Liberal Jewish groups express alarm over Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s selection of GOP Sen. JD Vance to be his running mate.
“J.D. Vance is a far-right extremist who denied the 2020 election results, supports a national abortion ban and voted against aid to Israel during its war with Hamas,” says Democratic Majority for Israel CEO Mark Mellman in a statement.
“As Vice President, he’ll advance a MAGA agenda, whose north star is sowing division and hatred. He promoted the ‘Great Replacement Theory’ – the antisemitic conspiracy that inspired the Tree of Life murderer – and calls one of the most odious members of Congress, Marjorie Taylor Greene, a ‘friend,’” Mellman adds.
“Despite some of his statements on Israel, he abandoned our ally after the October 7th terrorist attacks in opposing the emergency aid package for Israel and Ukraine. He was one of just 15 Republican senators to vote against the aid in April,” the DMFI chief notes.
Vance “embodies why the vast majority of Jewish Americans continue to support Democrats and reject Republican extremism,” Jewish Democratic Council of America chief of staff Sam Crystal says in a separate statement.
“Vance has said it is ‘right‘ for American Jews to be ‘ashamed’ of voting for President Biden, defended Trump after dining with antisemitic white supremacist Nick Fuentes,” says a statement from J Street.
“He has implied that Palestinian refugees are ‘terrorist sympathizers’ and described providing humanitarian aid to Palestinian citizens as ‘stupid,’” J Street adds.