'Blaming the Jews' Won't Help to Win Their Votes
One of the defining characteristics of antisemitism is a deep-seated, irrational instinct to “blame the Jews” whenever something goes wrong in your personal life or in the public sphere.
Donald Trump is no antisemite, having governed as one of the most pro-Israel presidents in our history. But as a candidate for a return trip to the White House, he unfortunately indulged that ancient Jew-hating impulse in an utterly misguided effort to mobilize Jewish voters behind his candidacy.
Speaking last week at a “summit meeting” to counter antisemitism organized on his behalf by the prodigiously generous Jewish philanthropist and GOP donor Miriam Adelson, his out-of-place remarks caused a sensation in entirely the wrong way. That same afternoon he echoed those controversial and ill-considered allegations to the Israeli American Council.
Trump insisted that American Jews in general hadn’t “treated him right” and added that “in my opinion, the Jewish people would have a lot to do with a loss… It’s only because of the Democrat hold, or curse, on you.” He went on to issue a dire warning, declaring that “If I don’t win, I believe Israel will be eradicated.”
Amazingly enough, Trump seemed determined to find a convenient scapegoat for explaining a political defeat that hadn’t even occurred. His fury may have been provoked by a Pew Research Center survey conducted the first week of September suggesting that 65% of Jewish registered voters either supported or leaned toward supporting Kamala Harris, with only 34% for Trump.
He forgot to mention that this disproportionate support for Democrats has characterized Jewish voters in every presidential election for more than a century, ever since Calvin Coolidge beat John W. Davis in 1924. In fact, Trump himself did more poorly in running against Hillary Clinton (who beat him among Jews in 2016, according to exit polls, by a margin of 71% to 21%). The fact that he won that election, despite this feeble showing, highlights the absurdity of pre-emptively blaming the Jewish community for a prospective loss in a campaign where he’s received more of their support.
Other portions of Trump’s remarks last Thursday produced additional indignation. Speaking of Kamala Harris and her relationship to Jewish Americans (including her husband), he bellowed that “More than any people on Earth, Israel has to defeat her. There’s no way that I should be getting just 40% of the vote—I’m the one who is protecting you.”
No, the brave troops of the IDF (Israel Defense Forces), male and female, reservists and youthful draftees, are the ones protecting their nation, disrupting their lives and risking death or injury. By suggesting that he alone stands between Israel’s survival and the “eradication” that he shamelessly predicted unless he prevails in an American election, he slights the heroic sacrifices of an embattled nation full of local heroes.
In reaction to Trump’s comments, the American Jewish Committee, one of the largest and least partisan Jewish organizations, noted that Jewish voters make up just 2% of the eligible population, and added that this minority “cannot and should not be blamed for the outcome of election. Setting up anyone to say ‘we lost because of the Jews’ is outrageous and dangerous. Thousands of years of history have shown that scapegoating Jews can lead to antisemitic hate and violence.”
Meanwhile, Amy Spitalnick, chief executive officer of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, noted that “Trump continues to label Jews who don’t support him as disloyal and crazy, to play into dangerous dual loyalty tropes, and to blame Jews for a potential electoral loss.”
The only swing state with a large enough Jewish population to make a real difference is all-important Pennsylvania, with substantial communities in Philadelphia (my hometown) and Pittsburgh, and an estimated 300,000 Jewish citizens of voting age. In 2020, Biden carried the Keystone State by a margin of just over 80,000, so a swing in Trump’s direction among Jewish voters could make a significant difference in that crucial battleground.
But the MAGA man won’t get that swing by castigating Jewish ballots that haven’t even been cast yet, and characterizing the Democratic Party that drew overwhelming, proud support from grandparents and great-grandparents as “the enemy” and a “curse”. As he approaches all the varied segments of the electorate in a fierce and hard-fought battle, Trump should recognize by now (in his third presidential run) that success will depend on addition rather than subtraction, and multiplication above division.