Feeling ‘less safe’ with Trump, number of US Jews seeking to move to Canada increases

American Democratic Jewish Council ad explicitly compares Trump’s popularity to the rise of Hitler in 1930s Germany.

By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News

A Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) report  published last Thursday claimed that increasing numbers of U.S. Jews are considering emigrating, due to fears over rising anti-Semitism and white nationalism allegedly condoned by President Trump.

Heather Segal, a Toronto-based immigration lawyer, told JTA she receives six or seven inquiries each day from Americans who are considering relocating to Canada. Segal says most of them are Jewish.

“What they echo to me: ‘We’ve seen this before,’” Segal told JTA. “‘I’m not going to get stuck. I’m not going to get caught. We know how this goes… I don’t want to wait and see what happens. My grandparents left Poland in World War II.’”

Two other Canadian immigration lawyers echoed Segal’s claims, saying they’d seen a marked increase in Americans, a high proportion of them Jewish, interested in moving to Canada.

The report came days after the first presidential debate between Trump and his challenger, former vice president Joe Biden, in which Trump was slammed for not unequivocally condemning white supremacists and far-right militias.

During the debate, Trump said the groups should “stand back, and stand by. But..somebody has to do something about antifa and the Left.”

In a phone interview the next day with Fox News, Trump clarified his remarks.

“I’ve said it many times and let me be clear again: I condemn the KKK, I condemn all white supremacists, I condemn the Proud Boys,” he said.

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany told reporters on Thursday, “The President just last week…expressed his desire to see the KKK prosecuted as domestic terrorists…he advocated for the death penalty for a white supremacist, the first federal execution in 17 years.”

“His record on this is unmistakable,” she said.

But Trump and McEnany’s statements failed to stop accusations that he is condoning white supremacism. A new TV ad from the American Democratic Jewish Council explicitly compares Trump’s popularity to the rise of Hitler in 1930s Germany.

The ad shows a split screen with Nazi supporters waving flags on one side and Trump supporters at his rallies on the other side.

While some were offended by the ad, the ADJC doubled down on its message in a statement.

“A majority of American Jews feel less safe today than they did four years ago due to the rise of white nationalism and anti-Semitism under Donald Trump,” the group said.

“This, coupled with Trump’s assault on our democratic institutions, are reminiscent of the rise of fascism in 1930s Germany. President Trump’s use of hatred for political purposes has made America less safe for Jews and we are voting accordingly.”

The Republican Jewish Coalition condemned the ad. The organization’s executive director, Matt Brooks, told Fox News, “The misappropriation of the Holocaust for political gain is unacceptable.”

“It is repugnant to everybody who lost family in the Holocaust.”

Trump campaign spokeswoman Courtney Parella responded to the ad in a statement. “As Democrats increase their false attacks against the President, Jewish Americans can see the truth for themselves through the President’s actions to fight against anti-Semitism,” she said.

“The historic Abraham Accords, doing what no other President was able to do and bring peace to the Middle East, [and] recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.”

2020 U.S. electionsAmerican Jewsanti-SemitismCanadaDonald TrumpWhite Nationalists