A Jewish Voter’s Case for Kamala
Donald Trump thinks I should have my head examined. A lot of people do. Some would say most people do, and most people would say that everyone does, for a whole cornucopia of reasons. But Donald Trump is the only one who is recommending cranial scrutiny because I am a Jewish voter enthusiastically supporting Kamala Harris.
When Trump ran in 2016 and 2020, Jewish voters broke for the Democratic nominee by a 3–1 margin. The 2024 polls are currently in the same ballpark. Now, I insist on talking about politics incessantly wherever I go, which may be why so many of my party invitations get “lost in the mail.”
And at the events I am allowed into, I still encounter a number of my fellow landsmen who find Trump “distasteful” or “odious”, or “meshuggenah” or “fakakta in the kop” (you get the idea) but are still contemplating a vote for him.
I consider this to be a really bad idea, particularly for those who are Jewish and supporters of Israel. So I thought I’d make the case, once, in writing, so I don’t have to corner every individual Jewish person I meet. Maybe this will get those party invitations flowing again.
To begin, Donald Trump has a long, very disturbing history of blatant antisemitism. Just in the past couple of weeks, he has said that if he loses this election, it will be the fault of the Jews. We all know how well being blamed for things has worked out for us throughout history.
He says that Jews have not treated him right and that those who don’t support him “hate Israel”, reviving the old antisemitic trope of Jewish loyalty to Israel over the United States. He then reinforces this when speaking to Jewish audiences about Israel by referring to “YOUR prime minister” and “YOUR country”.
But this is only scratching the surface.
In 2016 Trump put out mail saying that “globalists” ( common euphemism for “Jews”) actually control everything with money. One piece of mail had the outline of a Star of David filled in with dollar bills. He also ran a TV ad featuring several prominent Jews, including Lloyd Blankfein, George Soros and Janet Yellen, in which he again warned of “globalists” secretly pulling the strings.
To another Jewish audience he said, “I don’t want your money, therefore you’re probably not going to support me, because stupidly you want to give money”. Incidentally, these Jews whose money he doesn’t want are still bombarded with the hourly emails soliciting money.
He has repeatedly used an opponent’s Jewishness to insult them. There are many examples, but one is when he was feuding with comic John Stewart and Tweeted “I promise you that I am smarter than Jonathan Leibowitz — I mean Jon Stewart” referring to Stewart’s birth name.
And of course, saving the best for last, Trump’s life-long, conservative Republican, hand-picked Chief-of-Staff, General John Kelly has revealed the least surprising thing ever. Namely, that Trump is a fan-boy of Adolph Hitler.
Trump said “Hitler did some good things”. That statement is disqualifying enough, but I don’t feel enough effort has been made to figure out what those “good things” Hitler did in Trump’s mind. I’m guessing that it’s not his policies regarding agricultural price supports that Trump admires so much.
Trump also said he wishes his generals were like Hitler’s. Of course, Hitler’s generals tried to kill him. But Trump’s an idiot. What Trump really wants his generals who will do whatever he says regardless of the law, and who are loyal to HIM, not the Constitution.
And of course there is the testimony of his first wife who says that Mein Kampf is the only book she ever saw Trump keep on his nightstand. For me, the only book on MY nightstand is “The Cannibals Cookbook”, so draw whatever conclusions you wish.
I don’t know what book is on Kamala’s nightstand. I’m pretty sure there’s been more than one over the course of her adult life. But I’m going to take a leap and say there probably isn’t a swastika on the cover.
Please allow me to pause here to just note that if anyone this Hitler-agacent JEWS SHOULD NOT VOTE FOR HIM!
Moving on:
Beyond the antisemitism, there is the question of how consistent Trump’s values are with Jewish values. Jewish theology teaches us to “Tikkun Olam” or repair the world. This hebrew phrase has historically meant support for civil rights, the poor, and treating others with respect. Trump is more of a “leharus et ha’olam im patish” (destroy the world with a hammer) kind of guy. His political discourse is replete with mockery, grievance and vengeance.
He is a bigot and a demagogue, who mostly recently fabricated stories about legal Haitian immigrants, eating people’s pets, which has resulted in harassment and bomb threats against the Haitian community. He refers to immigrants and his political opponents as “animals” and “scum” and “vermin who are poisoning our blood”. Again, the world is not being repaired by a man whose rhetoric is far more derivative of Mein Kampf than of the Talmud.
Finally, a number of people have said that while all of this is true, Trump is “better for Israel”. This argument makes me literally want to pull my own head off, although I’ve resisted doing so because I read doing so has been linked to arthritis. In fact, I would make the case that Trump has been horrible for Israel.
Yes, he moved the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. But if you read the accounts of those who work with him, he did so because he thought it would gain him Jewish votes and donations. Many of his hand-picked, top advisors, including Secretaries of State, Secretaries of Defense, National Security Advisors and Chiefs-of-Staff have all said that he is unfit for office. Specifically, they say he knows nothing about and no interest in the details and subtleties of foreign policy, including mid-east policy.
Trump doesn’t care about Israel; he cares about Trump. And while he may stand with Israel when it’s easy or beneficial for him, we clearly can’t count on him to do so when it is hard or costly.
This contrasts with the Biden-Harris administration who has stood firmly behind Israel, including since October 7th, despite the fact that it has been potentially very costly for them. Heading into a close election, the administration’s military and diplomatic support for Israel has put them at risk of losing the votes of segments of their base, including young people, and has put critical swing states at risk. Yet they have not wavered.
Further, Trump has done something that will be extremely damaging to Israel for decades to come. He has made support for Israel a partisan issue.
Ever since President Truman recognized Israel in 1948, support for Israel has been bipartisan. I used to go to AIPAC conferences and politicians from both parties would be proud of the near universal support Israel enjoyed in Congress.
Trump came into office and basically said “Republicans support Israel and Democrats hate Israel”. This is not only preposterous, but it also risks shattering the consensus that has served Israel so well regardless of who is in power. Kamala Harris will not treat Israel as a partisan football.
When I am making this case at parties, I finish with this: (assuming anyone is still close enough to me to hear it). It is important for Jews to vote for the values our theology imparts to us.
But even more important, we should reject those who are willing to glean the benefits of antisemitism or who seem inspired by the ignorant prejudice that has caused the Jewish people so much harm over the centuries. If we, who have suffered so much from hate, can’t reject the disgusting fruits of bigotry, how can we expect others to do the same?
