The Trump administration claims to be against antisemitism yet continues to wield power against its domestic enemies, while there has been a troubling rise in antisemitism among MAGA influencers and staff in the administration. The safety of the Jewish community has been stated as a motivation for Trump’s aggressive moves such as cutting funding to universities and deporting a student for pro-Palestinian activism. However, the administration is threatening to expand the funding cutoff and investigating universities for tolerating or encouraging antisemitism.
Despite the administration’s claims, the first two months of Trump’s presidency have been marked by antisemetic rhetoric and gestures from his allies, including Elon Musk’s Nazi salute at Trump’s inauguration, a Pentagon spokesperson with a history of promoting antisemitic conspiracy theories, and the DOJ’s antisemitism task force retweeting a post about Judaism by a white nationalist. MAGA podcasters have hosted right-wingers with a history of embracing antisemitic ideas. Even leading light Christopher Rufo has admitted that the right has an “antisemitic influencer problem.”
The approach of the MAGA right can best be described as “pro-Israel antisemitism”: a simultaneous embrace of the Jewish state and attack on American Jews’ place in American life. The European far-right originated this concept as a shield against charges that they are neo-Nazis in sheep’s clothing, recognizing that hostility to Jews remains a powerful force among sections of their population.
In practice, far-right parties take staunchly pro-Israel and anti-Muslim positions, using both to frame themselves as defenders of Jewish interests, while deploying antisemitic dog whistles that signal to domestic antisemites that the far-right retains its historic commitments. This approach has been adopted by the GOP under Trump, with an added twist. Trump draws a distinction between American Jews who support him (good) and liberal American Jews who oppose him (bad), often linking this to their views on Israel. He even goes so far as to excommunicate Jews he dislikes.
Trump’s actions to defend Jews, such as stripping funding from universities and detaining a student, focus on defending Israel. He wants to punish universities for failing to curtail anti-Israel demonstrations and deport a student for leading them. However, leading Jewish advocacy groups have supported his threats against American universities and spoken approvingly of the student’s deportation. They are not only betraying American Jewry’s historic commitments to civil liberties and free speech but also unintentionally helping the MAGA movement launder antisemitism into the mainstream.
Partisan actors have less credibility than Jewish advocacy groups. By supporting Trump’s policies, mainstream Jewish organizations are bolstering his credibility against charges of antisemitism. They are also directly undermining the power of their own critiques on other issues.
Source: https://www.vox.com/on-the-right-newsletter/404898/trump-pro-israel-antisemitism-musk-columbia
