Trump Manages to Makes October 7 Memorial Service All About Him

Nobody knows how to take advantage of a spectacle quite like Donald Trump.

On October 7, the Republican presidential nominee opted to honor the one-year anniversary of the war between Israel and Palestine by unceremoniously snapping smiling photos next to images of hostages and dancing to one of his favorite rally tracks.

During his speech, Trump suggested that the people killed in the conflict—which has so far claimed nearly 42,000 Palestinian lives as well as 1,200 Israelis, the majority of whom died during the initial Hamas attack—would be able to say they sacrificed their lives for “something very special.” He then oddly danced across the stage.

“We will have achieved the dream of some generations,” Trump said. “We are going to make this. We are going to turn this. And you can never say a total positive because all of those people that have died, but we’re going to turn this into something where they can be proud of what’s happened. They can say, ‘We sacrificed our lives for something very special.’”

Trump then walked off stage while double punching his fists into the air to “Y.M.C.A.” by the Village People—one of dozens of music groups who have sued the former president for the unauthorized use of their music.

It was, all in all, a busy day full of questionable media appearances for the former president.

Speaking earlier with New York radio show Sid & Friends , Trump claimed that “nobody’s done more for the Jewish people than I have.” And in an interview with Hugh Hewitt , Trump insisted that the state of Israel—not necessarily Jewish Americans—needed to “get smart” about supporting his candidacy while speculating about the potential “waterfront property” real estate development possibilities in Gaza.

“I think that Israel has to do one thing,” Trump said. “They have to get smart about Trump, because they don’t back me. I did more for Israel than anybody. I did more for the Jewish people than anybody. And it’s not reciprocal.”