gaza.

It’s as if the Republican is going out of his way to alienate voters who, given their frustrations with Biden’s policy, might be inclined to give Trump a second look.