Dear Reader, 

Donald Trump wants to blame Jews if he loses the election this fall. Last week during an event designed to combat antisemitism, Trump said Jewish voters would have “a lot to do with it” if he loses the election. He complained that they preferred Vice President Kamala Harris to him. Trump repeated the comments later that day. “The Jewish people,” he said, “would have a lot to do with a loss.” 

I know a lot of Jewish voters who would be happy to help deliver that result. But Jews are no more a monolithic voting bloc than any other group in society. Moreover, they make up a tiny percentage of the American population, about 2.4%, and are unlikely to have any real impact on the overall outcome of this election. The idea of laying the blame for an electoral loss at their feet is ludicrous.

So why would Donald Trump lean into age-old tropes and blame the Jews? And why now, when we are at an inflection point with antisemitism on the rise? Trump has knowingly courted neo-Nazis and others who espouse violence against Jews, like the time in November 2022 when he hosted white supremacist and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes at Mar-a-Lago. They are the kind of people who would be eager to hear and possibly act on a message like this if Trump loses the election. Just last week a University of Michigan student was attacked by a group of men who asked if he was Jewish before delivering the beating. Who would risk more violence in this environment?

Donald Trump, of course.

Trump, who, as many are quick to point out, has a daughter who converted to Judaism, should have been quick to decry what happened in Michigan and has happened elsewhere. He should be working toward an end to violence. But he has not. Instead, he chose this moment to let his followers know they could blame the Jews if he lost the election.

Trump, the apogee of a white male patriarchal system where his word is the final word, the law, has at various times criticized different groups for being insufficiently grateful for his largesse. He has said he’s done more for Black people than any other president and criticized Black people who don’t support him; he criticized Puerto Rican leaders for failing to back him after Hurricane Maria, claiming that they were purely partisan. Or take that dangerous fringe group: election poll workers. Trump criticized them after the 2020 election, causing many to resign out of fear of and threats of violence. Of course, Trump’s claims aren’t true. It’s Trump, the bully, trying to bend people to his will, believing that if he lies loudly enough and consistently enough, resistance to him will fade.

I leave discernment of those lies up to American voters, but hinting at violence by targeting Jewish people for responsibility if he loses the election is next level, even for Trump. Up to a point, inflammatory speech like this is protected by the First Amendment. In 1969, the Supreme Court held in Brandenburg v. Ohio, that the government can only criminalize inflammatory speech if it is “directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action and is likely to incite or produce such action.” Trump was probably not over that line when he made his comments last week, but criminality is not the only measure of dangerous, blameworthy behavior. It’s disturbing that Trump is socializing the idea that Jews are to blame. Given the historical context and the current situation, there is no telling how dangerously his comments may percolate over the next several months. If Trump loses in November and tries to set the country on fire to save himself, some of his pre-planted words are likely to take root. A comment made months earlier, a predisposed base of people listening, a ready scapegoat following a political loss he has pre-laid at their doorstep. What could go wrong?

Trump’s comments about Jews haven’t been condemned as forcefully or as widely as one might expect. We are still stuck in a mode where truly horrible things get dismissed as “just Trump,” or fresh outrages prevent a true focus on past ones. But this is one we should all condemn before it can gain currency and lead to tragedy. The time to reject this spew of hate is now, before Trump and his followers can normalize this. It may well be too late if we wait. 

If Donald Trump loses the election, it will be because a majority of Americans understand the critical threat he poses to our democracy. He will lose because they reject the policies represented by Project 2025, believe women’s lives and rights should be protected, and prefer a world where sanity and dignity inhabit the Oval Office. If Donald Trump loses, it will not be because Jews sabotaged him. It will be because he sabotaged himself.

Stay Informed,

Joyce