Former U.S. president Donald Trump recently reissued his loyalty test to religious Americans, declaring that he can best protect their freedoms while preemptively blaming members of certain faiths should he lose the presidential election in November.
Jews and Catholics can vote for him and ace the test, but those who don鈥檛, he says, 鈥渘eed their head examined.鈥 If he loses, Trump added, "Jewish people would have a lot to do with the loss.鈥
Among the Jewish leaders appalled at Trump鈥檚 remarks was Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism 鈥 an umbrella group for more than 800 Reform synagogues in North America.
鈥淵our words preemptively blaming Jews for your potential election loss is of a piece with millennia of antisemitic lies about Jewish power,鈥 Jacobs said in a social media post. 鈥淚t puts a target on American Jews. And it makes you an ally not to our vulnerable community but to those who wish us harm. Stop.鈥
Trump's speeches for years have hewed to divisive 鈥渦s鈥 versus 鈥渢hem鈥 messaging, but tying those themes to specific religious Americans who oppose him is out of line and even dangerous, according to rhetoric experts, religious leaders and academics.
鈥淣on-Jews shouldn鈥檛 express public opinions about what is or isn鈥檛 good Judaism and non-Catholics shouldn鈥檛 express public opinions about what is or isn鈥檛 good Catholicism,鈥 said Steven Millies, a public theology professor at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago.
鈥淣ot only is it bad form, but it鈥檚 also an ignorant waste of oxygen.鈥
Asked to respond to criticism from Jewish leaders, Trump campaign press secretary Karoline Leavitt sent statements from herself and several of Trump鈥檚 Jewish supporters. The statements didn鈥檛 directly address the potential blaming of Jews for a Trump defeat; rather, they depicted Trump as a stronger supporter of Israel than U.S. President Joe Biden and Trump鈥檚 Democratic opponent, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris.
鈥淛ewish Americans and Jewish leaders around the world recognize that President Trump did more for them and the State of Israel than any President in history,鈥 Leavitt said via email. 鈥淭he bottom line is that Kamala Harris and Joe Biden cave to Far-Left extremists and terrorists while President Trump will protect Jewish Americans and put American citizens first.鈥
Trump鈥檚 latest provocative comments came in a span of four days. His warnings about Jewish voters were in Sept. 19 speeches to Jewish donors and the Israeli-American Council in Washington. His remarks about Catholics came on Sept. 22 in a post on Truth Social.
Matthew Boedy, who studies religious rhetoric as a professor at the University of North Georgia, said Trump has adopted spiritual warfare rhetoric, which is commonplace in certain Christian circles.
鈥淭hose who gave him that rhetoric saw Satan or evil as the enemy. Now that enemy is anyone 鈥 Jew, Christian, Muslim 鈥 who stands in his way,鈥 Boedy said via email, calling it dangerous to democracy and religion.
鈥淭rump always makes his religious followers 鈥 especially Christians 鈥 choose. They have to choose him over pluralism, over morality, over evangelism,鈥 said Boedy, a Protestant.
鈥淚f God is already on your side theologically, it鈥檚 not a far leap to say he should be on your side politically. That isn鈥檛 new to American politics,鈥 Boedy said. 鈥淭rump is only making that divide advantageous to him. He鈥檚 furthering that which was there, but he is also adding his own weight to it. Making it worse.鈥
David Gibson, director of the Center on Religion and Culture at Jesuit-run Fordham University, said that in past elections, 鈥渇or a non-Catholic like Trump to be setting himself up as the savior of Catholics, or Jews for that matter, would have been political insanity.鈥
鈥淏ut it鈥檚 Trump, and conservatives who would attack a Democrat for such language are cheering for the Republican nominee,鈥 Gibson added in an email. 鈥淭here are many reasons, the most obvious is that they like Trump more than they heed their own church.鈥
Gibson also suggested that Trump鈥檚 tough stance on immigration, which includes calls for mass deportations, is at odds with Catholic teaching.
鈥淐atholics listening to the increasingly Nativist rhetoric on immigration from Trump and even his running mate, JD Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, ought to have their hearts examined if they support that,鈥 Gibson said.
Professor Jennifer Mercieca, a historian of American political rhetoric at Texas A&M University, said typical politicians seek to connect to voters based on shared policy beliefs, not by demanding religious loyalty.
鈥淏ut Trump isn鈥檛 a typical politician, and he鈥檚 very concerned about loyalty,鈥 she said. 鈥淗e divides the world up into 鈥榰s鈥 versus 鈥榯hem鈥 and tries to use those divisions to gain power.鈥
鈥淚t鈥檚 especially dangerous to attempt to divide people based upon religious identity,鈥 said Mercieca, author of 鈥矰emagogue for President: The Rhetorical Genius of Donald Trump." 鈥淭he kind of language Trump is using here is more like that used by an authoritarian personality cult leader."
Trump鈥檚 recent comment about blaming Jews if he loses came at an event that also featured Jewish megadonor Mariam Adelson, widow of the late casino magnate Sheldon Adelson. She introduced Trump as 鈥渁 true friend of the Jewish people.鈥
Among the pro-Trump statements provided to The Associated Press by Leavitt was one from Ellie Cohanim, who served during the Trump administration as deputy special envoy for combating antisemitism.
Trump 鈥渋s absolutely correct in challenging our assumptions about voting on auto-pilot and failing to comprehend that the Democrat Party, which has been hijacked by its far-left base, is no longer a home for the Jewish people,鈥 Cohanim's statement said.
Adelson and Cohanim represent the portion of U.S. Jews that strongly supports Trump. In 2020, he received about 30% of Jewish Americans' votes compared to 70% for Biden, according to AP VoteCast.
The criticism of Trump's recent remarks came from the center as well as the left of the national Jewish community.
The American Jewish Committee 鈥 a prominent advocacy group that strives to broadly represent Jews in the U.S. and abroad 鈥 issued a sharply critical statement. It took issue with Trump鈥檚 suggestion that if 40 per cent of the U.S. Jewish electorate voted for him, 鈥淭hat means 60 per cent are voting for the enemy.鈥
鈥淪etting up anyone to say 鈥榳e lost because of the Jews鈥 is outrageous and dangerous,鈥 the AJC said. 鈥淭housands of years of history have shown that scapegoating Jews can lead to antisemitic hate and violence.鈥
鈥淪ome Jews will vote for President Trump and some will vote for Vice President Harris,鈥 the AJC added. 鈥淣one of us, by supporting the candidate we choose, is voting for the enemy.鈥欌
To the left of center, a harsh denunciation of Trump came from Lauren Maunus, political director of IfNotNow 鈥 an organization of U.S. Jews that has accused the Israeli government of oppressive policies toward Palestinians and protested Israel鈥檚 military offensive in Gaza.
鈥淭rump doubled down on his longstanding pattern of scapegoating Jews,鈥 Maunus said. 鈥淢ake no mistake: This is a clear and flagrant instruction to his fanatical base of extremists to target Jews with retributive violence if he should lose.鈥
Some Jews found a positive twist to Trump鈥檚 remarks, as Betsy Frank of Mattituck, New York, conveyed in a letter published Sept. 23 in The New York Times.
鈥淎s a proud Jewish woman who believes in Israel鈥檚 right to defend itself but supports the United States and everything it stands for even more, I would not vote for Donald Trump for any office,鈥 she wrote. 鈥淚f he loses the election, I will gladly take the blame.鈥
Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP鈥檚 collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
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