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By HALIE SOFER<\/p>\n
This week, President Trump continued his assault on decency and honesty in our political discourse by falsely claiming that American Jews are leaving the Democratic Party. He tweeted a quote from a new group called \u201cJexodus,\u201d which is nothing more than a political front for Republicans aiming to chip away at the Jewish vote.<\/p>\n
This is nothing new.<\/p>\n
For decades, Republicans have eyed the 70\u201380% of the Jewish electorate that consistently supports Democrats and politicized U.S. support of Israel in a futile attempt to make inroads on the Jewish vote. It\u2019s never worked because Republicans are completely out of step with Jewish values on a wide range of issues. What is new, however, is the weaponization of anti-Semitism and the president\u2019s unconscionable accusation that \u201cDemocrats hate Jewish people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Perhaps the truth no longer matters on the president\u2019s Twitter feed, but it matters to most Americans, including Jewish voters. So here\u2019s the truth.<\/p>\n
President Trump has trafficked anti-Semitic tropes and conspiracy theories from the campaign trail to the Oval office; from his Twitter feed and back to the campaign trail. In 2015, Trump told a crowd of Jewish Republicans that \u201cyou\u2019re not going to support me because I don\u2019t want your money.\u201d In 2016, his final campaign ad was condemned by Jewish groups, including the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), for its toxic use of anti-Semitic imagery. In 2017, he created a moral equivalence between neo-Nazis and those protesting them in Charlottesville. In October 2018, Trump promoted an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory on Twitter. In December 2018, Trump insinuated that Jews have dual loyalty to the United States and Israel. The Republican response to all of this was not just silence but even worse: Some Republicans, including Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, have repeated similar anti-Semitic conspiracies and tropes.<\/p>\n
This week, the president had the audacity to feign concern about Rep. Ilhan Omar\u2019s use of an anti-Semitic trope. The Jewish Democratic Council of America (JDCA), along with the majority of Democrats in Congress, have condemned the use of such tropes wherever they have emerged, on either side of the aisle. Republicans, on the other hand, have selectively condemned anti-Semitism when it suits their political interests but maintained near silence when it comes from one of their own. This silence \u2014 combined with the president\u2019s dog whistles to anti-Semites \u2014 is increasingly dangerous for the Jewish community. It has emboldened those who would commit hate crimes, such as the perpetrator of the horrific Pittsburgh Tree of Life synagogue massacre.<\/p>\n
Democrats responded to Rep. Omar\u2019s statements by unanimously voting to condemn anti-Semitism and other forms of hatred as contradictory to American values. The resolution that passed last week defined the many facets of anti-Semitism, ranging from the white supremacy movement, with which President Trump and Rep. Steve King have sympathized, to the negative stereotypes and generalizations recently invoked by Reps. Omar and Jordan.<\/p>\n
In the aftermath of this incident, Democrats have sought to find greater understanding and mend divides, while Republicans have politicized anti-Semitism and are now trying to fundraise off it. On Wednesday, Rep. Liz Cheney, one of 23 Republicans who opposed the resolution condemning anti-Semitism, sent a text message on behalf of the National Republican Campaign Committee (NRCC) that read \u201cDemocrats are enabling anti-Semitism. We must take action. Donate NOW to restore our conservative majority!\u201d<\/p>\n
This text \u2014 and the president\u2019s tweet before it \u2014 are perpetuating lies, plain and simple. Democrats don\u2019t support anti-Semitism, and Republican attempts to literally and figuratively cash-in on this moment show yet again that for them, this is all a political game. Additionally, the president\u2019s claim that Jews are fleeing the Democratic Party is patently untrue. The facts show that Trump\u2019s presidency has increased support for Democrats among Jewish voters. A poll conducted in October 2018 by the Jewish Electorate Institute (JEI) found that 74% of American Jews planned to vote for Democrats in the 2018 midterms. In fact, according to exit polls, 79% of Jews voted for Democrats in November, an eight percent increase from the 71% who voted for Democrats in 2016. What is perhaps more significant is that 68% of Jewish voters self-identified as Democrats in the JEI poll. This means that Democrats in 2018 won not only the Democratic Jewish base, but also drew more than 10% of the Jewish vote from Independents and Republicans as well.<\/p>\n
Evidence demonstrates that the Democratic Party is and will remain the home for American Jews. This has only been solidified by Trump\u2019s presidency because his policies are so antithetical to our values on nearly every issue. We squarely reject Trump\u2019s dishonest and dangerous politicking \u2014 in which the Jewish community has become a pawn \u2014 and see right through his crocodile tears on anti-Semitism. To see it any other way is to deny the truth.<\/p>\n
(Halie Soifer is the executive director of the Jewish Democratic Council of America.)<\/em><\/p>\n