views commentary Jewish Support for Trump has Eroded W Berl Falbaum e should be grateful for small favors. That refers to the diminished support for Donald Trump from Jews in the 2018 mid- term election when compared to 2016 when Trump was elected pres- ident. In analyzing the midterm, much of the media focused on the fact that Jews voted overwhelmingly for Democrats. But that missed the point; historically, since the 1930s, Jews usually do. The news — the good news — is that several polls found that the Jewish vote was between 17-19 percent for Trump and his party, down apparently because of anti-Jewish and anti-Semitic politics. In the 2014 midterm election, the Jewish vote for the GOP was 33 percent. In 2016, roughly 25 percent of the Jewish electorate voted for Trump for president. So, we can take some solace that after Trump’s two years as president, Jewish backing for the president has eroded. There is another unique element in the drop of support for Trump that we have not seen before. Usually, Jewish vot- ers will punish a candidate more vehe- mently when they witness anti-Jewish or anti-Semitic themes. For instance, Ronald Reagan received Arthur M. Horwitz Publisher / Executive Editor ahorwitz@renmedia.us F. Kevin Browett Chief Operating Officer kbrowett@renmedia.us | Editorial Managing Editor: Jackie Headapohl jheadapohl@renmedia.us Story Development Editor: Keri Guten Cohen kcohen@renmedia.us Arts & Life Editor: Lynne Konstantin lkonstantin@renmedia.us Digital/Social Media Editor: Hannah Levine hlevine@renmedia.us Editorial Assistant: Sy Manello smanello@renmedia.us Senior Columnist: Danny Raskin dannyraskin2132@gmail.com Contributing Editor: Robert Sklar rsklar@renmedia.us Senior Arts Consultant: Gail Zimmerman gzimmerman@renmedia.us OUR JN MISSION 6 the highest percentage of the Jewish vote as a Republican (roughly 39 percent) when he ran against Jimmy Carter, whose anti-Jewish bias repelled the Jewish electorate. President George H.W. Bush, who garnered 25 percent of the Jewish vote in 1988, suffered a backlash in 1992, receiving only 11 percent — the lowest ever for a Republican — when he com- plained, “I’m one lonely little guy” up against “some powerful political forces” made up of “a thousand lobbyists on the Hill.” Bush was referring to lobbying by AIPAC and other Jewish organizations. He later apologized for the remark. But, somehow, Trump has not expe- rienced such outrage from Jewish voters despite the fact that he stoked anti-Sem- itism the likes of which we have not seen since the days of Fr. William Coughlin of the Shrine of the Little Flower in Royal Oak and Charles Lindbergh’s “America First” nationalist campaign, a slogan Trump proudly adopted. Jonathan Weisman wrote in (((Semitism))): Being Jewish in America in the Age of Trump, that Trump ran the most anti-Semitic political campaign in modern U.S. history. Let’s review a few “lowlights:” • Trump distributed an anti-Semitic caricature of Hillary Clinton and ran a TV campaign ad which could very well have been produced by the authors of Contributing Writers: Ruthan Brodsky, Rochel Burstyn, Suzanne Chessler, Annabel Cohen, Don Cohen, Shari S. Cohen, Julie Edgar, Shelli Liebman Dorfman, Adam Finkel, Stacy Gittleman, Stacy Goldberg, Judy Greenwald, Ronelle Grier, Esther Allweiss Ingber, Allison Jacobs, Barbara Lewis, Jennifer Lovy, Rabbi Jason Miller, Alan Muskovitz, David Sachs, Karen Schwartz, Robin Schwartz, Steve Stein, Joyce Wiswell | Advertising Sales Sales Director: Keith Farber kfarber@renmedia.us Account Executives : Martin Chumiecki, Annette Kizy | Business Offices Billing Coordinator: Pamela Turner | Operations Manager Tara Lennon tlennon@renmedia.us the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. The liberal billionaire, George Soros, was one of four Jews featured in the ad who were described as people representing “global special interests.” • When Linda Lingle, former governor of Hawaii who is Jewish, spoke at the GOP convention, the party’s chat room was flooded with more than 3 million — that’s 3 million — of the ugliest anti-Se- mitic slurs. Trump? He said nothing. Given this record, there is a reason why David Duke, the former KKK Grand Wizard, said the night Trump was elected was the happiest day of his life. Richard B. Spencer, the white suprem- acist leader, also celebrated at his rallies frequently giving the Nazi salute while shouting “Hail Trump.” After taking office: • Trump hired Stephen K. Bannon, former executive chairman of Breitbart News that catered to white supremacists and anti-Semites, as chief strategist. Bannon appointed Sebastian Gorka as his assistant. Gorka proudly wore a pin of the Hungarian Vitezi Rend orga- nization that had strong ties to Nazi Germany. • Trump said that the neo-Nazis who proclaimed that “Jews will not replace us” in Charlottesville included some “very fine people.” • Trump joined attacks on Soros, whom his lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, called an “anti- | Production By FARAGO & ASSOCIATES Manager: Scott Drzewiecki Designers: Kelly Kosek, Michelle Sheridan, Susan Walker | Detroit Jewish News Chairman: Michael H. Steinhardt President/Publisher: Arthur M. Horwitz ahorwitz@renmedia.us Chief Operating Officer: F. Kevin Browett kbrowett@renmedia.us Controller: Craig R. Phipps Christ.” Soros had a mail bomb placed in his mailbox. Over the years, “Soros” became a code word for “Jew.” • Almost unbelievably, the Evangelical Pastor Robert Jeffress, who touts that Jews will to go hell for their religious beliefs, was invited to deliver the invo- cation when the U.S. moved its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. • After the Pittsburgh massacre, Trump had to be cajoled by his daughter, Ivanka, to deliver a consoling speech. As the press reported, he read such a speech dutifully from a teleprompter and within minutes returned to his usual vitriolic rhetoric. (Polls show that 72 percent of Jews hold Trump very or somewhat responsi- ble for the shootings in Pittsburgh.) None of the above deals with the scan- dals, corruption, lies, conflicts of interest, influence-peddling, abuse of power, 32 indictments (and counting) and sexual sordidness of Trump and his adminis- tration. But we should acknowledge progress when it occurs. We have two years before 2020 to show, as a people, we reject rac- ism, anti-Semitism, hate-filled rhetoric, xenophobia, misogyny and, instead, value dignity, truthfulness, honesty, char- acter, decency and integrity. ■ Berl Falbaum, a West Bloomfield resident, is a vet- eran journalist and author. | Departments General Offi ces: 248-354-6060 Advertising: 248-351-5107 Advertising Fax: 248-304-0049 Circulation: subscriptions@renmedia.us Classifi ed Ads: 248-234-9057 Advertising Deadline: Friday, 2 p.m. Editorial Fax: 248-304-8885 Deadline: All public and social announcements must be typewritten and received by noon Tuesday, nine days prior to desired date of publication. 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