Jared Kushner—President Trump’s senior advisor, son-in-law, and ideal person to cite whenever he’s accused of being anti-Semitic—wrote an op-ed in the New York Times on Wednesday, lauding Trump’s executive order that allows the government to recognize Judaism as both a race or nationality as well as a religion. While the administration is dressing this up as tackling anti-Semitism, it mostly makes it easier for the Department of Education to crack down on anti-Israel movements on college campuses.
From Kushner’s op-ed:
Anti-Semites have grown increasingly brazen in claiming that attacks on Israel — and even on Jewish students who may or may not support Israel — are not anti-Semitic. It has become fashionable among Jew haters to characterize any discriminatory behavior — no matter how loathsome — not as criticism of Jews, but of Israel. This is a lie. Especially on college campuses, where discrimination, harassment and intimidation of Jewish students has become commonplace and is routinely, but wrongly, justified.
Of course, if you’re Jewish and are opposed to Israel’s treatment of Palestinians and other regressive policies, you do not exist in Kushner’s universe.
It goes without saying that anti-semitism is alive and well. There was a targeted attack on a Kosher deli in Jersey City on Tuesday that left entire neighborhoods on lockdown. But the fact that Kushner is painting those who are critical of Israel with the broad brush of anti-semitism is absurd. Unfortunately, it works!
Oh, did you happen to catch the latest edition of Pete Buttigieg being absolutely insufferable? Well, here he is on Tuesday night’s episode of the Rachel Maddow Show, in health insurance industry apologist mode as usual:
Can’t wait for more McKinsey client drama to do its thing!
- Rumor has it that Joe Biden would only serve one term as president if he won the election in 2020. If this was a planned leak, his camp shouldn’t count on it being enough to draw young voters away from Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren. The youth want a different old! [Politico]
- Donald Trump Jr. apparently killed an endangered sheep when he was gallivanting in Mongolia earlier this past summer, and received a hunting permit from the Mongolian government after the fact. Cool. Normal. [Propublica]
- In other Don Jr. news, he’s big mad that teen climate activist Greta Thunberg is Time’s person of the year:
- Michelle Obama is caping for her cough drop buddy George W. Bush again. [People]
- Olivia Wilde fawned over Nancy Pelosi for The Hollywood Reporter. [THR]
- And across the pond, on the eve of a very important election, Boris Johnson hid in a fridge before an interview with Piers Morgan. [The Guardian]
- And he got clowned: