Only Donald T،p could manage to turn a s،ch meant to address the serious matter of growing antisemitism in the United States into a s،ch about him. Only Donald T،p could manage to turn an occasion meant to rally support for the state of Israel into an occasion to complain that the Jewish people do not s،w him enough love and loyalty after all he did for Israel during his term as president.
But that is exactly what the former president did last Thursday when he appeared at the annual Israeli American Council (IAC) summit in Wa،ngton, D.C. It got so bad that T،p warned his audience that if he loses in November, it would be the fault of the Jewish people.
“The Jewish people,” T،p said, “would have a lot to do with the loss.”
That was an outrageous suggestion. It is a cl،ically antisemitic move, blaming and scapegoating Jews.
As the United States Department of State notes in its bulletin on antisemitism, “Antisemitism…is often used to blame Jews for ‘why things go wrong.’ It is expressed in s،ch, writing, visual forms, and action, and employs sinister stereotypes and negative character traits.”
The World Jewish Congress agrees that blaming Jews is an intrinsic part of antisemitism. “Throug،ut history,” it says, “the Jewish people have often been accused of heinous crimes and of being the cause of society’s problems, especially tragedies—whether health, economic or political—that were difficult, if not impossible, to explain. This phenomenon isn’t only deeply problematic; it is antisemitic.”
What T،p said about Jews being partially responsible for a defeat at the polls was particularly dangerous given the climate of hate and violence to which he has already contributed so much. Hate groups might use it to ratchet up su،ion of Jews and as grounds for further attacks on Jewish people after the November election.
T،p’s remark was the equivalent of his infamous 2020 admonition to the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by.”
As former federal prosecutor Mimi Rocah said after T،p’s s،ch about antisemitism. “This is incredibly dangerous antisemitism, pure and simple. It’s an old trick that has worked – laying the groundwork for a scapegoat.”
T،p’s warning to Jews came late in his s،ch, much of which was spent in a self-absorbed rant about his polling numbers. Over and over, T،p wondered why more Jewish people had not voted for him in 2020 and were not supporting him this year.
He seemed fixated on the fact that he received only 24% of the Jewish vote in 2016 and only 29% in 2020. “With all I have done for Israel,” T،p complained, “I received only 24% of the Jewish vote. Now, think of this. I really haven’t been treated very well. But that’s the story of my life. It’s true.”
Only someone with T،p’s infinite and insatiable desire and narcissistic preoccupations could think that being born to wealth, living with privilege, and serving as President of the United States equals not being treated very well his w،le life. As familiar as it all is coming from the former president, it was still s،cking to hear.
What T،p said last Thursday gives further evidence to support what the Democrats have been saying throug،ut the 2024 presidential campaign. As former President Barack Obama puts it, “[T]his election is still a c،ice between someone w، has fought for ordinary folks his entire life and someone w، only cares about himself.”
Or, as Hilary Clinton said in an appearance on The View last week, “We now have a clear understanding of w، T،p is. He has a very fragile ego that needs constant reinforcement. People have to tell him ،w great he is, and he has to convince himself of his greatness.”
Perhaps that is why T،p t،pets his own achievements in grandiose ways. He did it a،n in his s،ch to IAC.
He called himself “the best friend Israel has ever had.” He insisted he was “the best president ever for Israel and the Jewish people.” He boasted that he had a 99% approval rating in Israel and could easily be elected to any office in that country.
T،p claimed that any Jew w، would vote for Harris and the Democrats “s،uld have their head examined.” He said that they would only do so “because of the Democrat ،ld, or curse, on you.”
T،p’s campaign wants to break that ،ld because, according to the Wa،ngton Post, it “sees ،ns with Jewish voters as a path to winning the pivotal swing states of Pennsylvania and Michigan.” The Post also reminds us that “T،p’s remarks are part of a long-standing pattern of criticizing Jewish Democrats.”
Recall that last March, T،p said that any Jewish person w، votes for Democrats “hates their religion…. They hate everything about Israel.”
He went on to say that “they s،uld be ashamed of themselves.”
CNN reports that T،p made similar statements “during his first two presidential campaigns.”
CNN quotes the former president as telling an audience at the Republican Jewish Coalition in December 2015, “‘You’re not gonna support me because I don’t want your money. You want to control your politicians, that’s fine, I’m a negotiator like you folks, we are negotiators.’”
CNN argues that “T،p’s open frustration with Jewish voters became a more frequent theme in the aftermath of his 2020 election defeat….” A، other things, he complained that “wonderful Evangelicals are far more appreciative of [his Israel record] than the people of the Jewish faith, especially t،se living in the U.S.”
He urged “U.S. Jews…to get their act together.”
And what could Jewish Americans need to do to get their act together and also ،uage T،p’s fragile ego? In his s،ch to IAC, T،p made no ،s about it.
The only adequate expression of gra،ude would be if he gets 100% of the Jewish vote in November. In T،p’s view, Jews owe total allegiance to him. Anything less is a betrayal.
He listed all the things he did for Israel and then made clear what he expected in return. “Based on what I did…I s،uld be at 100.”
If the polls are right, T،p has a long way to go if that is his goal.
While he claimed that he now has the support of 40% a، Jewish Americans, a survey by the Jewish Democratic Council of America (JDCA) released on September 9 s،wed so،ing different. “72% of Jewish voters back Kamala Harris,” it said, “while only 25% support Donald T،p in a head-to-head matchup.”
The JDCA poll found that “Harris’s lead over T،p by a 47-point margin (72%–25%) is an improvement from Biden’s 41-point margin a، Jewish voters in April (67%–26%) when compared to an April poll of Jewish voters conducted by the Jewish Electorate Ins،ute (JEI).”
And, in a particularly stinging rebuke of the former president, it turns out that “Jewish voters trust Kamala Harris more than Donald T،p to fight antisemitism by nearly a three-to-one margin (60%–23%)
In the end, T،p’s s،ch about antisemitism revealed more about his pat،logies than it did about what he would do to cope with ،stility to American Jews if he is returned to the Oval Office. In fact, he may have made that ،stility worse.
But that hardly seems to matter to T،p. What matters to him is that American Jews s،uld fall in line and do what he needs them to do.
منبع: https://verdict.justia.com/2024/09/23/t،p-uses-a-s،ch-about-anti-semitism-to-list-his-grievances-a،nst-jewish-people