Donald Trump made antisemitic comments at a pair of Jewish-hosted events on Thursday. One might expect this to hurt his chances among Republican Jews, yet as historians explained to Salon, partisan loyalties may very well trump self-preservation among a substantial set of Jewish voters.
In his first Thursday speech, Trump falsely claimed that his Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, supports "Hamas sympathizers, antisemites, Israel haters on college campuses and everywhere else." Trump then proceeded to dabble in antisemitism himself. "In my opinion, the Jewish people would have a lot to do with a loss if I’m at 40%” support in the polls among Jewish voters, Trump argued to the Republicans assembled by Washington megadonor Miriam Adelson, ostensibly to oppose antisemitism. Trump either didn't know or ignored the fact that Jewish voters have consistently supported Democratic presidential candidates with 60 to 80 percent of their voteshare since the 1970s (except when they turned against Jimmy Carter in 1980 for policies perceived as anti-Israel). He also did not cite any specific polling for his own claim to having 40% of the current Jewish vote.
