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From: fuktrump@gmail.com
Jew-baiting is part of the Trump playbook. It's a feature, not a bug
Lloyd Green
Donald Trump used an antisemitic trope about disloyal Jews in a tweet
about Democrats. Old habits die hard
Wed 21 Aug 2019 14.47 BST Last modified on Wed 21 Aug 2019 16.06 BST
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US-ROMANIA-DIPLOMACY-TRUMP-IOHANNIS
US President Donald Trump takes
part in a meeting with Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis(not shown) in
the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC on August 20, 2019.
(Photo by MANDEL NGAN / AFP)MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images
‘Religion and ethnicity were fair game for Trump from start to finish,
and Jews were not off-limits.’ Photograph: Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images
On Tuesday, Donald Trump announced that American Jews who voted Democratic
were either stupid, disloyal or both. As Trump framed things: “I think any
Jewish people that vote for a Democrat, I think it shows either a total
lack of knowledge or great disloyalty.” Disloyal to Trump, the US or
Israel, the president did not specify. But he didn’t have to, the message
was clear enough: American Jews are now a cross between political props
and piñatas.
Almost on cue, Matt Brooks, the executive director of the Republican
Jewish Coalition, eagerly whitewashed Trump’s comments. According to
Brooks, Trump’s goal was really about communal therapy, and what Trump
actually meant was: “You’re being disloyal to yourself to say, ‘Hey, I
support somebody who is known to espouse antisemitic comments.’”
Trump and Netanyahu are playing a bigoted game of chicken
Emma Goldberg
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Realizing that he may have bitten off more than he wanted to chew, Brooks
later enthusiastically retweeted: “I don’t think for a min he’s
questioning our loyalty to America or country.” Sure, he isn’t.
So once again, Jew-baiting will be part of the Trump playbook, just as it
was in 2016 and 2018, even if Trump’s allies now proclaim that Jexodus is
just around the corner. Old campaign habits die hard, and sometimes not at
all.
Three years ago, thinly veiled antisemitic messages from Team Trump were
features, not bugs. Pepe the Frog was a constant campaign meme. In July
2016, Trump tweeted out an image of the star of David, Hillary Clinton and
piles of money. After the initial stir, the six-pointed star was replaced
by Trump with a circle. Still, folks “got it”, on both sides, just like in
Charlottesville.
Then just days before the election, George Soros, Janet Yellen and Lloyd
Blankfein took center stage in Trump’s closing ad. Back then Rashida Tlaib
and Ilhan Omar were not on the stage – someone else would have to make do.
Said differently, religion and ethnicity were fair game for Trump from
start to finish, and Jews were not off-limits. As one of Trump’s lawyers
told me, it was about expedience, that’s all; nothing personal, just look
at Jared Kushner. Or as Steve Bannon confided to Michael Wolff, he
couldn’t vouch that Trump wasn’t a racist, but Bannon could say that Trump
“probably wasn’t an antisemite”.
History not only rhymes, it can repeat itself. When last year’s midterms
rolled around it was pretty much the same story, that is until the Shabbat
morning massacre in Pittsburgh. No less than Kevin McCarthy, then the
House majority leader, had tweeted and then deleted: “We cannot allow
Soros, Steyer, and Bloomberg to BUY this election! Get out and vote
Republican November 6th. #MAGA”. The song had remained the same.
The fact that Soros and Steyer had already been targeted by the now
convicted pipe bomber, Cesar Sayoc, made no difference to McCarthy. The
specter of Nancy Pelosi as House speaker meant that mores could be
disregarded, and if that line of attack was good enough for Trump, it was
definitely fine for McCarthy. Unlike Paul Ryan, McCarthy was never thought
by Trump to be a boy scout. In the congressional midterms, Jews cast
between 72 and almost 80% of their votes for Democrats.
Yet Trump has definitely gained traction with segments of America’s Jews.
The latest Siena poll of New York’s voters show Trump’s approval among
Jews in the Empire state at 57%, a figure higher than Trump’s standing
among whites overall, Catholics or Protestants. Likewise, a majority of
New York’s Jews say they plan to vote for Trump. With the exception of
Republicans and conservatives, Trump’s numbers are underwater with
everyone else.
By that measure, the breach within the American Jewish community is not
disappearing anytime soon. Instead, expect it to grow. Trump delivered on
his promises to move the US embassy to Jerusalem, and in shredding the
Iran deal struck by Barack Obama. With New York’s large Orthodox Jewish
population, these issues possess particular resonance.
The reality also is that Trump has a difficult time putting distance
between himself and white nationalists, and takes unvarnished pride in
turning up the rhetorical heat. The Proud Boys are his latest love object,
and Trump struggled to disavow David Duke, the former grand wizard of the
Ku Klux Klan.
Even with low unemployment Trump feels compelled to scorch the social
fabric. On the other hand, ethnic arson is a longtime Trump specialty. Can
you say “Obama’s birth certificate”?
Like a Rorschach test, American Jews along with all Americans will see
what they want to see, with 2020 looming as another flashpoint. In the
midst of our not-so-cold civil war, division is the operative coin of the
realm. Expect the president to stomp on these deepening fissures daily
without any hesitation or remorse.
Lloyd Green was opposition research counsel to George HW Bush’s 1988
campaign and served in the Department of Justice from 1990 to 1992
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