Longtime Democratic strategist James Carville said Wednesday he does not believe wealthy Jewish donors are leaving the Democratic Party over concerns about antisemitism.
Instead, he accused them of using campus antisemitism as a cover to support President Donald Trump in order to benefit financially.
Carville made the comments during his “Politics War Room” podcast with co-host Al Hunt.
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The former advisor to President Bill Clinton was responding to Hunt’s criticism of President Trump, who has received increased support from Jewish donors following a surge in antisemitic incidents on college campuses and in public demonstrations.
“Trump fighting antisemitism is a joke,” Hunt said during the episode, citing a recent New York Times article accusing Trump of fueling antisemitic sentiment.
Carville responded by calling Trump a “complete fraud,” but said the article revealed more about those abandoning the Democratic Party than about the president.
“I tell you who this exposes in a more profound way. And I hear this all the time… a lot of really wealthy Jewish fundraisers – And they say, ‘Look James, I’m a Democrat, but I can’t be a part of the party because of what happened at Columbia,’” Carville said.
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“What the f— did the Democrats have to do with what happened in Columbia?” he added.
Columbia University has been one of several U.S. institutions where pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel demonstrations have escalated following the October 7, 2023 terror attack on Israel by Hamas.
Some Jewish donors have cited the failure of Democratic leaders to strongly condemn those campus protests as a reason for their decision to shift financial support to Republican candidates, including President Trump.
Carville rejected that explanation. “No, you just want your f**king tax cut,” he said, alleging that financial interests were the true motivation behind their political realignment.
The podcast discussion mentioned several Jewish donors by name, including Jacob Helberg, a former Democratic supporter who donated over $1 million to President Trump’s 2024 campaign.
Helberg serves as a senior policy advisor to Palantir CEO Alex Karp and was previously aligned with Democrat-led policy efforts.
Helberg explained his political shift earlier this year, citing concerns over the ideological direction of the left.
“It became very clear that an organizing principle on the left increasingly became based on a divvying up of the world between oppressors and oppressed,” Helberg said in public statements.
“It’s just an organizing principle that I fundamentally disagree with.”
He also expressed concern over growing antisemitism in the U.S., stating, “I feel like a lot of the thin crust of civilization that separates today’s world from the dark world of yesterday is going to unravel in some really scary ways. You’re seeing that with these incredibly dark, antisemitic protests on university campuses, in the streets of Dearborn, Mich., and these slogans that are somehow gaining popular attraction.”
Carville dismissed those concerns, saying that donors like Helberg and investor Bill Ackman—also referenced in the podcast—are primarily interested in Republican tax policy.
“Most Jewish people see right through [Trump], but the ones that don’t see through it, they just don’t – at the end of the day, they just want their f**king tax cut. And you can see it every day,” Carville said.
James Carville launches into an unhinged rant, accusing wealthy Jewish donors of not wanting to give him money for the Democrat Party at fundraisers over rampant college campus anti-Semitism. Carville claims Jews will vote for Nazis just to “get their f-cking tax cuts.” pic.twitter.com/gM5EYHWlaQ
— Bad Hombre (@joma_gc) June 5, 2025
The remarks come amid ongoing tension between Democratic Party leaders and major donors over the party’s response to campus demonstrations and broader issues related to antisemitism.
While some donors remain supportive of Democratic candidates, others have turned toward President Trump, citing what they see as a failure to protect Jewish students and reject extremist rhetoric.
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