10 Simple Questions for Jews Considering Voting for Trump

How can any Jew support Donald Trump?

This is something I often have asked myself and I struggle with the facts of what he says, what he did as president and what he promises to do if he gets back in office.  I am particularly scared by Trump’s attitudes and policies to “the others” — i.e., women, blacks, Jews, Hispanics, Muslims, immigrants, single moms, etc.

I ask myself, does he represent a “clear and present danger” to the United States?

When thinking about monumental decisions – like voting – that will impact the United States — I lean on my grandparents near constant admonition when considering such things “But, is it good for the Jews?”

To that end, I offer 10 simple questions that I hope Jewish supporters of Trump will consider thoughtfully.  My grandparents have passed…but their question lingers and it is up to all of us alive today – in particular U.S. voters – to answer their question and act on the answers.

10 Simple Questions for Jews Considering Voting for Trump

1. Does it bother you.…that Trump had dinner, at Mar-A-Lago with Nick Fuentes, the Holocaust denier who praises Adolf Hitler, has called for a “holy war” against Jews and compared the 6 millions Jews killed by the Nazis to “cookies being baked in an oven”? Trump later said he was “impressed by Fuentes.” Any problem with that?
2. Does it bother you.…that Trump, in front of a Jewish audience at an event focused on antisemitism, warned that if he loses in November, “the Jewish people would have a lot to do with a loss”? Sounds like throwing “red meat” to the Jew-haters and, again, blaming the Jews.  Any problem with that?
3. Does it bother you.…after protestors in Charlottesville were chanting “Jews will not replace us” Trump said there “were very fine people on both sides”? I don’t know, Nazis on one side, anti-Nazis on the other…seems like a very easy calculation.  Any concerns with that?
4. Does it bother you….that Trump said “Any Jewish person who votes for a Democrat or votes for Biden should have their head examined”? Kind of reminds one of the canard that Jews have a dual-loyalty or disloyalty to the United States.  You ok with that?
5. Does it bother you….that Trump, in a 2020 debate – when given the chance to denounce them – said the Proud Boys should “stand back and stand by” and numerous videos showed Proud Boys members at the January 6 attempted Capitol take-over wearing T-shirts that read “6 Million Wasn’t Enough”? Feel good about a president of the United States supporting such a group that seems to encourage more genocide of Jews?
6. Does it bother you.…that Trump once said “any Jewish people that vote for a Democrat…shows either a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty”? If you had on your Bingo card two mentions of Jews and disloyalty in this article, you win.  Any problem with that?
7. Does it bother you….in a speech in Washington to the Republican Jewish Coalition in 2016, Trump trafficked in stereotypes about Jews saying “You’re not going to support me because I don’t want your money? Is there anyone in this room who doesn’t negotiate deals? Probably more than any room I’ve ever spoken.”?  Ahh stereotypes, the gasoline for antisemitism.  You ok with that?
8. Does it bother you….that several times Trump has warned immigrants that they are “poisoning the blood of our country” and has called his opponents “vermin”? In case you might have thought you have heard this language before, in “Mein Kampf” – that paragon of hatred – Hitler used similar language.  As a Jew, this doesn’t make you, at least, a little bit concerned?
9. Does it bother you….that according to his former chief of staff, 4-star general John Kelly, Trump said “Well, Hitler did a lot of good things”? Hitler-praising, now we are into some wacky territory.  You have any problem with that?
10. Does it bother you….that Trump recently posted a video on his social media account that features a fake news article showing a fake headline implying the US could become a “unified Reich”? As a Jew, are you comfortable with such language?

In a previous ToI blog, , I wrote that I assumed many of my generation had learned the lessons of the Nazi’s genocide of Jews from the black and white movies we were shown at temple in Sunday school.  Yet, I wonder, what about those of my generation that support Trump?  What lessons did they learn?

I know what my grandparents would ask: “But, is it good for the Jews?”