From a pure policy standpoint, one could see why Donald Trump thinks he deserves the Jewish vote. During his administration, he moved the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem.  His tax cut overwhelmingly favored the wealthy, and Jews are one of the most affluent demographics in the United States. 

And yet, polls show Trump losing Jews by a huge margin. Indeed, he’s “pre-blaming” Jews for an election loss. 

Such behavior for Trump, however, is par for the course. Trump says things that every historically-aware Jew finds terrifying. He is close with people that every proud Jew (myself included) should find repulsive. He and his supporters trumpet countless anti-semitic conspiracy theories. 

That is why Trump will never perform well with Jews. That is why anyone who is Jewish, or who cares about American Jews, or who even just has Jewish friends, must disavow him.

I do not know if Trump himself is antisemitic or if he would follow through on his more egregious comments. But history has forced Jews to live by a simple mantra: “when people tell you who they are, believe them.” 

We’d prefer not to find out for sure if Trump is who he says he is.

Let’s start with what scares us most: Trump’s threat to use “the national guard . . . or even the military,” on “the enemy within.” This was no slip of the tongue. He has since said a version of this four separate times, most recently during his interview with Joe Rogan. So he means it. He has said that he intends to be a dictator (even if only for a day, whatever that meant). His own Chief of Staff, Gen. John Kelly, said Trump met the definition of a fascist and “prefers the dictator style of government.”

Even if you don’t believe Kelly’s accusation that Trump praised Adolf Hitler, what Kelly says about Trump’s governing style is plenty scary on its own. The brutal truth Jews face is that dictators who stir up fears about internal enemies, who use the military against their own people, and who accept no checks on their authority, are, historically speaking, catastrophic for us. Hitler and the Holocaust are the most obvious examples, but there is also King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella’s Inquisition and ultimate expulsion of the Jews from Spain; Joseph Stalin’s crackdown on Jews in the Soviet Union; the mass expulsion of Jews from Muslim lands following the founding of the state of Israel; and too many others to name. 

Which leads to the next problem with Trump; he surrounds himself with far too many people who believe none of the above even happened or, worse yet, that Jews deserved it. 

Team Trump is replete with antisemites. There’s Kanye West, most famous for literally and publicly praising Hitler. There’s Nick Fuentes, who  denies that Nazis murdered six million Jews during the Holocaust. There are the overtly antisemitic Proud Boys, whom Trump famously told to “stand back and stand by.”

Yet is it the people in Trump’s orbit who more subtly tolerate or even promote antisemitism who are the bigger problem. Take Tucker Carlson, who received a prominent speaking role at Trump’s Republican National Convention and whom Trump’s son said was in the running to be the Vice Presidential nominee. On his show, Carlson hosted “historian” Daryl Cooper and praised him as “the best and most honest popular historian in the United States.” Among Cooper’s beliefs? That Winston Churchill was the villain of World War II because he wouldn’t help Hitler “the Jewish Problem” and that the Holocaust only happened because the Germans were unprepared for all of the prisoners of war.

The list goes on; Steve Bannon, Trump’s former chief White House strategist, has advised antisemitic nationalist parties in Europe and published antisemitic content when he ran Brietbart News. Michael Flynn, Trump’s former National Security Advisor, blamed Jews for dying at Auschwitz. Even the Jewish members of Trump’s team, like Stephen Miller, encouraged right-wing websites to publish white nationalist content. 

Finally, Trump himself trades in some of the most terrifying antisemitic conspiracy theories. He regularly pushes the “dual loyalty” lie, namely that American Jews are more loyal to Israel than to the United States. He’s also traded in the idea that Jewish “globalists” like George Soros, Janet Yellen, and Lloyd Blankfein, secretly control the world. 

Historically, when an authoritarian is looking for an “enemy within,” a supposedly “all powerful” one with dual loyalties makes the easiest possible target.

I know the standard conservative response to all of this, of course. It’s usually to focus on college students (CNN’s Scott Jennings called them “little Hitlers”) and “The Squad.” But these are a far lesser threat. For one, Democrats don’t make excuses for them. As Cori Bush and Jammal Bowman can attest, Democratic primary voters get rid of them instead. For another, none of these gadflys are on the cusp of having the enormous power of the Executive Branch at their disposal. 

There’s also the “but Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump are Jewish,” but they’ve already said they won’t be part of another Trump Administration, they’ve been absent from the campaign trail, and Trump has even had harsh words to say, publicly, about his own daughter.

With all my heart, I do not believe the vast majority of Republicans are antisemitic. I believe Republicans from George W. Bush to Sam Brownback have been among the Jewish people’s most eloquent defenders (20 years later, Brownback’s speech before the Israeli Knesset remains one of the most powerful pieces of oratory Jews have ever had the pleasure of receiving.)

Alas, Trump has cleared away that generation of GOP leadership. What is left is a cadre of hardliners that yearns for dictatorial power, that trades in antisemitic conspiracy theories, and that does not view antisemitism as a dealbreaker. For good reason, Jews find that to be a terrifying mix. 

Jews cannot, and should not, gamble on such a leader. And non-Jews should view turning away from Trump as the ultimate act of friendship to a Jewish community that could really use a friend right now. 

President Bill Clinton famously cemented the U.S.-Israel relationship when, after the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, he said “Shalom chaver,” which, in Hebrew, means “goodbye friend.” Shalom, however, is also a greeting. We yearn to say “shalom chaverim,” or “hello friends” to the Republicans with whom we share a love of country. We need only defeat Trump and his ilk and that friendship can be rekindled. 

About the Author

Neal Urwitz, an observant Jew, is a public relations executive in Washington, DC.