Trump begins answer to question about rise of anti-Semitism by boasting about Electoral College victory
"Since your election campaign and even after your victory, we've seen a sharp rise in anti-Semitic incidents across the United States," a reporter asked. "And I wonder, what do you say to those among the Jewish community in the States and in Israel and maybe around the world who believe your administration is playing with xenophobia and maybe racist tones."
Trump initially responded by saying he was "very honored" by his Electoral College victory over Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.
"Well, I just want to say that we are very honored by the victory we had," he said. "306 Electoral College votes. We were not supposed to crack 220."
"You know that, right?" he continued, looking in the direction of Netanyahu, who was standing next to him. "There was no way to 221 but then they said there was no way to 270. And there's tremendous enthusiasm out there."
Trump then said his administration will bring "peace in this country."
"I will say that we are going to have peace in this country," he said. "We are going to stop crime in this country. We are going to do everything within our power to stop long-simmering racism and every other thing that's going on, because a lot of bad things have taken place over a long period of time."
Circling back to his election, he said one of the reasons he won was "because we have a very, very divided nation."
"Very divided," he continued. "And hopefully, we'll be able to do something about that. And, you know, it was something that was very important to me."
He then touched on the Jewish community, as the reporter had mentioned in his question, saying that, within it, he had "so many friends," in addition to "a daughter who happens to be here right now, a son-in-law, and three beautiful grandchildren."
Trump's daughter, Ivanka, converted to Judaism prior to marrying Jared Kushner, who is now a senior adviser to Trump.
"I think that you're going to see a lot different United States of America over the next three, four, or eight years," Trump continued. "I think a lot of good things are happening, and you're going to see a lot of love. A lot of love."