Unlike some other people, who say that they do not want to get involved in politics but have no choice, I am totally unapologetic about writing many columns on the issue. In the past, I wrote that I did not think it was a good idea for rabbis to become involved in politics. I will add the Pope to the list. For some reason he felt the need to express his opinion about the two candidates running for president, and without naming anyone, stated that it was a choice of the lesser of two bad choices. He did not like Trump’s views toward migrants and Harris’ views about abortion. The implication was that Trump was pro-life. Trump has been all over the map on the abortion issue. One day he is taking credit for getting Roe v. Wade overturned and the next day he supports the amendment in Florida until he is against it. So, I am not sure what information the Pope is getting about Trump’s views on abortion. If the Pope wanted to say generally how the church feels on these issues, that is fine. But to get involved in the American election was out of bounds.
As to the debate, the expression going around is that Trump took the bait. That expression comes from the idea that fish will take the bait. Unlike a fish, a person has free will and should have the ability to avoid taking the bait. However, this debate showed what many of us had known long ago, that Trump’s narcissism is so strong that he is incapable of ignoring comments that diminish him directly or indirectly such as who has the bigger crowd size. So, when the VP brought up the crowd size and the fact that people leave Trump’s rallies early because he is boring, Trump lost his composure and focus and subsequently lost the debate.
During the debate, Trump said probably the weirdest thing I had ever heard at a debate: He accused Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, of stealing cats and dogs to eat as food. The fact that the mayor of Springfield denied that it had happened was irrelevant.
Of course, the Trump defenders are blaming the media for Trump’s disastrous performance. Losers blamed the refs. Was it the moderators who decided to get off message and argue about crowd size and tell the migrant story? Trump has no one to blame but himself for his inability to stay focused and “on message.”
There were two substantive parts of the debate I wanted to comment on. Trump was twice asked if he wanted Ukraine to win the war, and both times he punted on answering the question. This was in contrast to Harris. It is not surprising, as J.D. Vance later put out the Putin appeasement plan for a stop in hostilities, namely, Russia keeps the land it controls, and Ukraine remains neutral and does not become part of NATO. We see how that worked in Czechoslovakia before World War II. Harris, to her credit, pointed out that it is important to support Ukraine because if not, Poland would be next. That is what happened in World War II. There is a significant Polish community in Pennsylvania, as pointed out by the vice-president, so it is also good politics.
The second issue related to Gaza and Israel. Harris gave strong support to Israel while pushing for a ceasefire and the idea of a two-state solution. Trump’s response was not that Israel needs to be allowed to finish the job. Instead, he said that Harris hates Jews and Arabs. The fact that Trump said she hates Jews despite her husband being Jewish and a history of strong support for Israel was no surprise. What was interesting was his comments that she hates Arabs. That is clearly a play to the Arab community especially in Michigan where there is a large community, and that state right now is a toss-up. There have also been ads by a PAC supporting Trump touting Harris’ support for Israel. They point out that her husband is Jewish and a strong supporter of Israel and showed him wearing a yarmulke. The ads are playing in Muslim and Arab areas to try to discourage Muslims and Arabs from voting for Harris.
The day after the debate, the annual 9/11 ceremony was held near Ground Zero. One of the dignitaries invited by Trump was Laura Loomer, who had said that she believed the attack was an inside job. For Trump to invite her would be like inviting Nick Fuentes to a ceremony honoring Victory in Europe (VE) Day. This was three days after Loomer posted, “If Kamala Harris wins, the White House will smell like curry & White House speeches will be facilitated via a call center and the American people will only be able to convey their feedback through a customer satisfaction survey at the end of the call that nobody will understand.” Even Marjorie Taylor Greene was upset with the comments.
Trump, instead of distancing himself from Loomer, let her fly as his guest on his plane and had her invited to the 9/11 event. You can tell a lot about a person by whom they spend time with. Now Trump has doubled down about the cats and dogs and has added another city of Dayton, Ohio, to these outlandish claims.
What occurred this past week has shown is why Trump lost the 2020 election. The 2024 version is just an older version of Trump.
Warren S. Hecht is a local attorney. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
