A commercial portraying Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump as the safest choice for Jews is criticized for appearing to convey stereotypes, also putting pressure on the owner of a Philadelphia-area deli so that he authorizes the filming.
The 30-second ad, titled “Amen,” is airing in several states with significant Jewish populations, according to the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC), which billed the spot as the “conclusion” of a 15 million-strong campaign. dollars aimed at securing votes for the former president before the November 5 election.
In the spot, three women, described by the RJC as “bubbies” and speaking with a cadence and accent considered Jewish in the popular American imagination, discuss Israel and anti-Semitism on American college campuses as They are sitting at a table in a delicatessen. All three are paid actresses, according to CNN.
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“Israel is under attack,” one woman told her friends. “With anti-Semitism like I never thought I would see one day. »
After her friend mentions hearing about someone’s son who was spit on at the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn), the third woman asks about Democratic candidate Kamala Harris.
« Uch, [elle est] busy defending the Squad,” replies the second woman.
“Oy va voy,” adds the first. “You know, I never liked Trump, but at least he’s going to protect us. »
After the second woman nods, the ad ends with the three women raising their steins in honor of the Republican candidate and a check stamped “Donald Trump will keep us safe.”
According to the New York Timesthe spot aired in Georgia, Arizona, Michigan, Nevada and Pennsylvania, where it was filmed.
These five states are all home to large Jewish communities and are seen, along with Wisconsin and North Carolina, as key battlegrounds that Trump or Harris will need to win to have a chance at the White House.
Citing data from analytics firm AdImpact, the New York Times reported that RJC has spent $360,000 so far to air the spot, which was released on October 20.
The New York Times opined that the clip presented “Jewish stereotypes in service of Trump”, and some online commenters called the pitch ” https://twitter.com/i_noah_guy189/status/1848822028943405160 » or « https://twitter.com/avromsing/status/1849437885922955515 [honte] ».
Some went even further, vowing to boycott Hymie’s Deli, the Jewish restaurant in Merion Station, Pennsylvania, where the commercial was filmed.
“I will never set foot there again,” Sheva Golkow, a longtime customer of the popular restaurant, told the newspaper The Forward. “It’s opening your restaurant to promote a personality who advocates hatred and division everywhere, but who particularly targets Jews. »
Louis Barson, longtime owner of Hymies, said the restaurant’s name never appeared in the advertising and he denied that the advertising amounted to any endorsement. He told local Philadelphia media that he allowed the restaurant to be used for filming as a favor to his friend Matt Brooks, who runs the RJC.
“This is not a statement of support for Donald Trump from Hymie’s. This is not the case. I would happily let Kamala Harris film a commercial here tomorrow,” he told the Philadelphia Magazine.
According to the RJC, this ad is intended to attract Jewish voters who traditionally vote for Democrats, but who are concerned about Harris’ alleged approach to Israel and the anti-Israel protests taking place on university campuses.
The ad “reflects the fear and anxiety Jewish Americans feel across the country as Israel continues to be attacked and anti-Semitism reaches unprecedented levels at home,” Brooks said in a statement.
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dave McCormick speaking at an anti-Israel encampment at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, May 1, 2024. (Matt Rourke/AP)
“We encourage Jewish voters to listen to their ‘Bubbies’: there is nothing wrong with voting for Donald Trump,” the statement added.
Since Israel was plunged into a multi-front conflict following the pogrom perpetrated by the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas on October 7, 2023 in southern Israel, the RJC has shifted its message to focus on what it describes like Trump’s support for the Jewish state, while accusing the Democrats of selling out Jerusalem.
Democrats and other Trump opponents point to the former president’s associations with anti-Semites, including within the Republican Party, and note that he repeatedly accused Jews of not being loyal for not being loyal to him. having sufficiently supported, affirming that the Jewish community would be at the origin of a possible defeat of his presidential candidacy.
They also noted his strong and often transactional relationship with Israel and with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as apparent criticism of Israel in the aftermath of the barbaric and sadistic assault by Hamas on October 7, 2023.
Supporters of Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris at a sukkah before canvassing for Jewish votes in the Philadelphia suburb of Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, October 20, 2024. (Laurence Kesterson/ AP)
“Because I’m Jewish, if you look at the Republican Party, there are people who are very anti-Semitic,” Danny Weiss, a Hymies client, told CNN.
“Afterwards, there is [aussi] people who are back in the Liberal Party and who are also very anti-Semitic – and we will see it on university campuses before long.”
