Republicans try to take advantage of Shapiro not being picked
A number of high-profile Republicans sought to seize on the liberal pushback Shapiro faced over his stance on Israel, suggesting Tuesday that Shapiro was not picked as Harris’ running mate because of antisemitic attitudes in the Democratic Party.
Trump, the Republican nominee, has been sharply criticized for his record on antisemitism, notably his suggestion that there were “fine people on both sides” of an antisemitic march in Charlottesville, Virginia, and his dinner with white nationalist Nick Fuentes at his Mar-a-Lago residence in 2022.
The former president recently suggested Harris “doesn’t like Jewish people” even though her husband, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, is Jewish, and seemed to agree with a radio host who called Emhoff “a crappy Jew.”
Ohio Sen. JD Vance, the Republican vice-presidential candidate, told reporters in Philadelphia on Tuesday that it seemed Harris didn’t pick Shapiro because Democrats feared “grassroots activists in their party wouldn’t take a Jewish nominee.”
Michigan state Sen. Jeremy Moss, who is Jewish and was excited at the prospect of a Jewish vice president, praised Walz and criticized Republicans for framing her decision as a slight against Jewish Democrats.
“I’ve seen the discourse on the right saying that there’s clearly no room for Jews in Democratic politics,” said Moss. “I defy any one of them to name a single Jewish Republican governor or a single Jewish Republican U.S. senator. They can’t, because there are none.”
The last Jewish Republican senator was former Sen. Norm Coleman of Minnesota, who left office in 2009. Missouri’s former Republican Gov. Eric Greitens is Jewish, but he resigned in 2018.
Arab American leaders who had publicly cautioned against picking Shapiro countered claims that the opposition was based on the governor’s Jewish background and said his positions on Israel and statements on campus protests went further than other candidates, particularly Walz.
Abdullah Hammoud, the mayor of Dearborn, Michigan, noted that the Arab American community overwhelmingly voted for Jewish politicians in the past, backing former Democratic Rep. Andy Levin and twice supporting former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, the independent Vermont senator.
“It’s certainly not antisemitic to critique somebody’s position on Israeli policy,” Hammoud said. “That’s just called stewardship and accountability.”
Most Jewish Americans vote Democratic and are still poised to rally around the Democratic ticket, even without Shapiro.
Only 30% of Jewish voters supported Trump in 2020, while 69% supported Biden, according to AP VoteCast, a sweeping survey of the electorate. That made Jewish voters one of the religious groups where support for Biden was strongest.
The Jewish Democratic Council of America, which held an online rally for Harris last week, issued a statement in support of Walz on Tuesday, calling him “an exceptional choice” and noting he and Harris “align with the vast majority of Jewish voters on every key issue, including Israel and antisemitism.”
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