Former President Donald Trump surprised many on social media with his response to claims that President Joe Biden is supporting “genocide” in Gaza.
When some in the crowd at Trump’s campaign event Saturday in Schnecksville, Pennsylvania, began to chant “Genocide Joe!” he agreed with them.
The Republican presidential candidate was addressing a large crowd in the battleground state when the chant broke out.
“Genocide Joe! Genocide Joe!” people directly in front of him shouted.
Trump let them finish before he took to his microphone and responded to the chant.
“They’re not wrong,” the former president said after a few moments of silence. “They’re not wrong.”
“He’s done everything wrong,” Trump concluded of Biden.
He did not expound on what, if anything, he would do differently regarding Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza, but the former president has been a staunch ally of the Jewish state.
Do you agree with Trump?
The comments also came as Israel and its allies — including the United States — were shooting down hundreds of missiles and drones that had been fired at Israel by Iran.
After the Pennsylvania rally, there was a great deal of confusion about Trump’s agreement with the “genocide” chant, which implies Biden’s support for Israel has made him complicit in a supposed “genocide” of Palestinians.
Many who came across clips of the event pointed out the 45th president is a supporter of Israel:
Do they know that trump himself is also pro Israel?
— Richard Taitano 🇦🇪🇦🇪🇦🇪🇦🇪🇦🇪🇦🇪🇦🇪🇦🇪 (@TaitanoRules555) April 14, 2024
I understand it to be Joe is killing everything Trump did, including America. He is indeed “genicide Joe”
— Truth Always Reveals its beauty. (@TruthWinsFirst) April 15, 2024
Others opined that Trump appeared unsure of how to respond to the chants, which could be considered a political landmine:
Trump crowd chants: “Genocide Joe! Genocide Joe!”
Trump takes it in, seems to like it, or at least likes that the crowd likes it. “They’re not wrong,” Trump says. pic.twitter.com/VWs2tpNcb1
— Ryan Grim (@ryangrim) April 14, 2024
It’s not a chant I would use. The ‘Genocide Joe’ chant was started by the left to undermine US support for Israel’s response to the October 7 attack by Palestinians in Gaza.
— Kristinn Taylor (@KristinnFR) April 14, 2024
Does he know where that chant comes from and what it means…man I hope so
— TERF without the F (@TERFbutnoRF) April 13, 2024
President Trump looked uncomfortable.
— MatthewJshow (@MatthewJshow) April 13, 2024
In the words of the left-wing The Washington Post, “‘Genocide Joe’ is a phrase used by pro-Palestine protesters against President Biden because of his unconditional support of Israel amid its onslaught in Gaza.”
In any event, Trump made his support for the people of Israel crystal clear in Pennsylvania:
President Trump in Pennsylvania: “Before going any further I want to say God bless the people of Israel. They’re under attack right now…it would not have happened if we were in office.” pic.twitter.com/XWQ5mHHsU6
— Graham Allen (@GrahamAllen_1) April 13, 2024
He also later took to his Truth Social platform Saturday evening and commented, “AMERICA SUPPORTS ISRAEL!”