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Donald Trump has told donors he will crush pro-Palestinian protests, deport any foreign student found to be taking part, and set the pro-Palestine movement "back 25 or 30 years" if re-elected. What are your thoughts on this, and what if any impact does it have on the presidential race?
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Trump called the demonstrations against Israel's war in Gaza a part of a "radical revolution" that needs to be put down. He also praised the New York Police Department's infamous clear-out of encampments at Columbia University as a model for the nation.

Another interesting part was Trump changing his tune on Israel's offensive. In public he has been very cautious in his comments as his campaign believes the war is hurting President Biden's support among key constituencies like young people and people of color, so he has only made vague references to how Israel is “losing the PR war” and how we have to get back to peace. But in private Trump is telling donors and supporters that he will support Israel's right to defend itself and continue its "war on terror", as well as boasting about his track record of pro-Israel policy including moving the US embassy there to Jerusalem in 2018 and making the US the first country to recognize the Israeli annexation of the Golan Heights in 2019.

And what are your thoughts on how this could impact the election? Does it add more fuel to the argument that a vote for Trump is a vote for unbridled fascism to be unleashed in the US? As mentioned, the war has also hurt Joe Biden's support among young people and people of color. Will getting a clearer look at and understanding the alternative impact this dynamic?

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I don't see this having much of an impact. I don't think anyone that was willing to vote for him has a soft spot for the protests nor would they be particularly upset if Trump did actually crush the protests with force. His base likely are hoping he'll do just that.

I'm a little less activated by the statements mainly because Trump says a lot of things that are outrageous that he forgets about the next day. I'm not saying he absolutely wouldn't do that, but I'm not sure why this threat is something we should entertain versus everything else nonsensical he's said just spur of the moment.

I also don't think it's going to move the needle very much in Biden's favor. I seriously doubt any Palestine supporters were under the illusion that Trump would somehow be a secret friend to Palestine or take a hard stance against Israel. If anything, this is one of those "Yeah, we know" moments where he's just said the thing most people figured he'd do anyways.

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Which is disgusting, no argument, but I think it's important to distinguish between a proactive plan and effectively signing a piece of paper.

Trump has promised to do a lot of absolutely bonkers things and followed through on almost none of them. Again, I'm not sure why this would specifically be different.

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It's more acknowledging that Trump is a creature of almost pure id and has a prolific history of saying absolutely wild and outlandish things because he thinks they'll play well at the moment he says them with zero thought given to how that might actually work.

For a refresher, Trump has promised or at least stated he would do a number of things over the years including:

  • Build an enormous border wall along the Southern border and make Mexico pay for it.

  • Arrest and imprison Hillary Clinton.

  • Repeal Obamacare.

  • Guaranteed 6 week paid leave.

  • Expand concealed carry reciprocity to all 50 states.

  • Cancel federal funding to any "sanctuary city."

  • Remove all undocumented immigrants.

  • Kick China out of the WTO.

  • End birthright citienship.

  • Eliminate the federal debt in 8 years.

  • Ban Muslims from entering the US at all.

You'll note that none of that happened.

And that's just a handful. Trump's thing is for his mouth to write checks the rest of him can't cash.

Why should we take him seriously on this versus any of his other statements?

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That's fair but I think if you're going to be a single issue voter on Israel, you're probably always going to vote Republican anyways.

I don't see someone who's willing to vote for Biden but feels so strongly on Israel that his milquetoast statements would upset them to the point where they'd switch or stay home.

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Not at all. I'm just pointing out that the strategy of pointing to something outrageous that Trump says he'll do is maybe not the most coherent way to make the case that it's worth ignoring Biden's support for genocide in order to vote for him.

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5 months ago