Former President Donald Trump, reacting furiously to Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro's mockery of him at the Democratic National Convention, derided the one-time vice presidential prospect on a Truth Social post as a "highly overrated Jewish Governor" who was has "done nothing for Israel and never will."
Shapiro's address, Trump wrote, was "a really bad and poorly delivered speech talking about freedom and fighting for Comrade Kamala Harris for President, yet she hates Israel and will do nothing but make its journey through the complexities of survival as difficult as possible, hoping in the end that it will fail." He also boasted about his own support for Israel, claiming to have "done more for Israel than any other person, and it's not even close."
While that ambitious claim was panned by some critics as the product of a "delusional narcissist," Trump did continue the longstanding U.S. policy of sending billions of dollars in weapons to Israel while also taking the unprecedented step of recognizing Jerusalem as its capital and moving the embassy there from Tel Aviv. After leaving the presidency, Trump has used "Palestinian" as a pejorative for weak victim and called on Israel to "finish the job" in Gaza.
But Shapiro can hardly be called soft on Israel either. During the antiwar protests in April and May, Shapiro, querying "whether or not we would tolerate this if this were people dressed up in KKK outfits or KKK regalia," called for a swift police crackdown on the students. Shapiro's revisions to his administration's code of conduct to target "scandalous or disgraceful" behavior sparked concerns that he could use the vaguely-worded language to suppress pro-Palestine speech that is often conflated with antisemitism. And as Pennsylvania attorney general, he threatened to sue companies like Ben & Jerry's for divesting from illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
That has not stopped Trump from tapping into the strain of thought that one's Jewishness is defined by their allegiance to the Israeli state, even though many actual Jews do not see it that way. Some commentators, and the White House itself, suggested that the former president is also sending a rather unsubtle smoke signal to his supporters.
"He will identify Josh Shapiro not as the governor, not as the great governor, not as the effective governor, but as the Jewish governor, and making him then another part of another group," said journalist Katty Kay on MSNBC's Morning Joe. "And it’s the it’s not even a dog whistle at this point. It’s a bullhorn. It’s out there and it’s blunt."
In a statement emailed to Mediaite, a White House spokesperson said that it is "antisemitic, dangerous, and hurtful to attack a fellow American by calling out their Jewish faith in a derogatory way, or perpetuating the centuries-old smear of 'dual loyalty.' President Biden and Vice President Harris believe we must come together as Americans to condemn and combat Antisemitism – and hate and bigotry of all kinds."
Trump's tactics against Shapiro may backfire, given that the latter remains popular in a vote-rich battleground state. "It’s always helpful to your campaign when you attack the governor of a state you desperately need," quipped Morning Joe co-host Mika Brzezinski.
