JCPA Responds to the Election of Donald Trump

Jewish Council for Public Affairs CEO Amy Spitalnick released the following statement:

“America has decided to return former President Trump to the White House.

It’s important to name clearly: this outcome is nothing short of terrifying for so many communities who have been consistently threatened and demonized by his campaign. 

President Trump’s embrace of anti-democratic, antisemitic, xenophobic, and racist conspiracy theories and tropes seeks to pit communities against one another and sow distrust in our democratic institutions, while making all of us less safe. These increasingly-normalized hate-fueled conspiracy theories go hand-in-hand with the dehumanizing and dangerous agenda outlined by the Trump campaign and Project 2025.

Make no mistake: the Jewish community knows precisely where such hate, extremism, and dehumanization leads – and we will be on the frontlines of the fights ahead because our values and our safety depend on it. 

Whether mass deportations and immigration bans, dangerous anti-LGBTQ+ policies, attacks on voting and other civil rights, the further gutting of abortion care, or the undermining of public education, public health, and our institutions — these policies cut to the core of our safety, our democracy, and our freedom. They are so often underpinned by antisemitic conspiracy theories related to Jewish control and power, and directly linked with the safety of our own diverse Jewish community and so many others.

So we are obligated to stand up and protect our communities and our democracy – and that is precisely what we will be doing through JCPA’s Action Networks and broader coalition-building and advocacy. We are committed to engaging across party lines however possible, including with Congress and the administration, to advance our values and our safety.

This outcome also underscores how crucial it is that our pro-democracy coalitions remain strong and inclusive – even as we acknowledge how much harder that’s become in the year since October 7th, with zero-sum frameworks dominating too many spaces. Extremism only  thrives when our communities are pitted against one another and our coalitions fracture.

Just as we cannot walk away from our Jewish values of democracy and justice for all, so too do we refuse to check our Jewish identity at the door in doing this work. This requires all of us – Jews and our pro-democracy partners – to lean into the hard conversations rather than retreating inward; to embrace complexity and nuance in the Israel conversation and beyond; and to call out antisemitism – and all hate – wherever it rears its ugly head.

Ultimately, our rights and our safety are intertwined. Antisemitism directly fuels and animates broader hate and extremism — from white supremacy and anti-Black racism, to anti-immigrant and anti-LGBTQ hate, and beyond — and fundamentally threatens our democracy. And as communities are dehumanized and our democratic norms erode, this only creates the conditions for antisemitism to further flourish.

The only path forward is one rooted in rejecting zero-sum frameworks and instead building the cross-community coalitions and solidarity necessary to fight for the rights and safety of all people at this frightening moment.

This is more urgent than ever. Our collective safety and our democracy depend on it.”