Last night, Trump unleashed yet another vile smear against Jewish voters, describing our overwhelming support for Democrats as a “curse” cast upon us by the political party.
The irony? Trump delivered these remarks at an event titled, “Fighting Antisemitism in America.”
“The Jewish people would have a lot to do with a loss,” Trump said to a room full of Jewish Americans. “It’s only because of the Democrat hold, or curse, on you.”
The comments come after weeks of Republicans spreading hateful, entirely debunked conspiracy theories about Haitian immigrants in Ohio – leading to mass hysteria, fueling bomb threats and stoking xenophobia.
Vice Presidential Candidate JD Vance even appeared to admit to whipping up the hysteria based on rumors. “If I have to create stories, then that’s what I’m going to do,” he told CNN.
I’m not naive: Coded racism and antisemitism have long been prevalent in our politics.
Leaders attempt to scapegoat ‘the stranger’ – be it African Americans, Muslim Americans, migrants or ‘rich globalist Jews’ – for low wages, crumbling public services and other failures. They distract from their own unpopular agenda. We know better than most where this leads.
But now it does feel like something has shattered.
The veil of coded language is gone, replaced by the blaring siren of xenophobia that now defines Republican politics. Almost the entire party has embraced conspiracies, racism and fear-mongering. Few appear to be pushing back.
There are so many reasons this election is critical – from Gaza and Israel to reproductive freedoms to LGBT+ rights to climate change to Ukraine to our very democracy itself.
But another reason is certainly defeating this divide and conquer, manufactured rage-panic politics that threatens our safety and our union, all for short-term power.
J Street is proud to be the Jewish community’s largest grassroots fundraiser for Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign, and we’re working to defeat MAGA candidates up and down the ballot.
“This is exhausting, and it’s harmful,” Kamala Harris said of the GOP’s weeks-long campaign against legal Haitian immigrants. “It’s hateful, and grounded in some age-old stuff that we should not have the tolerance for.”
We’ve got to turn the page on this stuff. That’s why, together, we’re giving voice to the values of our community, and the overwhelming majority of Jewish and pro-Israel Americans who recognize the danger, corruption and destruction inherent in the MAGA agenda.
We as a country can emerge victorious and work to heal what has been broken. We’ve done it before, we can do it again.
Together, we must expose their tactics and their goals. We must speak to voters about what matters to them. And we must present a more hopeful, brighter path forward that brings everyone along with us.
Let’s go.