The main thrust of the Democratic Party campaign against Donald Trump and the Republicans is that they are a threat to democracy. It looks like they are right. Here is the proof you may not have heard.
Shortly after the attempted assassination of Donald Trump, and the Republican convention in which Donald Trump was declared the Republican nominee for president, as he garnered the most elected delegates in the primary, strange things happened.
Mr. Trump seemed off his stride. He was attacking some elected Republicans, such as the governor of Georgia, despite sorely needing the governor’s support to win that vital state.
Secondly, instead of being humbled by his near brush with death, Trump became cockier and rambled about his own self-importance rather than focus on the political issues that separate the two parties. He missed opportunity after opportunity to drive home the validity of his positions.
In addition, Trump picked a “weird” candidate to be his running mate for vice president. Things were looking bleak for the Republican trajectory for victory.
The Republican leadership, including Senators Graham, Cruz, and Rubio, as well as Speaker Johnson, began to realize that although hidden by the media and Trump supporters, Mr. Trump suffered great trauma from the attempted assassination. Who wouldn’t? The chances of the Republicans gaining a victory in November were getting worse each day. Commentators and pundits throughout the media were pointing to his mental and emotional decline.
As a result, the Republican leadership, despite declaring their great loyalty and appreciation to him, decided Trump can no longer be their candidate. He must go.
Well, how can he be replaced if he was duly voted in as the Republican nominee?
For the Republicans, this was no problem; they simply pressured Mr. Trump into admitting that he was not fit for office and replaced him with a party favorite. No new primaries were needed. The people do not need to cast a vote.
And who better to serve as the Republican candidate for president? Why, Nikki Haley, of course! After all, she is female and dark-skinned, descending from Indian heritage. She checks off two important boxes. Any other qualifications needed? She also happens to have a charismatic personality.
Now to save Ms. Haley the embarrassment of exhibiting flip-flopping or ignorance of the issues, the Republicans made sure that she grants no interviews or press conferences for the first two months of her political honeymoon. The undemocratic, biased media was in full compliance and showed no curiosity as to why this was being tolerated.
To make matters worse, Ms. Haley was strongly considering as her running mate Lee Zeldin, a popular Jewish Republican from New York, a state rich in Jews and electoral votes. But Haley decided it wasn’t worth alienating her anti-Semitic and anti-Israel flank of her party, so she is looking for a strong Republican who has a proven anti-Israel track record. So far, she has not been able to identify one.
And let’s not forget to point out that the Republicans have attacked the lynchpin of democracy, the Supreme Court. They want to change it radically so that it only conforms to Republican ideals.
I hope I got all the facts right and convinced the readership of the great threat the Republican Party is to democracy. If this were true of the Democrats, I would surely write the same. Thank goodness the press does not carry anything like that on them.
Rabbi Yoel Schonfeld is the Rabbi Emeritus of the Young Israel of Kew Gardens Hills, President of the Coalition for Jewish Values, former President of the Vaad Harabonim of Queens, and the Rabbinic Consultant for the Queens Jewish Link.
