Julie Farnam: Tree of Life anniversary is reminder of dangers of hate
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It’s been six years since the shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue (L’Simcha Congregation), an attack that killed 11 and injured six others. It was the deadliest incident against Jews on American soil. To intentionally kill is a fundamentally hateful act, a white-hot rage whose flames were fanned by a man who has courted and empowered those who hate.
Under President Donald Trump, antisemitism flourished. It thrived because Trump openly courted neo-Nazis and other racists. These were “very fine people,” as Trump described them in the aftermath of the Charlottesville Unite the Right rally, a rally where neo-Nazis chanted, “Jews will not replace us,” and where one neo-Nazi killed a counterprotester.
In attendance at that rally was Nick Fuentes, who in 2020 founded the America First Foundation — a name that echoes Trump’s declaration that he will place “America First” throughout the world — who called Hitler “really (expletive) cool,” and who dined with Trump at his home. Also at that dinner? Ye, a man who has posted swastikas on social media, repeated antisemitic tropes and who said, “when I wake up I’m going death con 3 On JEWISH PEOPLE,” all of which occurred before Trump invited him into his home for dinner. Ye also said, “I see good things about Hitler.”
When Trump refers to people as “vermin” or declares a democratically elected president as the “Gestapo administration,” he is permitting antisemitic rhetoric to permeate our politics. Instead of being a leader, one who will represent all Americans, and bring citizens together for the common good of our country, he’s stoking fear, discrimination and animosity to divide, threaten and weaken us. When he says certain groups are “poisoning the blood of our country,” it sounds much like Hitler saying, “poison was allowed to enter the national bloodstream and infect public life … .”
Trump has surrounded himself with those who are overtly racist and antisemitic. He may not have read the autobiographical ramblings of the man responsible for the systematic genocide of over two-thirds of all the Jews in Europe, but those around him have certainly been inspired by the text and its author. And although JD Vance may claim, “I don’t think anybody could look at the presidency and the conduct of Donald Trump and say, ‘This is a person who’s somehow antisemitic,’” Trump’s record belies Vance’s words.
We cannot forget this election season that there is a human cost to hatred and violent rhetoric, as we saw at the Tree of Life. Under Trump that was a massive rise in antisemitism, with the number of antisemitic incidents rising by 57% in the first year of Trump’s presidency, a trend that continued into 2018 and culminated with the attack on the synagogue in Pittsburgh.
Trump need not explicitly say to those who hate Jews “come vote for me,” but when his language mirrors Nazi rhetoric, he invites the extreme to come out of the shadows. He makes it OK to hate. It was the hallmark of his presidency and will only get worse with a second term, when Trump has nothing to lose.
Contrast this with the words and actions of Kamala Harris. In January 2022, to mark the one-year anniversary of the attempted overthrow our democratic government, she said, “We cannot let our future be decided by those bent on silencing our voices … by some radical faction that may be newly resurgent but whose roots run old and deep.”
She has made a career prosecuting domestic violence perpetrators, child abusers and other violent offenders. She has championed voting rights, access to health care and gun violence prevention. Harris is a career public servant. She wakes each morning, as she has for over three decades, in service to others.
Agreement with every policy she proposes or has supported is not necessary. A vote for Harris is an endorsement of the belief that all Americans have the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It is a vote for an administration that will provide leadership, support and safety for the Jewish community and for all those who are proud to be American.
We have a choice to make in November. Harris has spoken about “the dual nature of democracy — its fragility and its strength.” Indeed, our democracy is perhaps at its most fragile point as it has ever been since the founding of this great country. This is why it is of the utmost importance that we vote for someone who will not court the abhorrent and extreme, who will not invite them over for dinner or call those who hate Jews “fine people,” and instead cast our vote for someone who believes in your right to practice your religion, to gather with your friends and family, and to walk down the street without fear of violence.
Julie Farnam is CEO of Pandorus Intelligence, which she started after serving as acting director of intelligence for the U.S. Capitol Police. Previously, she spent 15 years with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.