Trump Doubles Down On Disloyalty Trope. If Only We Were Surprised.
August 21, 2019
This morning, Trump doubled down on his accusation that Jews who vote for Democrats are disloyal. American Jews are loyal to America, not to Israel — but for some reason, Trump doesn’t seem to understand that. If anyone needed more proof that Trump doesn’t care about Jews unless he can use them, here it is.
For the second time in less than 24 hours, Trump accused Jews who voted for Democrats of being disloyal.
Trump today: “If you vote for a Democrat, you’re being very disloyal to Jewish people and you’re being very disloyal to Israel.”
Trump yesterday: “Any Jewish people that vote for a Democrat — I think it shows either a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty.”
That means that Trump accused the vast majority of American Jews of “disloyalty.”
J Street: “American Jews voted for Democrats by a 76 to 19 percent margin [in 2018], significantly increasing their Democratic support from 2016. This change is driven by opposition to Trump, and growing identification with a Democratic Party that shares their values as the country becomes more polarized along cultural and political lines.”
Jewish Electorate Institute: “Jews overwhelming oppose President Trump generally, and disapprove of his handling of a wide range of domestic policy issues. This determination to vote for change leaves President Trump with only 23 percent voter support, 29 percent job approval, and 26 percent favorability among Jewish voters. Those are all virtually unchanged from the 2018 JEI poll.”
Jewish Electorate Institute: “There has been no increase in Jewish support for the Republican Party. Since JEI’s October 2018 poll, the percentage of Jewish voters who identify as Republican remains the same (25 percent). The percentage identifying as Democrats or independents also remains steady at 65 percent and 9 percent, respectively.”
It’s not just Trump: In the past few months alone, top Republicans have repeatedly used anti-Semitic tropes.
RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel: “We know that the Democrats are going to have a lot of money from outside sources like Bloomberg and Soros and Steyer.”
NRCC Chairman Tom Emmer: Jewish billionaires “essentially BOUGHT control of Congress for the Democrats.”
Trump fundraising email: “Don’t let Hollywood buy this election.”