Almost immediately after Vice President Kamala Harris became the likely Democratic presidential nominee, Donald Trump thought it’d be a good idea to falsely accuse her of antisemitism. Harris, the Republican said, is “totally against the Jewish people” — which was a curious claim about someone with a Jewish husband.
But this week, the ugly offensive managed to get considerably worse.
Before Harris announced her 2024 running mate, GOP vice presidential hopeful JD Vance said that if the Democrat didn’t choose Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, who is Jewish, it would be “out of antisemitism.” After Harris tapped Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz for the ticket, the Republicans’ antisemitism smear reached new heights.
If the vice president seriously considered a Jewish running mate before ultimately settling on one of his rivals, the right argued, then clearly Harris and her party have a problem with Jews.
When Vance was asked if he had any evidence to support the idea that Harris is antisemitic, the Ohio Republican responded by complaining about the question — which he didn’t get around to answering.
Reporter: You have repeatedly suggested that the only reason Kamala Harris didn't pick Josh Shapiro is because of his Jewish faith. Do you have any evidence to support that assertion that a person who is married to a Jewish man is somehow anti-semitic.. pic.twitter.com/EZD2GqXJ1a
— Acyn (@Acyn) August 7, 2024
Nevertheless, around the same time, Trump appeared on Fox and suggested that Shapiro was passed over for the Democratic ticket “because of the fact that he’s Jewish.”
All of this is so utterly bonkers, it’s difficult to know where to start, but let’s review a handful of relevant data points. The idea that Democrats are antisemites, denying political opportunities and leadership positions to Jews, is obviously not to be taken seriously. But making matters considerably worse are some of the other relevant details from recent years. Trump, for example, continues to peddle antisemitic tropes as a matter of course. He also hung out with some notorious antisemites at Mar-a-Lago in 2022. All of which is to say, Republicans might see value in picking this fight, but it’s not one they should expect to win.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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