Eric Trump, the second son of former President Donald Trump, recently spoke at a hotel owned by his father as part of the ReAwaken America Tour. However, he was originally scheduled to speak alongside Scott McKay and Charlie Ward, both of whom have been accused of spreading antisemitism. McKay and Ward were eventually dropped from the weekend lineup, but this is just a minor victory in a much bigger battle, as extremists continue to push to include antisemitism and white nationalism on mainstream GOP platforms.
Eric Trump seems to believe that nobody in his family could be antisemitic because of their support for Israel. However, this conflation of the state of Israel with the Jewish people is problematic. The vast majority of American Jews do not consider Israel their top priority when going to the polls, nor do they agree with the Trumps’ view of what’s best for Israel. It is completely possible for a person to use antisemitic rhetoric or spend time with antisemitic conspiracy theorists and still be fully supportive of the state of Israel.
The idea that supporting the state of Israel somehow means that a person is unanswerable for their words and deeds as they relate to antisemitism is a dangerous one. Eric Trump’s association with speakers who have been accused of spreading antisemitism is a reminder that the danger posed by extremist, bigoted views is real. There is no support for any state that can change that stubborn fact. It is important to recognize that there are many Jews committed to universal human rights and many Jews committed to Israel, and if only the latter is considered Jewish enough to be protected from hatred, then that, too, is a form of antisemitism.
Keywords: Eric Trump, ReAwaken America Tour, antisemitism, white nationalism, GOP platforms, Israel, American Jews, rhetoric, conspiracy theorists, extremist views, universal human rights.