Melania, Michelle, and the folly of hypocrisy

On April 1st, First Lady Melania Trump recognized Israeli Amit Soussana at the US State Department’s 2025 International Woman of Courage Award ceremony. Amit is a former Hamas hostage and sexual assault survivor who has called for global action to secure the immediate release of the remaining captives in Gaza.

Melania Trump’s actions stand in stark contrast to former First Lady Michelle Obama. On a Mother’s Day past, fearing the worst from Boko Haram’s rampage in Nigeria, Michelle Obama cried out “… my husband and I are outraged and heartbroken over the kidnapping of more than 200 Nigerian girls from their school dormitory in the middle of the night.”

Michelle Obama’s deafening silence over an eerily similar fate of Jewish girls at the hands of Hamas savages now speaks volumes about her self-righteous prejudices. Michelle’s hash tag “#BRINGBACKOURGIRLS” ironically paralleled the Israeli hostage families’ plea to “Bring Them Home Now.” Democrat Jews gave Michelle a pass and their hypocrisy is deeply disturbing.

The abandonment of Israeli women by the United Nations and, yes, by progressive feminist organizations are shocking. American Jews supported Black Lives Matter, women’s groups, and LGBTQ to help people who face oppression. After October 7, when Israel needed support against terrorists and American Jews faced antisemitism, these same groups remained silent or, even worse, made common cause with oppressors.

American statesman Adlai Stevenson famously said, “A hypocrite is the kind of politician who would cut down a redwood tree, then mount the stump and make a speech for conservation.” His wisdom captures the madness we see and read of daily. We witness head snapping pivots from what was deemed good to what is now considered reprehensible.

Elon Musk was once the darling of the “green new deal” crowd. He built Tesla, with electric vehicles that are beautiful and efficient. Unlike the billions sunk into other failed renewable energy source follies and the thousands of policies that hobble industries, his is a success story. And the Tesla automotive achievement was accompanied with mind blowing innovations that advanced space exploration that rescued stranded astronauts, bored holes in the ground for urban travel, and installed microscopic computers into patient’s brains to rehabilitate those with grievous infirmities.

With a full-blown case of hypocrisy-fueled Trump Derangement Syndrome, progressives contemptuously key and burn Musk’s amazing vehicles.

The angry hypocrites on the left now view Musk as the devil because he chose to ally himself with President Trump. Why the vitriolic castigation and demonization? Wasn’t he the ultimate white knight saving the environment?

Progressive Jews were offended by Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem’s presence at an El Salvador mega-prison. The New Republic referred to “…her sick stunt.” She stood proudly in front of the caged tattooed incarcerated illegal aliens who once terrorized American streets. It was a bold, iconic photo op warning to such criminals that America is no longer a soft target. She is muscularly ridding our country of the likes of Tren de Aragua and MS-13 bad actors.

America will now expeditiously deport these criminals who were part of the millions who passed so easily through the borders Biden and Mayorkas hypocritically declared “safe and secure.” Jews ought to easily draw the parallel to the existential menace Israel faces on her borders.

Progressive Jews are crickets when it comes to appreciating President Trump’s assault on the antisemitism rampant at our universities. The unsafe environments, demonstrations, and camp-ins tolerated by President Biden and largely ignored by antisemitism czar Deborah Lipstadt, his US Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating Antisemitism, are now the basis for Trump’s withholding of billions in Federal grants. It’s Ivy League styled hypocrisy.

Israel now has the full support of the Trump Administration accompanied by a steady flow of military supplies and geopolitical backing. The Biden team conditioned and constricted materiel shipments to an ally facing a seven-front assault. Progressive Jews who too often bought into and commiserated about unreliable propaganda from the UNRWA and the Palestinian Authority would still not vote for Donald Trump and would instead supported a candidate whose Administration would have included many bureaucrats deeply hostile to Israel.

We read emotional Facebook posts from Jews troubled over the fate of the Ukrainians. That’s fine, but most of these same pundits penned nothing about Israel’s being attacked. Progressive Jews agonize over collateral damage in Gaza but are nearly silent about those slaughtered and raped on October 7th. Algemeiner recently reported “Hamas has manipulated the number of fatalities they reported since the start of the war, overcounting civilian deaths and concealing combatant losses.”

Too many fellow Jews have packed their bags to see the cherry blossoms bloom in Japan but never consider how appreciated would be their visit to Israel.

Easy times in America over the past eighty years or so have lulled many Jews into a self-satisfied carelessness and where hypocrisy and clever bumper sticker wisdom becomes their lingua franca. A haunting history shows they cannot afford the irrational, the self-destructive, the gaslighting. They should reject politics that just fulfills social requirements and instead insist on common sense policies.

They ought to remember that the bad guys know who they are are and appreciate their soft underbellies.