With voting underway in Minnesota as well as a number of other states, TC Jewfolk has invited the chairs of Jewish organizations supporting Vice President Joe Biden and President Donald Trump to present opinion pieces as to which candidate is worthy of your vote. Jewfolk, Inc., TC Jewfolk’s parent organization, is a 501(c)3 non-profit, and therefore does not endorse any candidate in any race.
Supporting Biden/Harris
As Chair of MN Jews4Joe, let me get right to the point – this country cannot afford another four years of Donald Trump. The questions that will decide this election can be answered through the instruction of our core Jewish values. With more than 200,000 (and counting) of our fellow citizens killed by Covid-19, with a President who knew of the lethality of the virus and lied to the American people, it is time for a change. The dream for our youth and the middle class is disappearing. Our seniors tremble in their houses, afraid of the virus and cuts to Social Security. Trump is out of touch, infected, blind to the homeless, unfeeling to the sick. The strongest amongst us are dying. Trump’s solution – he takes no responsibility. Anti-Semitism is on the rise. In Trump’s American, there are “very fine people” on both sides.
Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Kamala Harris will reprioritize the American family, where young and old, sick and healthy, rich and poor matter equally. The tradition of Democratic Presidents, which Biden will continue, is one of inclusiveness, for minorities, different ethnicities, for women. This election, who we are and what we want to become is on the ballot. Biden will free us from confusion, division and eventual fiscal disaster. We must demand government based on reasonableness and rationality, not conspiracy theories and bigotry. We cannot allow any leader to divide us. Surely, Trump will not bring us together. Biden means unity for the health of the community. Biden speaks for the minorities who continue to strive to enter the mainstream. Difference in race and ethnicities are the mosaic of America, which Trump despises. For the young demanding a future, for the seniors in need of social security, Trump threatens their future. Trump thrives on greed and stupidity. What about the environment? To Trump, global warming is a hoax. Without change, we are condemned to repeat the mistakes of abusive past of nature.
Trump has failed to keep himself or his family free from the virus. How can he keep the rest of us safe? He has failed to keep his promises of a greater America. Today, this country is divided more than ever. Our enemies see opportunity. Our allies are confused. Unemployment, massive deficits, and rising debt threatens our future. Even investment bankers on Wall Street see the danger of four more years of Trump. The threats against this country mount. Trump’s misplaced foreign policy based on withdrawal from the world-stage places us in greater danger. Trump has no real commitment to our friends or ideals of democracy. We are weaker today, less safe and worse off than we were four years ago. Another four years will be worse. What kind of Supreme Court?
Biden believes in only the government we need but insists on all the government we need, a government that is fair and reasonable, one that will provide relief for the middle-class, shelter for the homeless, and a job for all who can have one, care for elderly and infirm, renewed commitment to civil and human rights and real hope in these troubling times. We must vote for Biden to save our healthcare, to reduce gun violence, to end Trump’s philosophy of me-first, reassert shared sacrifice, a sharing of benefits and burdens for all, of public-private partnerships, common sense and compassion, empathy for one American family. Biden will restore the American principle of compassion and democracy, for immigrants and pioneers, for women as leaders, and remind us as Democrats and Americans how futures are built.
Ben Weisbuch, Esq., M.A.
Chair, MN Jews4Joe
Supporting Trump/Pence
As a Jew, and life-long resident of Minneapolis, I will be voting next month to re-elect President Trump, based upon his inspiring record of achievements during his term.
Notably, the President has: rebuilt the American military; destroyed the ISIS caliphate; restored robust American economic growth through tax cuts and deregulation; secured permanent funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities; enacted criminal justice reform; attracted $75 billion in private investment for Opportunity Zones in economically depressed areas; taken decisive action to fight the pandemic by banning travel from China and Europe and by mobilizing America’s industrial base and working to develop a vaccine in record time; pushed for rational immigration reform; renegotiated disastrous trade deals; spurred American energy production; reformed the VA and provided choice to veterans; strongly endorsed pro-life policies (a Jewish value); appointed principled jurists Neil Gorsuch and Brent Kavanaugh, and nominated Amy Coney Barrett, to the Supreme Court; denounced racists and hate groups like the KKK; decried the vile anti-Semitism spewing forth from Democrats like Ilhan Omar; and vigorously supported the state of Israel.
Indeed, President Trump is the most pro-Israel president in American history. Consider the following facts:
- He formally recognized Jerusalem as the eternal and undivided capital of Israel;
- He moved the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem;
- He recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights;
- He withdrew the United States from the disastrous Obama Iran nuclear deal;
- He ordered the execution of ISIS founder Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, as part of his commitment to defeating ISIS;
- He ordered the execution of the Iranian terrorist Gen. Kassem Soleimani;
- He signed the Taylor Force Act, to stop American economic aid to the Palestinian Authority until the PA stops paying stipends through its “martyrs’ fund” to individuals who committed acts of terrorism and to families of deceased terrorists;
- He ordered the United States to stop aid to UNRWA, representing a cut of $300 million;
- His administration rescinded a 40-year-old US policy that charged Israel with violating international law by building civilian settlements in the West Bank. His new policy declares that the establishment of settlements is not inconsistent with international law, and is a political issue to be solved by negotiations between Israel and Palestinians;
- He successfully negotiated diplomatic recognition of Israel by the UAE and Bahrain, and, as a result, was nominated for a Noble Peace Prize;
- He has spoken out eloquently against anti-Semitism, proclaiming in State of the Union addresses that, “We must never ignore the vile poison of anti-Semitism or those who spread its venomous creed. With one voice, we must confront this hatred anywhere and everywhere it occurs;”
- He issued an Executive Order to fight against the rise of anti-Semitism, especially on college campuses. The Order makes clear that Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 applies to anti-Semitic discrimination based on race, color, or national origin.
Regarding Joe Biden, Jews should know that he reached a despicable new low by comparing President Trump to Nazi Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels. Jews should know that, while in the Senate, Biden threatened Prime Minister Begin with cutting U.S. aid to Israel unless Begin changed his policy on the West Bank. And Jews should remember when President Obama and Biden boycotted Prime Minister Netanyahu when he addressed Congress.
For all these compelling reasons, I will proudly vote to re-elect President Donald Trump and Vice-President Mike Pence, true friends of Israel and the Jewish people, so that we may assure Israel’s security, and nobly save our beloved country.
Mark R. Miller
Chair of the Minnesota Chapter of the Republican Jewish Coalition
Our country is becoming a dictatorship, with our President sending the Department of Justice to sue his enemies and our elected representatives. The President is told that Russia is feeding disinformation to Guiliani (now released) and Trump is disinterested. The FBI intercepted a plot to kidnap and presumably murder the Governor of Michigan, and yesterday Trump smiled while the crowed at his superspreader event in MIchigan yelled ‘lock her up’ about said Governor. Israel is important, but so is America.
215,000 dead and the only positive thing Trump can say about his Covid response is he cut off air travel (which still let in plenty of people, btw). He received the finest of medical care but refuses to wear a mask to protect others. He will not admit when his last negative test was, which tells us either he hadn’t been tested in a long time, or was positive before he admitted it.
My general philosophy is that Trump voters are either deliberately ignorant, enjoy that someone else gets hurt by Trump’s policies because it makes them feel powerful, or feel that their religious beliefs are more important than others religious beliefs. Mr. Miller can determine which of these apply to him.
Who runs the DNC now? Ellison and Perez. Enough said
On the other side , the president is trying to push a young, untried ultra conservative to the highest court of this land. Enough said.
Conclusion- scary times
The WSJ last month said the US National Debt is set to exceed the economy for the first time since WWII. Trump has hurt trade and insulted allies and trading partners. He has sucked money out of the real economy so the strength in Wall Street Investment would mask the devastation on Main Street. His tax cuts will only burden our children forever. His slow dismantling of Medicare and social security starting with the payroll tax holiday will hurt everyone. Calling for an end to the ACA during a pandemic with no plan ever articulated is insanity. And his lack of action In the pandemic is devastating our economy while many countries less advanced or smaller than ours are largely open for business.
We are a people who can claim
Jonas Salk, Albert Einstein and countless great scientists. He mocks science. How is that okay as Jews?
His so called diplomacy in the Middle East has made Iran an even greater threat by pulling out of anti-nuclear protocols while punishing their civilian population- which is similar to what happened in Germany with crushing economic policies and ignoring military buildup. We also agreed to arm Arab states with F35s- how does that protect Israel as part of the recent “peace deal”?
Netanyahu came here to speak to Congress to sway our politics and his. It was an egregious political stunt.
Innocent refugee children still live in cages and are forever separated from their families because we took them without a system to reunite them. Remember “tender age detention centers” for refugee INFANTS taken from their MOTHERS? How can we as Jews ignore that abomination!? Children have died in our custody and will never see their parents. They were denied soap and toothbrushes and had inadequate food and water. That alone should make every person of our faith reject this administration. Remember the Saint Louis!
To name a woman to the Supreme Court who believes women should submit to their husbands and won’t answer a single question but values fetuses over women’s lives flies in the face of our Faith AND is an insult to RBG whose body was still warm.
There are not fine people on both sides. Neo Nazis and sympathizers are not equivalent to people demanding justice in our country. He questions our loyalty as Jews if we criticize Israeli policies, even if we do it out of love for her. We are Americans. And my loyalty is to The US.
Ms. Calvert,
I have prepared a response to a Facebook post written by Mr. Jeff Mandell, which I am copying to you now in response to your comment on my letter. I hope you will consider what I have set forth:
Jeff,
I was hoping we could have a reasonably constructive dialogue on our views regarding Trump and Biden, until I read in your screed that I “condone the sexual assault of children.” I regret that you are so consumed with hatred and rage that you would make such a despicable statement. When you publish such an insulting slander, it’s hard for anyone to take you seriously.
Nevertheless, although I know that the facts I’m about to set forth will have no impact on you, and that your views will not be changed even after hearing the facts, I have decided that, “for the record,” I would examine the record of the man you claim is a “mensch” and whom you will vote for.
When he was in the Senate, Joe Biden, as pointed out by his running mate during the Democratic primary debates, opposed busing for integration because such de-segregation policies would cause his children to grow up in a “racial jungle.” Do you condone such blatant racism?
When he was in the Senate advocating for the 1994 crime bill, he warned of “predators on our streets,” who were “beyond the pale and must be cordoned off from the rest of society.” Do you condone such blatant racism?
When he first met Barack Obama, he said he was surprised to meet an African-American who was actually “clean” and “articulate.” Do you condone such blatant racism?
When interviewed recently during the campaign, he said to the interviewer, “If you support Trump and not me, you ain’t black,” and asked the interviewer whether he had taken a test for cocaine before coming on air. Do you condone such blatant racism?
When he was in the Senate, as pointed out by his running mate, Biden praised and embraced a vile racist and KKK leader, the late and unlamented Sen. Robert Byrd. Do you condone such blatant racism?
During the campaign he compared the Hispanic community to the Black community, and said that, “unlike the Black community, there is diversity in the Hispanic community.” Do you condone such blatant racism?
During the campaign, when he was asked by a young woman about his poor performance in Iowa, Biden called the woman a “lying, dog-face pony soldier.” Is that what a “mensch” would say to a woman at a campaign event?
During the campaign, Biden compared Trump to Nazi Minister of Propaganda Joseph Goebbels. A new low even for Biden. Do you agree?
Biden joined Obama in boycotting Prime Minister Netanyahu when he addressed Congress.
Thank you for informing me that Ilhan Omar and Joe Biden are running for different offices. You apparently didn’t understand the point I was making. At every one of his rallies, Trump calls out Omar for her vile anti-Semitism. The “mensch” Joe Biden has said nothing. Apparently, Biden condones Omar’s anti-Semitism. Why haven’t Democrats removed Omar from her seat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee? If, God forbid, Biden should win, he will of course yield to pressure from The Squad to cut aid to Israel, leaving Israel vulnerable to her enemies. Apparently, that’s a chance you are willing to take.
When Black Lives Matter defaces synagogues in Los Angeles, destroys Jewish businesses, and proclaims in its Manifesto that Israel is committing “genocide against Palestinian children,” once again Biden and his running mate remain silent, a deafening silence.
And if all this were not bad enough, now we know that Biden lied when he told George Stephanopoulos that he had “received an endorsement from the Pittsburgh Boilermakers Union.” Last night, the president of that union said Biden lied, because that union actually endorsed Trump. Biden has an obvious credibility problem. Do you condone Biden lying about endorsements?
And then of course, we have the whole story of the Hunter laptop and e-mails confirming the pervasive corruption in the Biden family. Lots and lots of money paid to Hunter to gain access to Joe! And you may have heard that both the FBI and the Justice Department have denied the Democrats’ absurd allegation that the e-mails were the product of – you guessed it –“Russian disinformation”!
Finally, I commend the following Powerline article to you, written by Paul Mirengoff (10/19/20):
“Joe Biden and the Jews with trembling knees
Joe Biden, like his mentor Barack Obama, seems to get off on talking tough to Israeli leaders. In this guest post, Stephen Silbiger recalls an early instance of such behavior. He goes on to call out American Jewish leaders for their self-interested disregard of what a Biden administration would mean for Israel and its supporters.
Stephen Silbiger was the chief legislative aide to Congressman Stephen J. Solarz of Brooklyn. He also was the lobbyist for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) and was the Washington Representative for the American Jewish Congress. He currently is practicing law in Washington, D.C.
Before the Democratic Party’s lurch to the Left and his elevation by Barack Obama, Joe Biden saw himself as a quasi-Dixiecrat. In his first try for the Democratic Presidential he bragged that he had received an award from George Wallace and boasted that “Delawareans were on the side of the South in the Civil War.”
In 1982, as he was probably beginning to plan that campaign, Biden thought he could appeal to the perceived nativism of the Dixiecrats by publicly threatening to cut off aid to the Jewish state. In July of that year, he used an appearance of Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin before the Senate Finance Committee to threaten to cut off aid to Israel.
After enduring Biden’s fist-pounding tirade, Begin responded with the eloquence that was his trademark. Looking directly at Biden, he said:
Don’t threaten us with cutting off aid to Israel. It will not work. I am not a Jew with trembling knees. I am a proud Jew with 3,700 years of civilized history.
Nobody came to our aid when we were dying in the gas chambers and ovens. Nobody came to our aid when we were striving to create our country. We paid for it. We fought for it. We died for it. We will stand by our principles. We will defend them. And, when necessary, we will die for them again, with or without your aid.
(Emphasis added)
The always proper and dignified Begin then lectured Biden on his manners. Looking directly at him he said, “This desk is designed for writing, not for fists.” Biden’s behavior was so out of line that immediately afterwards, Senator Moynihan approached the Israeli Prime Minister and praised him for his cutting reply.
Unfortunately, much of the American Jewish Community is composed of Jews with trembling knees. Although Donald Trump has been the most pro-Israel president in history and will receive a record Jewish vote, he may receive fewer votes than Joe Biden, despite the latter’s checkered record on Israel and his support for reinstating Obama’s deal with Iran….”
You can read the rest of the article on-line.
And, one last item: If you’re going to keep referring to Charlottesville, why don’t you cite the rest of Trump’s quote, which was, “You also had people that were very fine people, on both sides … And you had people — and I’m not talking about the neo-Nazis and the white nationalists – because they should be condemned totally.”
Finally, I have reported your comments to my Republican Jewish friends, who are saddened by your disturbing hatred and bitterness, and have great compassion for you and concern for your wellbeing.
Shalom,
Mark
People have a problem with Trump’s personality. His puffery. His bragging. And his exaggerations.
It reminds me of 1960. My uncle Dave was the Democrat National committee man for the state Of Wisconsin. He drove Bobby and Jack around the state of Wisconsin campaigning in the primary against Humphrey. JFK won and I give much of the credit to my uncle. So my family were Democrats on steroids. We hated Nixon. Could not stand his image or his voice. Over joyed later on when Watergate ended his Presidency.
But in 1973 HE SAVED THE STATE OF ISRAEL! There might be no Israel today without Nixon. Now we know he disliked Jews. His real motive for helping Israel was to stop the USSR’s influence in The Middle east. So what? HE SAVED THE STATE OF ISRAEL! In 1964 LBJ with Humphrey’s help(A great man)passed the 1964 Civil Right’s act. A bill he opposed in 1954 under Eisenhower. He was the deciding NO vote in the Senate. LBJ could not complete a sentence without using the N word. A total racist! Did he like Black people? No. He did it to gain votes for the Dem. party! So what? Both he and Nixon did the right things.
Trump is the best friend Israel ever had. I’m a one issue voter. I vote for the party that most supports Israel. If Trump turns his back on Israel I’m a Democrat tomorrow. I’m a Jew first and a party guy second. What are you?
Being A Democrat today would be hard for me. Biden surrounds himself with virulent Jew haters like Omar,Talib, and AOC. Many in the CBC love Farakhan! Biden is no friend to Israel. Never has been. The Iran deal was a direct threat to Israel. It would help Iran dominate the Middle East. At the end of the Obama regime Obama refused to veto a UN(They spend the majority of their time trashing Israel)resolution demanding that Israel return to it’s indefensible 1967 borders. The Western Wall and Jerusalem to be given back to the Palestinians. A good idea?
During the Dem. debates all of the major candidates blamed Israel for all Mideast problems and backed the PA position. Is that what you believe?
Now let’s look at the US. The Dem party wants to deep six the Electoral college. NY,CA,New Jersey,and Illinois would pick our future Presidents thru the popular vote. Mn. marginalized for ever more there after. The Dems want to pack the SCT,end the filibuster,make DC and Puerto Rico into states giving the Dems 4 more Senators,they support open borders and citizenship and free health care for 20 million illegals. They want to rid us of fossil fuels,cars,demand we retrofit all homes and businesses,and lay off the hamburgers. Do you support all of that? We are seeing censorship already by big Tech,Main street media,and under the Dems you would see it under the Federal govt. Biden is a crook. He took bribes from China,Ukraine.etc. It’s being covered up by the compliant media. Obama’s corrupt regime spied on the Trump campaign and tried to unseat a duly elected President. Okay with you? Yes. I’m guessing.
If the Dems win the GOP will never survive. Happy? The US experiment with Democracy ends. You now will have a one party state like Venezuela.
And the Dem Socialists will not be able to control the BLM/ANTIFAH Marxists. They hate Israel. They say it commits genocide,is an Aparthied state,and support BDS. They burnt down Jewish shops in the Fairfax area of LA. Wrote “Kill the Jews!’ on walls. Google it. Marxists want to overthrow our govt. Not reform it. You will have Chop in every major American city. Only force can stop them. Biden will not use force. Marxists despise Socialists. See them as traitors. Like Sunni versus Shite. They may agree on 90% but they will kill each other over the other 10%.
In Germany in the 20’s and 30’s the National Socialist German worker’s party won the 1933 election and put their Communist competitors in concentration camps. Here in 2020 the Marxists hate the Socialists as much as they do Capitalists. You won’t recognize this country in a few years.
So do you want to cut off your nose to spite your face? Vote Biden? Today I love Nixon because HE SAVED THE STATE OF ISRAEL. Forget personality and look at Trump’s friendship with Israel. Don’t be so frickin obtuse!
“NY,CA,New Jersey,and Illinois would pick our future Presidents thru the popular vote.”
…so the states with the most Jews and Jewish influence?
How pro-Jew of you to dislike that…
Bob sounds like an anti-Semitic sock puppet account, right down to the favoring Israel over US interests trope.
Or maybe he is just another person who hasn’t figured out the difference between abuser and friend.