WASHINGTON — Businessman Donald Trump may know the Art of the Deal, but he may need his own how-to on crafting a speech to religious interest groups.
Trump made references to a number of Jewish stereotypes in his remarks at the Republican Jewish Coalition's Presidential Forum Thursday, at one point eliciting boos from the crowd.
“You just like me because my daughter happens to be Jewish,” Trump said in a joke at the beginning of his speech, referring to his daughter, Ivanka, who converted to Judaism to marry her husband, Jared Kushner. He went on to add that he now can't get Ivanka on the phone on Saturdays, the day Jews observe the sabbath.
Trump also made multiple references to the stereotype that Jews like to haggle for a good deal.
“Is there anyone in this room who doesn’t negotiate deals?” Trump asked around the 13-minute mark of the video above. “Probably more than any room I’ve ever spoken.”
"I'm a negotiator, like you folks" -- Trump. You know, because Jews love to haggle.— John Podhoretz (@jpodhoretz) December 3, 2015
"You're not going to support me even though you know I'm the best thing that could happen to Israel," Trump added. "I know why you're not going to support me — because I don't want your money. You want to control your own politician."
Trump to Jews: You're all a bunch of hagglers and you won't support me because I don't want your money.— Noah Rothman (@NoahCRothman) December 3, 2015
When he was asked by an event organizer whether he'd make Jerusalem the undivided capital of Israel, a key issue in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Trump fired back at those who booed his response.
"Do me a favor, just relax," Trump said to a booing audience member, which can be seen at the 24-minute mark.
The Anti-Defamation League's CEO issued a statement Thursday saying the group did not believe Trump meant his statements to be pejorative, but asked him to clarify the remarks.
"After having carefully reviewed the speech, we do not believe that it was Donald Trump’s intention to evoke anti-Semitic stereotypes," CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said.
The Times of Israel, however, called Trump's statements "offensive."
Trump, along with the 13 other GOP presidential hopefuls, addressed the group, most of them on issues related to Israel and U.S. policy in the Middle East.