This past month, President Trump, in honor of Jewish American Heritage Month and the United States’ 250th birthday, encouraged Americans to keep the Sabbath.
In a proclamation issued from the Oval Office, Trump called on Americans to “celebrate the heritage and contributions of Jewish Americans and to observe this month with appropriate programs, activities, and ceremonies,” and to “celebrate their faith and freedom throughout this year, during this month, and especially on Shabbat to celebrate our 250th year.”
Trump quoted George Washington, who wrote a letter to the Hebrew Congregation in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1790, stating “[M]ay the Children of the Stock of Abraham, who dwell in this land, continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other Inhabitants; while everyone shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree, and there shall be none to make him afraid.”
The president continued his proclamation with examples of contributions of Jewish Americans to our country, such as Haym Salomon, an early supporter of the American Revolution and a major financier of the war.
Shabbat was celebrated all over the country in solidarity, including at the White House itself.
We are living in extraordinary times as Jews in America, and we have a true friend of the Jewish people leading our nation. And we should be very thankful for that.
However, we can never become complacent. If we are not careful, the opposite reality can envelop our country, as the Democrat Party’s antisemitism problem continues to grow and fester, with very little pushback.
The likes of the Jew-hating Squad in the House, as well as communist Senator Bernie Sanders, and their antisemitism has been topics of conversation for years, and one would have thought that the Democrat Party would have at least pretended to care about stopping its spreading cancer. Yet, they had no problem supporting Zohran Mamdani to lead the city with the largest Jewish population in America, and are now embracing Israel-hater, Nazi-
Platner happens to be the most prolific example in the 2026 election cycle, but the Democrat Party is also running an Israel-hater in Michigan’s U.S. Senate seat, Abdul El Sayed. El Sayed has proudly campaigned with noted America, Israel, and Jew-hater Hasan Piker, struggles to answer the question of whether Israel deserves to exist as a Jewish state, and rationalized an armed supporter of Hezbollah crashing his car full of fireworks into a Michigan Jewish daycare by saying that “hurt people hurt people.”
Over on the House side, the winner of the Democrat congressional primary for Pennsylvania’s 3rd district, Chris Rabb, attempted, as a Pennsylvania State Representative, to have the State House divest from Israel.
“On the state level, there are laws on the books that give Israel special status in terms of contractors, in terms of taxpayer money that supports Israel bonds, investments on behalf of the commonwealth that are not appropriate,” Rabb said at the time.
The examples are endless, and the seemingly only Democrat to stand against this horrid trend of antisemitism, Senator John Fetterman, is consistently threatened by his own party with a potential primary challenge.
The main bulwark against the political movement that relies on Islamists, Marxists, Communists and apparent Nazi-sympathizers for its power is the one that encourages the world to keep Shabbat in solidarity with the Jewish people.
Of course, the last year has shown us many grifters and charlatans who have tried to interject themselves into the MAGA movement. We all know the “but what about Tucker Carlson,” “but what about Candace Owens,” “but what about Megyn Kelly,” and so on. Thankfully, their influence is minimal in the conservative world. They have been shunned by both the GOP and the President himself.
And therein lies the difference between the two sides and where we Jews belong: one side excuses their Jew-haters, the other flat-out rejects them. There are obviously many differences between the two sides of the political aisle, but this is a major one. Antisemites who try to infiltrate our side are immediately shunned, while their side embraces them if it can give them more power.
We are not, and will never, be the same.
There is only one side that welcomes Jews and doesn’t just see us for free votes. And it’s not the one that embraces every Jew-hating sect it can find.
Jeremy Frankel is a Jewish American freelance writer who has worked with many media publications. Follow him on X, Truth Social, and GETTR.
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