“I don’t think that the President is directly responsible for anti-Semitism. I really don’t. I think that certain things he does allows the far right to act with impunity.”
When we ask voters who or what is to blame for anti-Semitism and how it should be addressed, opinions diverge in surprising ways—and not always along party lines.
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“Here are Trump’s major assets: the safety and security of America—part of that is his cancellation of the Iran deal; the United States’ recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and moving our embassy there; the assets of our economy—this is one of the best economies we’ve had probably in the past 50 years; and the internal security of America—the southern border is the best we’ve had.”
“I think the biggest danger from Trump is that he has made hatred fashionable because he practices it himself from his office. The rhetoric he employs about refugees, about Muslims, about the press has given license to people who have anti-Semitic tendencies and has sent a message that their intolerance and hatred are okay.”
“I probably have a stronger level of support for Trump now, at least if Bernie Sanders continues to rise. If Bernie gets the nomination, voting for Trump would be the easiest decision I ever make in my life.”
“I think anti-Semitism goes back to Esau and Jacob. As for the last few years, this started happening as soon as Trump was nominated. Certainly, by the time he was sworn in, there was this dramatic rise in anti-Semitism.”
“I think people feel that they’re allowed to say things now that they wouldn’t have said before because of the president’s rhetoric. He’s just so mean and they think they can act the same way. They probably already had hate in their hearts and now they feel more emboldened to act on it.”
“As the son of a Holocaust survivor, I’m really concerned about the many incidents in New York and overseas as well, such as with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn in England.”
“We have someone in the White House who believes right-wing conspiracies and tweets anti-Semitic tropes. A conservative website, TruNews, whose founder called Trump’s impeachment a ‘Jew coup’ orchestrated by a ‘Jewish Cabal,’ was credentialed by the Trump administration to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos. They were treated like a legitimate news site, but this is hate speech and should be condemned and not legitimized by the president.”
