Trump Uses Antisemitism Speech to Unload on American Jews

You ingrates! Photo: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images

Donald Trump’s many personal grievances continue to interfere with his effort to regain control of the White House. There was a cringeworthy example on September 19, when his campaign held a gala event in Washington dedicated to advertising the former president’s strong backing for Israel and at least trying to link Kamala Harris to antisemitic incidents related to protests against the war in Gaza. All was going well for a while during the “denouncing antisemitism” gabfest, with the candidate recalling his many actions as president on Israel’s behalf, until he suddenly veered off into a rant about the ingratitude of American Jews, every single one of whom owe him their votes, apparently. The New York Times reported:

Mr. Trump on Thursday offered an extended airing of grievances against Jewish Americans who have not voted for him. He repeated his denunciation of Jews who vote for Democrats before suggesting that the Democratic Party had a “hold, or curse,” on Jewish Americans and that he should be getting “100 percent” of Jewish votes because of his policies on Israel.

The kvetching descended into a distinct self-pitying whine:

“With all I have done for Israel, I received only 24 percent of the Jewish vote” … Mr. Trump added that “I really haven’t been treated very well, but it’s the story of my life.”

Hardly for the first time, Trump seemed to assume that unconditional support for Israel’s policies (which is nowadays far from universal among American Jews) is the only legitimate grounds for the candidate preferences of millions of people with a strong historical connection to the Democratic Party and to progressive ideology generally. He’s really steamed at American Jews presently; after the “combating antisemitism” event, he spoke at a gathering of Israeli Americans and shared some more thoughts about the supposed perfidy of self-loathing Jews, as CBS News reported:

“If I don’t win this election, and the Jewish people would really have a lot to do with that if that happens, because at 40 percent, that means 60 percent of the people are voting for the enemy,” Trump said.

… “You should have your head examined, because it will face an unceasing, bloody war to obliterate the Jewish state and drive Jews out of the Holy Land,” Trump said about Jewish Americans who vote for Democrats.

Now I’m sure that Trump and other Republicans would like to increase their share of the Jewish vote. But Jews represent only about 2 percent of the U.S. electorate; it’s universally understood that the larger audience for GOP gestures of maximum solidarity with Israel are conservative evangelicals, and Trump can’t really complain about their levels of support for him. The Washington Post’s Philip Bump explained this phenomenon during and earlier explosion of Trump ire at Jewish Democrats:

One of Trump’s most fervent pockets of support is white evangelical Protestants, a group that consistently sides with Trump on political and policy questions. His approach to Israeli politics often lines up with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but it also reflects priorities that have been central to evangelical politics for years.

In other words, Trump’s approach to the politics of Israel is likely driven in part by the same motivation that drives so much of what he does: delivering for his base.

Given these realities, the former president’s regular excoriation of Jews for failing to carry him around on their shoulders seems very personal and more than a bit disturbing. If the hallmark of antisemitism is irrational fury at Jews combined with stereotypes of how they should think and behave, Trump is more of a suspect than a defender and vindicator.