By Nissim Farhy
If you would have told me a few years ago that I would be voting for the Democratic ticket, I would have laughed. Now, I’m the Wilf President of the YU College Democrats Club.
As a Yeshiva University student, it can feel very isolating to favor Liberal and Democratic policies. When the new YU College Democrats Club redid our club application for this year, many students were afraid to put their names on the sign up sheet. We were called Jews in Name Only by fellow YU students, and one student even joined our chat and posted pornographic material.
This is not to say it was all bad. The head of the YU College Republicans Club is a good friend of mine and signed our petition. We often engage in meaningful political dialogue. However, there is an overwhelming sense of shame in identifying as a Democrat at YU– that it is something to hide. As if being a Jew and a Democrat are mutually incompatible.
As I see it, the reasons to vote for Harris are two fold: both for her own merits and to ensure that Donald Trump does not assume the presidency for a second term.
I will bite the bullet and discuss why I believe that Donald Trump is a threat to democracy and why I believe Harris is superior to Trump, even in the three main issues that students likely oppose her for: immigration, the economy, and Israel.
Against Trump:
Democracy:
While many will point to January 6 as the day that Trump tried to subvert democracy, I point to 64 days earlier on November 3, 2020, the night of the presidential election.
That night was the first time that a U.S. presidential candidate did not concede the race after the results were determined. Even after over 60 court cases in which Trump failed to provide evidence of widespread voter fraud, he has refused to concede that he has lost the election. Most egregiously, 69% of Republicans believe these malicious lies.
Democracy rests on the bedrock of election integrity. When belief in that falls, all forms of protest, including that of the horrendous January 6, becomes legitimate. The only question that should be asked of Republicans from now until Election Day is the same that Governor Walz asked Governor Vance during the vice presidential debate: “Did he lose the 2020 election?”
America deserves better.
Leadership
I believe the most telling moment in the presidential debate took place during the discussion about the border. According to polls, the border is a winning issue topic for Republicans, yet when Harris baited Trump about his rally sizes, Trump could not hold himself and retorted to a personal insult instead of the question at hand.
This is a microcosm of the issue with Donald Trump. Namely: he is self obsessed. Can we really trust a man in an hour of crisis who can so easily be swayed by a silly jab? Can we trust a man to speak truth to power on the world stage who consistently praises Viktor Orban, who has transformed Hungry into what the European Parliament declared “a hybrid regime of electoral autocracy” all because Orban supports his agenda?
America requires and deserves a leader who will be able to make the hard decisions on the national and world stage at times of crises. A diagnosed pathological narcissist is not the right fit.
COVID-19 and Conspiracy Theories
“Democracies around the world are collapsing,” Yuval Noah Harari, an esteemed Israeli Historian announced, “and the reason is the collapse of trust between citizens and between citizens and institutions.” No one has done more to erode that trust in institutions more than Trump.
Trump wildly suggested that the U.S. slow the COVID-19 testing rate to improve U.S. statistics. He also recently said at a rally that he “will not give one penny to schools who have a vaccine mandate.”
Vaccines have been proven to save lives. According to a study at Pew Research Center, only 78% of elderly Republicans were vaccinated in 2021 against COVID-19, compared to 93% of elderly Democrats. According to researchers at Brown University, nearly 319,000 deaths could have been averted as of 2022 had more people taken the COVID-19 vaccine.
These conspiracy theories have real world consequences. Trump however seems keen on suggesting anything that can forward his political ambitions without any regard for the truth.
Among other conspiracy theories, Trump has suggested:
- Former President Obama was not born in the U.S.
- President Clinton was responsible for Jeffery Epstein’s death
- Cocaine found in the White House was Joe Biden’s
- Former President Obama spied on his campaign
- Ukraine was responsible for election interference
- Vaccines cause autism
- The Great Replacement Theory
- Most recently, Haitian migrants were caught eating dogs.
These conspiracy theories breed skepticism and erode trust in American institutions. As Americans, we should want a president who will rebuild trust and uphold America’s cherished institutions and democracy, not someone who will destroy it.
For Harris:
The following issues that I utilize to argue in favor of Harris are the ones that voters often cite against her. However, I particularly chose these topics as they are top of mind for voters and I believe Harris is the superior candidate, even when it comes to these.
Immigration
Admittedly, Harris did not do much to help secure the border during her first three years serving as vice president. However, she recently supported the adoption of a bipartisan border bill that would have added $20 billion to help secure the border, and added 1,500 additional border patrol officers and 100 machines to help detect fentanyl trafficking. Trump, however, told Republicans to kill the bipartisan bill according to Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, in a bid to keep the topic as an issue his campaign could utilize.
Meanwhile, the Trump platform has vowed for “Mass deportation now,” yet has not explained how they would accomplish that goal in an ethical manner that would also not completely destabilize the economy. Furthermore, while Trump previously promised to build a border wall and have “Mexico pay for it,” by the end of his term in office, only 80 new miles of the border wall were erected, directly funded by the U.S. taxpayer.
The main debate with the immigration crisis is: will we enact common sense measures to help deter illegal migration while helping facilitate legal migration, or will we resort to xenophobic remarks and rhetoric with no practical and ethical substance.
As Jews, we should be asking ourselves which candidate best encompasses the attribute, “And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt” (Deut. 10:19).
Economy
The U.S. economy is “the envy of the world.” Unemployment rates are at a 50 year low, interest rates are dropping, and real wages, disposable income, and wealth are all higher than pre-pandemic levels. Furthermore, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicts that “the US is on track to grow at double the rate of any other G7 country this year.”
Why then do only 23% of Americans have a positive view of the economy? The obvious culprit is inflation, with goods and services up by more than 21.2% since pre-pandemic levels. The dirty little secret is that prices will remain the same or higher no matter who takes office. On the contrary, deflation would be catastrophic for the economy.
Looking forward, Donald Trump has crowned himself as the “tariff man.” He has promised 60% tariffs on Chinese products and 20% tariffs on all imported goods. These tariffs would essentially be a tax on consumers and would particularly harm lower income buyers who spend a sizable portion of their income on goods from overseas. On the other hand, Harris plans to lower prescription drug costs, increase the small business tax credit, and increase the child tax credit.
The Torah mandates 12 times to take up the cause of the orphan and the widow, and Maimonides instructs that the highest form of charity is providing a loan. Again, I ask: which candidate best embodies these traits?
Israel
Perhaps the most vexing question for many Jewish Democrats is that of Israel. Several pro-Israel advocates have unfortunately succeeded in painting the issue as partisan. Thankfully, this is not true.
Israel should and will remain a bipartisan issue. Anti-Israel Representative Jamaal Bowman became the first Democratic incumbent in 2024 to lose his primary, and Israel critic Cori Bush became the second. According to the Brookings Institute, only 2% of Democratic primary winners oppose financial support for Israel while 3% of Republican winners do.
The main divide between Democrats and Republicans, and by proxy between Harris and Trump, is the condition of support to Israel. While 22% of Democratic primary winners support conditioning aid, only 1% of Republican winners do.
I can say in one breath that I am a YU student and voting for Harris. I can also say in one breath that I am pro-Israel but also care about the plight of the Palestinians in Gaza.
While Republicans and the Netanyahu administration seem content alienating the international community in their war efforts with no end in sight, and Trump is busy building Hotels in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, the Democrats and Harris see a path forward that is both pro-Israel and recognizes the need for broader reconciliation.
In this moment, our calling is whether to heed the words of Isaiah – to “bring justice” and be “a light unto the nations” (Isaiah 42:1-6) or whether we will transgress the commandment “Thou shalt not take revenge; and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself” (Lev. 19:18).
“I stand with Israel because of our shared values,” Harris remarked. “I believe that the bonds between the people of America and the people of Israel are unbreakable, and we can never let anyone drive a wedge between us.”
Ultimately, Harris is the candidate of normalcy. She is the candidate of ‘the good old days’ which we hear our parents nostalgically talking about voting for in the past. At the same time, Harris is the candidate of positivity not negativity, and of moving forwards, not backwards. Most importantly she is the candidate of unity.
With the world getting increasingly more isolated and atomised we should strive to bring people together. “How good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” the Psalmist declares. Especially as YU students, by voting for Harris, we can strive to move the Jewish story forward with both unity and compassion.
Photo Caption: Vice President Kamala Harris at the 153rd National Memorial Day Observance at Arlington National Cemetery
Photo Credit: Arlington National Cemetery / Flickr