With the 2018 elections "moments" away, it's impossible not to comment on the horrors of last week's murder of Jews at a synagogue in Pittsburgh and the attempted bombing assassinations of President Obama, Hillary Clinton, former Democratic officials, critics of President Trump, and CNN. These horrible and terrifying acts are unequivocally part of the election.
The attack on the synagogue, killing 11 worshippers and wounding six others, was the deadliest attack on the Jewish community in our history. Anti-Semitism is on the rise in the U.S. According to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), anti-Semitic incidents increased nearly 60 percent in 2017; the largest single-year increase on record. While this may be coincidental, it coincides with Donald Trump being president.
President Trump said all the right things in condemning the attack as "pure evil." However (there always seems to be a "however" when discussing the president's comments), this is the same president who said of the Charlottesville rally, where neo-Nazis shouted, "Jews will not replace us," that there were bad people on "both sides." There were definitely not bad people on both sides, and neo-Nazis are haters who deny the Holocaust. President Trump has Jewish grandchildren, so it's plausible he is not an anti-Semite. Regardless, what is crystal clear is that he has and will continue to court and empower, by his words and actions, his base which includes neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and the alt-right. Members of his base are now killing people and sending bombs to his critics.