In an 11th-hour pitch to Jewish voters, second gentleman Doug Emhoff told a crowd in Pennsylvania that his wife, Vice President Kamala Harris, “feels it in her gut” what it means to support Israel.
“Let me be direct and answer the question that Jews have asked for generations. Yes, she feels it in her gut. Kamala feels it, as we say, in her kishkes,” Emhoff said during an address in Pittsburgh.
The so-called gut test came up during the days of former President Barack Obama, when some Jews questioned how deep his support for Israel was.
“Her commitment to the security of Israel is unwavering. Not just because of what she said publicly, though she has said through her entire career, consistently, but also by what she does and says when it’s just us,” Emhoff said.
The address was timed to coincide with the six-year anniversary of the devastating shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue, which was last Sunday. Both Harris and former President Donald Trump have been courting Jewish voters unsettled by the conflict in the Middle East.
Historically, the religious voting bloc has favored Democrats. About 7 in 10 voted for President Biden in 2020. A Pew Research poll from last month put their support for Harris at over two-thirds.
“I know it’s in her soul. I know she feels what you and I and Jews across America are feeling today. She gets it. And to tell you the truth, it’s not because she married a nice Jewish boy,” Emhoff said.
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“After Charlottesville, after the Tree of Life, after Oct. 7, the person that I turned to and talked to was my wife, after Hamas brutally executed Hirsch and the other hostages. She and I grieved together,” he went on.
He then turned to the “threat” he said Trump poses to Jews.
“Whenever chaos and cruelty are given a green light, Jew-hatred is historically not far behind,” Emhoff said of the Republican nominee. “That matters today because Donald Trump is nothing if not an agent of chaos and cruelty.”
“We should never have to wonder where our government stands,” he continued.
“We should never have to wonder whether our leaders are praising Nazis behind closed doors. So when Donald Trump says something unhinged, do not roll your eyes. Roll up your sleeves,” he said.
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Emhoff was referring to a report from The Atlantic, where Trump reportedly said, “I need the kind of generals that Hitler had.”
While Jewish voters as a whole tend to favor liberals, orthodox Jews are expected to largely support Trump in next week’s election. A poll by Nishma Research, which surveys Orthodox Jews, found some 77% support Trump.
Pennsylvania has some 300,000 voting-age Jewish residents. Around 80,000 votes separated Biden and Trump in 2020.
The Trump team has held out hope they can chip away at Democratic support within the Jewish community. Trump himself has reacted with disbelief that Jewish voters support Democrats.
“It doesn’t make sense,” Trump said last month of Jews who vote for Harris. “Any Jewish person who votes for her should have their head examined. I find it hard to believe. Part of it is a habit, I think.”
“I’m not going to call this a prediction, but, in my opinion, the Jewish people would have a lot to do with a loss” in November, he said.
Harris has walked a tight rope between maintaining support for Israel and Jewish priorities and trying to avoid upsetting Arab American voters, who represent a large voting bloc in swing state Michigan.
Some Arab American voters, fed up with the Biden-Harris administration’s handling of Israel’s war in Gaza, have said they will vote for Trump as a form of protest. A new poll from the Arab News Research and Studies Unit found Trump leading among Arab American voters 43 to 41%.
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