Donald Trump promised to reinstate a contentious travel ban targeting a spate of predominantly Muslim nations if re-elected in a speech to a Republican Jewish gathering on Saturday.
“We will keep radical Islamic terrorists the hell out of our country,” Trump told the audience attending the annual summit of the Republican Jewish Coalition.
“You remember the travel ban? On day one I will restore our travel ban.” Trump imposed stringent restrictions on travelers from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, and, originally, Iraq and Sudan at the start of his term in 2017. The order was soon challenged in court as discriminating against a religious organization, but the bans, along with Trump’s hardline anti-immigrant agenda, were popular among his supporters.
In his first week in office in 2021, President Joe Biden lifted the ban.
Biden “was proud to overturn the vile, un-American Muslim ban enacted by his predecessor,” a White House spokesman said.
Several Republican candidates lined up at a conference of wealthy Jewish donors to pledge steadfast support for Israel in its battle against Hamas.
Trump said at the gathering in Las Vegas, Nevada’s southern state, that he will “defend our friend and ally in the State of Israel like nobody has ever.”
The confrontation between Israel and Hamas is “a fight between civilization and savagery, between decency and depravity, and between good and evil,” added Trump, who garnered the most applause as he targeted the Biden administration while avoiding criticizing his opponents.
Despite facing multiple criminal charges, the former reality show host is the overwhelming favorite to win the party’s nomination to run against Biden next year. He spoke after inciting outrage in recent weeks by describing Lebanon-based Islamist group Hezbollah as “very smart” and criticizing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
