You Colluded With Russia and Want to Buy Greenland and I’m the One Who’s Ignorant and Disloyal?

President’s recent sharp criticism of American Jews who vote for Democratic candidates have serious and extremely concerning implications.

I don’t intend for this article to just be another rant against President Trump, but I am truly troubled by a recent statement that he made, claiming in regards to Jewish Americans voting for Democrats, primarily that “it shows either a total lack of knowledge or great disloyalty.”

I’ll bypass the opportunity to recount the many instances showing just how ignorant the president has proven to be about practically everything — of history, policy, political process, the Constitution and foreign relations among other areas. And don’t even get me started on the concept of disloyalty in someone who always seems to place his own self-interests above everyone else’s, stopping at nothing to get what he wants.

But what happened to the basic principles that this country was founded on? What happened to upholding the notion of this country being a melting pot which points to valuing of diversity? How about the right to vote for the person we believe represents our own ideals without being coerced or unfairly influenced?

Regardless of whether we support the current president or not, are liberal or conservative, are pro-life or pro-choice, believe our borders should be open or shut to new immigrants, or support same sex marriage or oppose it, it is important to remember that one of strengths of the U.S. lies in it’s diversity, including diversity of opinion. We need to ensure this country remains a place where we all possess the right to have and voice our own opinions (provided they don’t do harm to others or instill hatred).

The founders of this country came from a monarchy where what the King said went, yet they purposely didn’t establish that type of government for our fledgling nation. Instead they formed a government that was a democracy or in the words of Abraham Lincoln, one that was of the people, by the people, and for the people. When Lincoln made these remarks in the Gettysburg Address, he was speaking about a government that exists by the consent of those governed and which is created to protect the rights of the people. One of those rights is the right to have our own beliefs.

The preamble to the Constitution begins with the words, “We the People.” These words suggest unity, if not always in the preference for the leaders that are elected, then at least in respecting each others rights to differ in these preferences.

When the President singles out American Jews who vote in favor of the opposing party meaning against him, claiming they are not only ignorant but are essentially traitors to the country, this is the opposite of what both our Declaration of Independence and Constitution stand for. The message this communicates is,“I will tell you what to think and who to vote for.” This completely contradicts the basis of Democracy and is, instead, more in line with a dictatorship.

I think there is also something that should be pointed out that is perhaps not understood as clearly when you don’t share the history that Jews and other groups have experienced. In general, when your history involves repeated attempts at ethnic cleansing, it’s always a concern when “Jews” shows up in the headlines. It trigger some kind primal fear, causing us to keep our heads down, hoping to be allowed to continue living our lives quietly and safely.

Attention focused on the Jewish people has almost never resulted in anything good. So when you start accusing us of being traitors, we tend to get nervous. You might think this anxiety is silly in a country that is free when almost none of the Jews here even went through any of these occurrences of attempted genocide. But you need to be aware that we are unusually well versed in the history of oppression and attempted annihilation our people have suffered no matter where we live or what we have personally experienced.

I am not suggesting that President Trump himself is antisemitic. Truthfully, I think he has been one of the stronger advocates for Israel as far as Presidents go — for example, withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal, moving the US embassy to Jerusalem, supporting Israel at the U.N. and recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. The problem is that his words may embolden those who are antisemitic

For our President to have no awareness that publicly attributing negative traits to American Jews will lead to automatic anxiety for us as well as possibly a quite real escalation in antisemitism in our country is concerning. As one of the most powerful men in the world, everything things he says and does is scrutinized not just in our country but around the world. Even in the absence of the fear his remarks call forth in us, there are too many people looking for an excuse to justify prejudice and discrimination and to support acting on their hatred, for the President to not understand the need to consider his words more carefully.

The words of the President of the United States hold a great deal of power and they are heard or read and repeated by large numbers of people around the world. He can choose to use them for good or for bad. If he makes a decision to not consider his words more carefully before sending them out into the world where they will affect and influence many people, then that too is a choice, and unfortunately it isn’t one for the better.

It also suggests that he does not truly embody the principles of democracy or what our founding fathers put in the documents that served as the guide for our nation. In particular, it says that he does not support the idea that we must respect each others right to have our own opinions and to make our own choices regarding who we want to lead us. And as soon as that message is adopted, it is not just American Jews who have reason to fear, but all of us.

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