Biden’s Policy on Israel is the Biggest Blot on His Presidency. I Still Voted For Harris
Current U.S. Politics & the Rise of Hitler, Part 5
Today is Election Day in America. Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Governor Tim Walz, are running against former president Donald Trump and his V.P. pick — first-term senator J.D. Vance. So much has happened since I started this journey of looking at history. When I wrote Part 4 of this series, President Joe Biden was still Trump’s opponent, and Israel was only focused on destroying Gaza.
To say this is a nerve-racking time is an understatement. If you are a Black or Brown person, it’s even more so. Trump has been dropping hints about his affinity for white supremacy, misogyny, xenophobia, and dictatorship for years now. As we’ve looked at in previous articles, there are scary congruencies between the fall of the Weimar Republic and the rise of Trump.
Yet, despite all the evidence of Trump’s racism and xenophobia, there are some 15 percent of Black voters who do not see the danger that another Donald Trump presidency holds for them — never mind what it will do to everyone else in the country. On top of that are those — of all races — saying they are going to sit out the election, or at least the presidential part, to protest the stance of President Joe Biden on sending weapons to Israel while they are committing what is widely seen as genocide against the Palestinian people (VOX, 10/25/24).
A quick FYI: if someone is convinced that the government controls the weather, there is no hope of having a rational conversation with them. That person is in full-on MAGA mode. This article is for those who are reacting out of anger at our political system.
Why, Despite the Horror of Gaza, I Still Voted For Kamala Harris
To be clear, I agree with the assessment that the Israeli attacks on Gaza, under the leadership of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, constitute genocide. Biden’s stance on continuing to send Israel offensive weapons will stand as a huge stain on his historical record. This is not a defense of his administration’s actions, and that administration includes Harris. What this article covers is why, despite Gaza, I realized that Harris/Walz was the only choice if I wanted a chance to end the war in Gaza and stop further racial harm from being perpetuated in America. I came to that conclusion because Harris has at least been willing to meet with protesters, and she does want the carnage to stop (Politico, 08/22/24). Then there’s knowing what Trump would do in a second term.
A Few Reminders of Trump’s Racism in Action
- There was the 2011 ridiculous campaign questioning the birthplace of then-President Barrack Obama, whom he was considering running against (NPR, “Consider This” 01/23/24).
- When he officially started his campaign for the 2016 Presidential race Hillary R. Clinton, he almost immediately began making derogatory comments to the crowd about America’s immigration policies and about Mexican immigrants. Do you remember these words?
“The U.S. has become a dumping ground for everybody else’s problems. (Audience applause) Thank you. It’s true, and these are the best and the finest. When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”
(TIME 8/15/17)
After Trump was elected, his views and behavior only got worse.
- One of the first things Trump did when he took office was the Muslim ban — done by executive order. Despite protests and two rebuffs by the Supreme Court, he eventually got it into effect. The ban included countries in the Middle East and Africa (Bridge Georgetown Initiative)
- That summer came his equivocating statements about the “Unite the Right” White Supremacist rally in Charlottesville, VA. It’s often stated as him saying, “There were very fine people on both sides,” which he did say. However, it’s within the entire context of his speech that day where you can see him trying to justify the behavior of the “alt-right” while trying to shift more blame to those who came to protest them (Politico, transcript, 08/15/17). Those statements pushed our current president, Joe Biden, to run against Trump in 2020. (PBS, 04/26/19)
- Then, a few months later it came out that when discussing an immigration bill, Trump described Haiti and countries in Africa as “shithole countries” and wanted just to have people come from countries like “Norway.” (Associated Press, 01/12/18).
All of those things were just his first year in office! Given these things, you would think Harris would have closer to unanimous support among people of color. Granted, outside of the situation in Gaza, there are other genuine reasons to be disillusioned with American politics. There are some African Americans who feel Biden/Harris did nothing for them.
You Can’t Fix in Four Years What Has Been Broken For Decades
Some of this perception by African Americans comes from being poorly informed. For instance, on Oct. 22, 2024, I saw MSNBC anchor Alex Wagner interviewing a representative of the “Black Republican Club” in Philadelphia. He stated the following: “The crime is high, the violence is high, the schools are bad, and Democrats have been in charge for 40 years.” Never mind if the statistics on crime, violence, and schools are accurate. Perhaps that is the reality in his community. What caught my attention was his blaming of the Democrats for 40 years of presidential rule.
The fact is it’s been Republicans who have held the office of president the most, not the Democrats. They also have had control of Congress more than the Democrats. Furthermore, it’s been the Democrats who have been better at cutting the deficit — and they did so while still prioritizing things like education and social programs.
This same pattern can be seen when you compare the statistics between the four years of Trump and the nearly four years of Biden. The reality is that under Biden/Harris crime and unemployment have been lower than under Trump — including in the African American population. The one thing the Republicans and MAGA are better at is obscuring the truth with strong messaging. Hence we get people saying the things that this “Black Republican Club” member did.
Did Biden/Harris Deliver for African-Americans?
The Republicans for Trump groups fall into what I see as the ultra-MAGA crowd. From what I can tell — from the data and just anecdotally — two areas have this 15 percent concerned. The first one is somewhat easier to overcome. It’s the idea that the Biden/Harris administration hasn’t delivered any of its promises to the Black community. A look at the facts says otherwise.
It is true that Biden wasn’t able to deliver on all his promises. In 2020, the arrival of COVID-19 likely forced him to change a number of priorities that he promised at the start of his campaign the year before. Nevertheless, despite the razor-thin margins Democrats have had in the House and Senate, he still got a lot done. PolitiFact has found that out of 99 campaign promises, there are only three that they deem as broken. In terms of promises made to the Black Community, Capital B News, a non-profit news organization run by and for African Americans, did a nuanced and detailed breakdown of what Biden has — and has not — done. Here are my top three accomplishments. He got more money allocated to HBCUs, his Department of Justice significantly increased its focus on using “its authority to root out unconstitutional or unlawful policing,” and he appointed a Black woman to the Supreme Court.
Getting Federal Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson onto the Supreme Court was a big promise kept. She is the first Black woman on the Supreme Court, as well as the first former public defender to be seated on the highest court in America. Along with that appointment has come another “60 Black judges, including 39 Black women,” who are now federal court judges (civilrights.org/). Overall, nearly two-thirds of the judges Biden appointed were either women, “Black, Hispanic, Asian American or members of another racial or ethnic minority group” (Pew Research, December 4, 2023.) To Supreme Court Justice Brown. Just to be clear, these are not judges in the mold of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Biden worked hard to at least partially undo the hard-right tilt Trump had put in across all our federal courts. All of these things are moves toward systemic changes.
The Biden/Harris administration also made good on many economic ideas that help the poor, working class, and middle class. This is a sharp contrast to Trump and the Republican Party. Being that Black people make up 17 percent of the poor, 14 percent of the working class, and 47 percent of the middle class, these policies also help the Black community.
How the Attack By Hamas Changed Everything
Now, let’s get back to the disillusionment with American politics. The biggest issue that’s causing hesitation in some Black voters — especially in the 18–29 demographic — concerns Israel’s genocidal response to the brutal attack by Hamas on October 7th, 2023. Specifically, these people are furious about Biden’s refusal to hold back weapons from Israel, as that country’s far-right government, under the cover of “defending itself,” is committing war crimes with impunity.
Pew Research polling about Israel and Hamas shows that the majority of the 18–29 demographic (all races) say Hamas’s October 7th attack was “unacceptable” (58% vs. the 15% saying that it’s acceptable.) However, the same poll also finds that 46% say Israel’s response is also unacceptable, with only 21% saying that it is. The anger is focused on Israel because the U.S. is paying for its response. It is American bombs that are being dropped on hospitals and killing children.
When historians look back at the Biden administration, he will get very high marks for bringing America out of the COVID-19 pandemic without thrusting the U.S. economy into a recession. He has been a pro-labor president, with things like the Infrastructure Bill putting him in the realm of great 20th-century presidents like FDR & Lydon Johnson.
Unfortunately, the fact that Biden has had the leverage to force Israel into a cease-fire but hasn’t used it will be a huge stain on his record. No one is going to say he just was staying in line with the U.S. policy on Israel. He is, but Biden is also the president who has wanted to pull America out of Afghanistan since he was Obama’s V.P. — and did so as President,
Granted, the Afghanistan withdrawal wasn’t the perfect orchestration, but Biden did get it done (NPR, All Things Considered, 8/27/24. Why this is worth noting in the context of Gaza is that in the past Biden has not been unwilling to go against the tide of the American military establishment — until Israel’s “right to defend themselves” turned into what many of our allies and the United Nation’s Human Rights Council see as an act of genocide. Maybe it will be chalked up to his age and being slow to change his mind on long-term political policy, but that’s not something seen as a positive either.
The Gen Z Vote, and the Genocide in Gaza: The Power is in Voting
Before the Hamas attack on Israel, having a high number of younger people, including those of color, willing to vote for the Democratic ticket of Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, would not have been a question. In 2020, the younger and more liberal voters — who had backed Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, along with Mayor Peter — reluctantly turned out in strong numbers for the Democratic team of Biden and Harris. They did so over the issues, plus having understood some of the dangers of having four more of Trump.
The youth response was rewarded. Make no mistake, politicians notice who backs them, both while campaigning and at the ballot box. Biden, who has always been a pro-labor politician anyway, moved more towards the left in his policies by taking on some of the ideas of Sanders & Warren (and put Buttieget in his cabinet.) The progressive ideas are what have helped the U.S. economy at a time when the entire world economy was in trouble due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Some of Biden’s promises were: Getting people moderate relief from crushing student loan debt, bringing America back into the Paris Climate Accord, passing a bill to address gun violence, appointing a Black woman to the Supreme Court, and most of all, steering the country out of the pandemic with a level of sanity that was not present under then President Donald Trump. FYI — he’s done all of the above. The hardest one has been the Student Loan Forgiveness programs because the GOP is dead-set against it. While it’s not fully done, Biden has fought hard against their stoppage measures and managed to get people some relief (National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators).
Despite these facts about how Biden was pushed left, there are still people who think that not voting for Harris is a better way to help Gaza. What they don’t realize is that no one has ever gotten what they wanted by not voting. I was listening in on a TikTok Live last night where a young voter said they would “vote blue down-ballot, but leave the president slot blank.” Their logic was that then things could still get done in Congress, but the Democratic Party would hear their protest over Gaza. One person said it would be better if Donald Trump won because then the liberals would finally start to change their position on Israel & Gaza. Another thing on the list of wishes is that a Trump win would mean “the liberals” would finally be willing to get rid of the Electoral College.
First of all, voting blue down the ballot and leaving the President’s choice blank will do nothing if Trump wins. The 900 pages of Project 2025 are essentially a detailed map for a non-violent coup that ends the checks and balances of our Constitution and consolidates power into the Executive Branch (NYT). Congress will be irrelevant.
Remembering All the Danger Signs from Trump’s Time in Office
As for ending the Electoral College, if Trump wins, that may be true — but only because there won’t be any more real elections. He’s told Conservative Christian supporters at a rally that they’ll never have to vote again — because “it will be fixed” (ABC 07/29/24). While president, Trump mused more than once about being president for life, or at least well past the legally elected term (The Week.07/11/2019). This is something everyone needs to keep in mind.
Overseas, our allies have been concerned about Trump since he took office. Jonathan Freedland, the award-winning British journalist, author, and novelist, wrote a dire warning in 2019 about Trump wanting to be a dictator. The tagline is haunting.
“He cages children, he holds a military parade, he muses about being president for life. Yet we fail to see him for what he is.”
Today, some still don’t see it or don’t think he really means it. That is a huge mistake. Anyone who thinks Trump is just saying things to be provocative needs to remember Trump’s campaign for president in 2016.
Hillary Clinton Warns that Trump’s Actions Are Like Hitler's— We Should Listen.
Yes, in many ways Hillary Clinton was a flawed candidate, but — unlike Trump — she was still more than qualified for the job. She was also 100 percent correct about what was at stake then. She warned us about a woman’s right to choose disappearing if Trump got into office with a Senate majority. That happened — just like he said it would. The Federalist Society compiled a list of judges that they knew would overturn Roe v. Wade and handed it to Trump. We knew about that list, but it didn’t sink in what it meant.
Trump didn’t have to be smart or capable. He just needed to pick a name. He appointed those judges who overturned Roe v. Wade, and now women are literally dying because of it.
Hillary also warned us about his racism and xenophobia. We didn’t believe he could get a Muslim ban passed, but the Republican Party fell right in line, and he did. We laughed about his “build the wall” and “Mexico will pay for it,” but I don’t think anyone imagined the cruelty of the child separation policy — that crime against humanity he inflicted on thousands of children. There are over a thousand children who will likely never see their parents again. Today, she’s warning us again. These are her comments on ABC’s “The View.”
“When I was secretary of state, I used to talk about ‘one and done’. What I meant by that is that people would get legitimately elected and then they would try to do away with elections, and do away with opposition, and do away with a free press. (…) Hitler was duly elected. All of a sudden somebody with those tendencies, dictatorial, authoritarian tendencies, would be like ‘OK we’re gonna shut this down, we’re gonna throw these people in jail.’ And they didn’t usually telegraph that. Trump is telling us what he intends to do.”
Frankly, I didn’t need Hillary’s warning. I’ve been writing about how the GOP has been enabling Trump’s Hitler-like behaviors and eroding our democracy since 2019. Many historians have been noting this as well. However, Hillary’s breadth of experience and her being spot-on the last time she warned America about Trump should at least be concerning.
Project 2025: How Trump Could Take Hitler-like Actions in a Second Term
Now, in 2016, it’s fair to say that most people didn’t know how willing the Republican Party was to throw away democracy. After having four years of Trump and then watching how the party has reacted to what he orchestrated on January 6th, 2021, I don’t see how anyone is still that naive, and yet, here we are. There are still people who don’t believe he’ll do the things he says. They think those detailed plans that the Heritage Society has laid out in Project 25 will never happen. They can’t imagine he is really going to start rounding up undocumented people and dragging them out of their homes, even though it’s what he’s been saying at all of his rallies, and it was said at the Republican National Convention.
Read the transcript from the 60 Minutes interview with Tom Homan, the guy who “signed the memo” and carried out the child separation policy and has not an ounce of remorse. Or how about these words of Stephen Miller, who designed that heinous policy to begin with?
So you grab illegal immigrants and then you move them to the staging ground and that’s where the planes are waiting for federal law enforcement to then move those illegals home. You deputize the National Guard to carry out immigration enforcement.
Also, just an FYI: when Homan claims the idea of large detention camps is ridiculous, Miller, whom Trump has stated will be reappointed if Trump wins, is very matter-of-fact about these plans. Back on November 11th, 2023, before Project 25 had risen to popular discussion, the New York Times was able to speak to Miller and others about Trump’s immigration plans. The article covers many daunting facts, including these plans on detention camps:
“To ease the strain on ICE detention facilities, Mr. Trump wants to build huge camps to detain people while their cases are processed and they await deportation flights. And to get around any refusal by Congress to appropriate the necessary funds, Mr. Trump would redirect money in the military budget, as he did in his first term to spend more on a border wall than Congress had authorized.”
Within 900 pages of Project 2025 are the mechanisms of how Trump will be able to accomplish his immigration plans.
Of course, Trump has been denying that he has anything to do with Project 2025. Yet, he’s describing a plan that comes straight out of it and is worse than the shameful 1953 mass deportation project done under the leadership of the U.S.’s 34th President, Dwight D. Eisenhower. It was called “Operation Wetback,” which is a racist term for Mexicans — and Trump has been praising it since 2015 (NPR, 11/11/15).
The historian Mae M. Ngai documents this particularly dark period of U.S. history in her book, “Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and the Making of Modern America”. What she describes is a humanitarian nightmare, one that caught up American citizens as well as undocumented workers. From that work, The Washington Post (11/11/15) noted some of those conditions: People were packed into ships described by a Congressional committee member as an “18th-century slave ship,” into train cars “like cattle,” and there were several documented stories of groups of men dying of heat stroke after being dropped off in the middle of the Mexican desert.
Again, Trump’s been wanting to do what “Operation Wetback” did, but on a much bigger scale, since he ran for president in 2015. From a historical perspective, Hitler did not start off with the mass murder of the Jewish people. He started with mass deportation (www.holocaust.cz/en/history).
It’s Election Day: Who Will America Choose?
I’m posting this on Election Day, and yes, I’m nervous. Either Harris wins, or U.S. democracy ends. It’s that stark. Do I have hope she’ll win? Yes, but it’s going to be close. I can’t help but think of what I saw on TikTok. Then there are things mentioned in this Politico article on the “Uncommitted Vote in Michigan” (10/24/24). This section of it haunts me:
“She’s familiar with the questions that come up when someone suggests that not supporting Harris could tip the White House to Trump: ‘As an Arab-American, are you going to [be OK] with a Muslim ban? Is that going to be fine with you?’ she parrots. ‘You know what? If it comes [with] saving people from genocide.’
Of course, the problem with her argument is that Trump winning the White House is a guarantee that the genocide in Gaza will continue—and expand. It won’t just be in the Middle East either. I hope more voters than not realized it.
