The front runner for the Republican nomination, Donald Trump, is not used to icy receptions. That's why - it may have been jarring for the business mogul to be openly booed at the Republican Jewish Coalition Presidential forum on Thursday, where every single GOP candidate appeared, except for Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul.
The jeering happened when a moderator, who asked questions after Trump's speech, asked Trump if he would unequivocally name Jerusalem as the unquestioned capital of Israel.
"You know what I want to do? I want to wait till I meet with Bibi, you know, I'm leaving for Israel in a very short period of time."
Trump was referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, while most Republican presidential candidates were resolute in their stance that Jerusalem should be the capital.
"Who's the wise guy?" Trump responded to the jeers. "Do me a favor, just relax, okay? You'll like me very much, believe me."
The speech itself had its own issues. Trump openly told the audience that he didn't think he would get their support.
"You're not gonna support me because I don't want your money. You want to control your politicians, that's fine. Five months ago I was with you," Trump said. "I do want your support, but I don't want your money."
Former President George W. Bush Press Secretary Ari Fleischer found this assertion "offensive" and a "woeful misread" of the Republican Jewish Coalition.
Some audience members found Trump's speech offensive. During the speech, attendees could be seen shaking their heads in disbelief and with faces buried in their hands.
The eyebrow raising comments kept coming, such as when Trump told the room that he's a negotiator, "like you folks."
"Is there anybody that doesn't renegotiate deals in this room?" Trump said. "This room negotiates them, perhaps more than any other room I've ever spoken in."
The rest of the speech was received with polite applause and chuckles.
Later on Thursday, the Anti-Defamation League said in a statement that it reviewed Trump's remarks and concluded that -- unlike in other cases -- Trump was not trying to be offensive.
"In this case he is speaking to a group of Jewish Republicans, a significant portion of whom are business people," ADL CEO Jonathan A. Greenblatt said in a statement. "We do not believe he intended his comments regarding negotiations and money to relate specifically to their Jewishness, but we understand that they could be interpreted that way. We encourage him to clarify that this was not his intention, and that he rejects the traditional stereotypes about Jews and money."
