‘If not now, when’? Trump fundraising email tries to channel Hillel
President Donald Trump Image by Getty Images
By Aiden Pink June 18, 2020
A fundraising email from President Trump’s reelection campaign manager Brad Parscale asked would-be donors to give right away, asking them, “If not now, then when?”
The email was first noticed by Twitter user Jessie Losch, who pointed out that the quote was reminiscent of a famous dictum by Hillel the Elder, an ancient rabbi.
HOLY SHIT, this is the fundraising email @parscale is sending out on behalf of @realDonaldTrump and @VP. Using Hillel’s “if not now, when” to solicit donations?!?!? REALLY, my dudes?!? pic.twitter.com/ROnzaWLGWm
— Jessie defund police denounce deBlasio Losch??? (@JessieLosch) June 18, 2020
Hillel’s full quote, found in the Talmud, is “If I am not for myself, who is for me? And if I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?”
This is not the first time a Trump has been questioned for using that language. In September 2016, Ivanka Trump posted a tweet with the hashtag #inspiration and a graphic saying, “If not me, who? If not now, when?” Ivanka Trump attributed the quote to actress Emma Watson, not Hillel.
Aiden Pink is the deputy news editor of the Forward. Contact him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @aidenpink
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you move on, I wanted to ask you to support the Forward’s award-winning journalism during our High Holiday Monthly Donor Drive.
If you’ve turned to the Forward in the past 12 months to better understand the world around you, we hope you will support us with a gift now. Your support has a direct impact, giving us the resources we need to report from Israel and around the U.S., across college campuses, and wherever there is news of importance to American Jews.
Make a monthly or one-time gift and support Jewish journalism throughout 5785. The first six months of your monthly gift will be matched for twice the investment in independent Jewish journalism.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
