On Monday, former President Donald Trump accused Jews who vote for Democrats of hating Israel and their own religion, to boot. The comments were made, ironically, to MAGA ally Sebastian Gorka, a figure with ties to Nazi-linked parties in his native Hungary. Other than the fact that Trump loves to drag Jewish Americans (7 out of 10 of whom didn’t vote for him in 2020), it’s hard to understand what he hoped to gain from this latest outburst.
Other than the fact that Trump loves to drag Jewish Americans, it’s hard to understand what he hoped to gain from this latest outburst.
Admittedly, there is often a base cunning to even Trump’s most unhinged rants. To read his recent remarks strategically — as opposed to morally — is to consider the possibility that Trump is pursuing that most rare and peculiar of birds: the Jewish American swing voter. Another possibility is that, as always, he’s trying to tear groups asunder. For Trump, divisiveness is the point, divisiveness is the goal, and divisiveness is the strategy.
As for Jewish “undecideds,” a phrase that strikes me — as a Jewish person — as an oxymoron, it just might be that Trump and his people sense a post-Oct. 7 wedge to exploit. Maybe they believe that some of the 70% of Jews who voted for Joe Biden in 2020 are MAGA-curious. These Members of the Tribe, according to this theory, believe Biden isn’t supportive enough of Israel.
It’s also plausible that the Gorka interview was directed not at Jews at all but at Trump’s base of white conservative evangelical Christians who share his support for Israel’s hard-right government. The notion of Jews as bad, fallen, misguided and in need of salvation is quite congenial to this evangelical worldview (and evangelicals don’t restrict that judgment to a mere 70% of Jews!).
One might also surmise that Trump has his eye on a tiny but influential sliver of conservative Jewish lobbying groups, PACS and major donors who support Israel’s hard-right…
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