Jews voted against Trump: here’s why

For more recent information on the Jewish vote, read Dean Sherr on How much did Gaza affect the US election – and what does it mean for Australia?

Early exit polls show that 79% of Jews voted for Democrat Kamala Harris in the US presidential election, bucking a trend which delivered a clear victory to Republican Donald Trump.

Tuesday’s election delivered the highest level of Jewish support for a Democrat seen since the 2000 election, votes cast despite the Gaza war and despite Trump’s bravado about “all I have done for Israel”.

Jewish voters clearly heard the words of Harris’s Jewish husband Doug Emhoff who told them at the close of the campaign, “Donald Trump is not your friend”.

Truly, there are only two ways to be Trump’s friend: shower him with the adoration his narcissism craves; or have something he needs. Trump, as has been often noted by those who have worked with him, is entirely transactional.

As The New York Times wrote in its post-election editorial, “Trump is transparently motivated only by the pursuit of power and the preservation of the cult of personality he has built around himself“.

So, what does Trump’s election mean for the Jews?

Accepting antisemites at the table