US President Donald Trump warned Democrats that supporting Columbia University anti-Israel protest leader Mahmoud Khalil will not be a winning issue for them.

In an interview with Laura Ingraham on Fox News that aired yesterday (Wednesday), Trump stated, “The Democrats lost big because of the stupidity of, you know, they’re backing these 90% negative things."

"They’re all for it, and, you know, they’re still fighting for it, but now they have a new one,” Trump said. “We’re going to back murderers, killers and people that hate our country. We’re going to back people that hate Israel — want to destroy it — people that are murderers, people that are horrible. We’re going to back them."

“I think that might be a 100% issue for us,” he added. “They don’t ever find an issue that’s, like, a good issue."

Addressing the campaign on behalf of Mahmoud Khalil, Trump stated, “Backing Khalil is not a great issue, but backing Khalil is better than backing these other hundreds of people that are really serious criminals. It’s probably a step better than that.”

Khalil was detained by ICE agents earlier this month. The Trump Administration is seeking to revoke Khalil's green card and deport him for his role in the antisemitic protests that have rocked the Columbia campus for the last year, including his spreading of Hamas flyers.

On Tuesday, Khalil issued his first public statement since the arrest, accusing both the Trump and Biden administrations of “anti-Palestinian racism.”

Calling himself a "political prisoner," Khalil called for further protests, stating, “In the weeks ahead, students, advocates, and elected officials must unite to defend the right to protest for Palestine. At stake are not just our voices, but the fundamental civil liberties of all.”