"I’ve heard from a LOT of reliably anti-Trump people - I mean really, really, anti-Trump people - who have had it with Biden tonight."
Cultural cringe is strong because it taps into people’s prejudices, but it’s also weak when it comes to policy.
Biden’s people bet that they could slap an arms embargo on Israel and still draw in Never Trumpers. That’s proving to be a bad bet. He forgot that most of these folks disliked Obama’s policies and only backed Biden because he was supposed to be a moderate. Now after Afghanistan, Israel is looking like the last straw for a lot of people who, both Jewish and non-Jewish, had been committed Never Trumpers.
Fwiw. I’ve heard from a LOT of reliably anti-Trump people – I mean really, really, anti-Trump people – who have had it with Biden tonight. Anecdotal, to be sure. But very telling in my circle.
— Jonah Goldberg (@JonahDispatch) May 9, 2024
True. I was #NeverTrump before basically anybody. Biden screwing over our ally, at war, over domestic politics is the last straw. I am not pro-Trump but he's not the worst evil now. My shipmate (battle buddy? same?) @KurtSchlichter was right about all this, credit where it's due. https://t.co/Q26fsHvH9w
— John Schindler (@20committee) May 9, 2024
I’m one. Protested and didn’t vote for Trump in 2016, and turned down offers to join campaign and administration. Split ticket for Biden in 2020. Now ready to vote Trump in 2024 on Bill Barr grounds.
— (((tedfrank))) (@tedfrank) May 9, 2024
OK, I hope I have (to anyone silly enough to follow me over time) a lot of street cred here. I tried very hard (in time and treasure) to get us better choices in this upcoming election (#StillTeamNikki). But this feckless tool of the far left (yeah, run as a centrist again you… pic.twitter.com/MmarY2pYSV
— Clifford Asness (@CliffordAsness) May 9, 2024
My whole family who used to be FDR democrats are OUT! Not going to lie I’m loving the “I told you so’s”!
— Gal_Hallah (@GalHallah) May 9, 2024
Biden didn’t want this to come out before Tuesday because it would step on his Holocaust speech. I cannot adequately express the depth of my contempt.
— John Podhoretz (@jpodhoretz) May 9, 2024
literally ten fucking hours ago at the bulwark https://t.co/0hsINiojjn pic.twitter.com/153nAz84Ts
— kaitlin (@thefactualprep) May 8, 2024
Just talked to two family members who, after tonight, are likely to switch their vote from 'None of the Above' to 'Trump'…even though they hate Trump.
All because of Biden's Israel position.
The idiots in the West Wing have no idea what they have wrought.
— Pradheep J. Shanker, M.D. (@neoavatara) May 9, 2024
It’s a small sampling but much of it’s coming from some influential Never Trumpers.
Beyond that, a lot of American Jews who didn’t think that Biden vs. Trump had that much of a difference on Israel after Oct 7 have now come to see it in very stark terms. I’ve seen private texts and messages from generally apolitical people (and most people are apolitical) indicating a major shift.
After getting Sen. Schumer, Rep. Nadler and the assorted ‘Rabbis for Hamas’ in the Reform movement on board, Biden’s people thought that they were doing fine. That was a fundamental misreading of the situation.
Two things have happened.
- People who were Never Trumpers (Jewish or not) could lie to themselves that Biden was better on foreign policy. Now that has come apart.
- American Jews who thought that there wasn’t much of a difference between the two parties and didn’t follow the congressional shenanigans have been disabused of it.
This is a gamechanger.
Biden has alienated two parts of his base, American Jews and liberal Republicans and Democrat foreign policy hawks. He’s exposed himself as Obama 2.0. The impact won’t be immediately obvious in the polls, but it will hurt him.
