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Democrats risk losing Jewish voters by courting far-left, ex-Clinton staffer warns
ReDemocrats risk losing Jewish voters by courting far-left, ex-Clinton staffer warns
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and former Hillary Clinton staffer Kaivan Shroff warn that the Democratic Party's shift toward far-left voices is alienating Jewish voters ahead of the midterms.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is warning Democratic leadership that the party's willingness to minimize Jewish voters' concerns over antisemitism could drive a key constituency away. Speaking this week on The Atlantic's «David Frum Show,» Nessel accused her own party of failing to value Jewish constituents and of making them feel less welcome than members of other minority groups.
«I think it's a fundamental mistake for the Democratic Party to think that you can just push Jewish Democrats out and simply replace them with any other population,» Nessel told Frum. Her comments come as the party wrestles with internal divisions over its ideological direction and as Michigan's Senate race has become a flashpoint in that debate.
Kaivan Shroff, a media commentator and former digital organizer for Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign, echoed Nessel's concerns. He told Fox News Digital that the issue is not really about Israeli policy or Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but about whether Jewish Democrats feel they must «explain or defend a basic part of their identity to remain in good standing with the party.»
«Ironically, Democrats cannot afford to keep shrinking their political tent in the name of expanding it to folks like Hasan Piker — and then act surprised when pieces of the coalition start walking out,» Shroff said, referring to the left-wing streamer whose comments about American Jews have drawn condemnation from Democrats including Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan.
Shroff argued that Democratic leaders should stop courting socialist-aligned candidates and instead shore up support among establishment backers, especially with midterm elections approaching. He pointed to Michigan's Senate race, where nominee Abdul El-Sayed has faced scrutiny over his association with Piker, who previously told his viewers that if American Jews «keep putting this idea out there that they are singularly invested in Israel, eventually someone is going to come around and take action, not against the state of Israel, mind you, but against American Jews.»
«It's a critical Senate seat for Democrats to win and they need all their voters and more to show up,» Shroff said. «So turning off loyal Democrats like Nessel is a huge issue and should be causing major alarm.»
Nessel said Jewish Democrats have felt ostracized by their own party since the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks in Israel and accused leadership of cherry-picking which constituents' concerns to take seriously. She described a double standard in how the party handles sensitivity to other groups compared with Jewish voters.
«When a Black person says that a phrase that you're using or the way you're talking about this issue to me is racist, I'd like you to stop doing it — we respect that,» Nessel said. But she said Jewish voters are often told, «You are not going to tell us what you deem to be antisemitic. We'll decide what's antisemitic. That's not up for you, the Jewish population, to decide.»
«I find that to be very off-putting and offensive,» she continued. «I think that's totally unacceptable.»
Nessel also criticized El-Sayed for comments he made after an attempted terrorist attack on a synagogue in West Bloomfield earlier this year, when he remarked, «Hurt people do hurt people.» She said many perceived that as «making excuses for someone that sought to murder over 100 pre-K schoolchildren.» Although El-Sayed has met with Jewish community leaders, Nessel said his unwillingness to retract the statement remains a concern.
Asked whether she would choose her party or her faith, Nessel was unequivocal. «I was Jewish before I was ever Michigan attorney general — I'm going to be Jewish afterwards,» she said. «I was Jewish before I was ever a member of the Democratic Party, and if I have to, I'll be Jewish afterwards too.»
Slotkin, who is Jewish, responded to Piker's comments this week in a social media post, writing, «This shouldn't be hard: no community should face the threat [of] violence for their political views. Period.» She added that the principle applies «if you're pro-Israel, pro-Palestine, pro-choice, pro-life or any other cause you care about.»
