Why Jews should not vote for Donald Trump

The 2024 presidential election could be the most consequential in US history. For the US and, indeed, the world to have positive futures, Trump must NOT get reelected. Please consider:

Democracy is on the ballot: Trump has stated that if he is reelected, he would like to be a dictator on day one. He seems to like dictators, including Russia’s Vladimir Putin, China’s Xi Jinping, and Hungary’s Viktor Orbán. In an extremely brazen and anarchic initiative, he sparked a rebellion at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, aiming to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. He now says he would pardon those convicted of participating in the outburst. And, he encouraged his vice president to corruptly overturn the election results. Notably, the recent Trump vs. US ruling effectively makes the president immune from prosecution, which is extremely hazardous when there is an unscrupulous president.

Truth is on the ballot: Trump made about 30 false or misleading statements during the recent presidential debate, told over 30,000 lies during his administration, and is still telling the big lie that he won the US 2020 presidential election despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. It is patently obvious that Trump has no regard for the truth. This is incompatible with ethical leadership. How can anyone believe anything that Trump says?

Climate change is on the ballot: There is an overwhelming consensus of climate experts that the world is in great peril due to climate change and there has been a recent major increase in the frequency and severity of heat waves, wildfires, storms, floods, and other climate events. Yet, Trump is in denial about human-induced climate threats, calling it a hoax. He would likely appoint other climate deniers to key environmental posts and make every effort to roll back regulations designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions if reelected, just as he did during his administration. He told a meeting of fossil fuel executives that he would continue doing their bidding if they collectively donated a billion dollars to his election campaign.

Trump might be the only world leader in denial about climate threats. All 195 nations at the 2015 Paris Climate Conference agreed that climate change is a great threat to humanity, and almost all pledged to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; Trump withdrew the US from the agreement. The climate issue is so important to the US and, indeed, the entire world that Trump’s refusal to recognize and respond to the threats alone should disqualify him from being president again.

Israelis should be especially concerned. We are heating up faster than the world average, and the hotter and drier Israeli future increases the likelihood of instability, terrorism, and war. Also, our coastal plain, which contains much of our population and infrastructure, might be inundated by a rising Mediterranean Sea.

Israel is on the ballot: Trump criticized PM Netanyahu for calling to congratulate Biden after he won the 2020 US presidential election and called Hezbollah “smart.” By sharp contrast, a Democratic president would likely emulate Biden, who indicated many times that he is a Zionist and that his support for Israel’s security and its right to exist as an independent Jewish state is “ironclad” and took many actions in support of Israel in our war against Hamas.

Trump’s few positive actions regarding Israel are dwarfed by his endangering Israel and, indeed, the entire world by his denial of climate threats and by pulling the US out of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which was working well according to professional inspectors and most nuclear and strategic experts. This has enabled Iran to now be much closer to being able to create nuclear weapons and to be in a much better bargaining position for future negotiations.

Antisemitism is on the ballot: Trump hosted known antisemites for dinner at Mar-a-Lago, forwarded antisemitic posts from neo-Nazis and white supremacist groups, and made antisemitic statements such as that US Jews care more about Israel than the US and that Jews who do not support him are disloyal to Israel and Judaism.

Character is on the ballot: As The New York Times’ conservative columnist Bret Stephens, a former chief editor of The Jerusalem Post, wrote, Trump’s character involves “lying, narcissism, bullying, bigotry, crassness, name-calling, ignorance, paranoia, incompetence, and pettiness.” In sharp contrast, a Democratic president would likely be a far better role model than Trump for our children and grandchildren.

Jewish values are on the ballot: Trump’s policies are contrary to basic Jewish values of kindness, compassion, and concern for the disadvantaged, the stranger, the hungry, and the poor. His characteristics mentioned above and his being a sexual predator and convicted felon are certainly not consistent with Jewish values.

Truth is an important Jewish value, one of the three pillars that sustain the world, along with justice and peace (Pirkei Avot 1:18), so how can Jews support Trump, a pathological liar?

Trump’s views on many issues, including healthcare, human rights, taxes, and environmental sustainability, are also far from Jewish values.

The quality of the next administration is on the ballot: While a Democratic president would select the most qualified people for cabinet, ambassadorial, and other positions, Trump would make loyalty to him the main consideration.

And it is ready to renominate Trump even though many of those who worked most intimately with him in his first term – including his vice president, secretary of defense, secretary of state, chief of staff, national security adviser, press secretary, communications director and attorney general – have warned the country in speeches, interviews and memoirs that Trump is erratic, immoral and someone who must never be let near the White House again.