Doug Emhoff, the second gentleman, speaks to Jewish voters in Southfield, Michigan on Oct. 20, 2024. Photo by DOMINIC GWINN/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

By Jacob Kornbluh October 20, 2024

Doug Emhoff, the second gentleman, questioned how Jewish Americans could support former President Donald Trump, citing Trump’s rhetoric on the campaign trail, among other things.  

“It’s so vexing to me that any Jew supports him,” Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, said in remarks at a get-out-the-vote rally for Jewish voters Sunday in Southfield, Michigan. “He foments antisemitism everywhere he goes. He does not care about us.” 

A recent poll of 907 Jewish voters, conducted for the Forward by CHIP50, an academic consortium of experts in public opinion surveys, showed that 31% of them plan to vote for Trump in November and 62% plan to vote for Harris. A Nishma Research survey showed that 77% of Orthodox Jews — ranking antisemitism and Israel as critically important issues — back the former president.

Emhoff, 60, said he found it “shocking” that any Jew could hold a positive view of Trump. He pointed out that Trump has repeatedly engaged in antisemitic tropes, dined in 2022 with Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes, and in back-to-back speeches to Jewish audiences said that Jews would in large part be to blame if he loses the election. He also mentioned that Trump said Jews who vote for Democrats “should have their head examined” and agreed with a conservative radio host that Emhoff is a “crappy Jew.” 

See more

Doug Emhoff at a Jewish voters event in Southfield, Michigan:

“It’s so vexing to me that any Jew supports” Trump.

“He foments antisemitism everywhere he goes. He does not care about us. He doesn’t.” https://t.co/Xg7mZFyr54 pic.twitter.com/ebEBcS6eh1

— Jacob N. Kornbluh (@jacobkornbluh) October 21, 2024

“I mean, this is just so clear,” Emhoff said, adding that over the next two weeks, Jewish supporters of Harris have to ”make sure everyone sees that in our community.”

Emhoff frequently talks about his deep connection to his Jewishness. On the campaign trail, he credits his wife for connecting him more deeply to his Judaism. 

The Harris and Trump campaigns have both ramped up outreach to Jewish voters in the final weeks of the election. Recent polls show the race is neck-and-neck in key battleground states, where Jews remain a pivotal voting bloc. While Jews make up just 2% of the overall electorate, the number of Jewish voters in states like Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin exceeds the margin that determined the winner in the Biden-Trump matchup. 

On Sunday, the Republican Jewish Coalition released an ad featuring three Jewish women — including a first-time Trump voter — discussing how Jews will be safer under a second Trump presidency.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount