Gallup: Jews favor Clinton over Trump, 52-23 percent

WASHINGTON (JTA) – Jewish voters favor Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump 52 to 23 percent, according to poll tracking by Gallup.

The only religious group showing stronger favorability ratings for the Democratic nominee in data collected from July 1-August 28 is Muslims, who favor Clinton over Trump 64 to 9 percent, according to the analysis posted Tuesday, August 30 by Gallup.

Jews tend to favor the Democratic nominee by 10-15 points more than the general population, and this polling is no different; Gallup’s latest general population favorability ratings, for the week August 24-30, show Clinton at 39 percent and Trump, the Republican nominee, at 33.

Clinton also fares better than Trump among Catholics, 45-33, other non-Christian religions, 48-18 and atheist/agnostic, 44-19.

Trump fares better than Clinton among only two religious groups listed by Gallup, Protestants and other Christians, 40 to 35, and Mormons, 33-16.

Trump has come under fire for his broadsides against Muslims and other minorities. His expressions of antipathy toward Mexicans likely also hurt him among Catholics; Trump earns 44 percent approval to Clinton’s 34 percent among non-Hispanic Catholics, but scores 12 percent to Clinton’s 67 percent among Hispanic Catholics.

Gallup in an email to JTA said the margin of error for the Jewish sample was 5 percentage points and for the Muslim sample, 7.5 percentage points. There were 689 Jewish respondents and 168 Muslim respondents.

A recent poll of Florida Jews carried out by a polling firm close to J Street, the liberal Jewish Middle East policy group, found that 66 percent of Jews said they would vote for Clinton over 23 percent for Trump. Only Orthodox Jews as a group favored Trump over Clinton, by a margin of 3-1.

The Florida question, however, was phrased differently, asking respondents whom they would vote for, and not whom they favored, as in the Gallup survey.

Donald Trump Jr. retweets antisemitic psychologist

By Ron Kampeas

(JTA) – Donald Trump Jr. retweeted an attack on Hillary Clinton by Kevin MacDonald, a psychologist notorious for his theories of Jewish manipulation and control.

The August 29 tweet itself had nothing to do with Jews or the theories that have made MacDonald popular among Holocaust deniers. In it, McDonald referred to Clinton’s interactions as secretary of state with UBS, a Swiss bank that also has contributed to the Clinton Foundation. Trump’s father, Donald Trump, has sought to make an issue of allegations that Clinton inappropriately dealt with foundation donors while she was secretary of state in President Barack Obama’s first term.

The retweet by the 38-year-old Trump Jr., first reported by political commentator Charles Johnson on his website, Little Green Footballs, has drawn unfavorable attention. Deborah Lipstadt, the Holocaust historian, on August 31, linked to the Little Green Footballs entry on her Facebook page, and noted that MacDonald testified on behalf of David Irving when the Holocaust denier unsuccessfully sued Lipstadt for defamation. “During the 12 weeks of Irving v. Penguin and Lipstadt, Irving called a number of witnesses,” she wrote. “Only one did not have to be subpoenaed but came of his own volition. Kevin MacDonald. Donald Trump Jr. is now retweeting his comments. Giving him added attention. Kevin MacDonald is an unabashed anti-Semite.”

As of Sept. 1, the retweet remained on Donald Trump Jr.’s timeline.

Debbie Wasserman Schultz fends off primary challenger

WASHINGTON (JTA) – Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., on Tuesday, August 30 fended off a primary challenger and is likely to return to Congress, salvaging her political career after her ouster as leader of the Democratic Party. She beat out Tim Canova, a lawyer who had the backing of Sen. Bernie Sanders, who sought the Democratic presidential nomination. Sanders had for months accused Wasserman Schultz, as chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, of favoring Clinton. Hacked emails released last month on the eve of the Democratic National Convention showed that she and her staff were antagonistic toward the Sanders campaign, leading to her resignation.

Wasserman Schultz was well known in her south Florida district since her 2004 election, and pundits predicted longstanding goodwill among her constituents would carry her. Her district, encompassing Miami Beach, leans Democratic and she is likely to win in the Nov. 8 general election.

Wasserman Schultz is one of the best known Jewish Democrats in Congress, and Canova, who is not Jewish but who lived for a time in Israel, tried to use her vote for last year’s Iran nuclear deal – unpopular in the pro-Israel community – against her. She countered by pointing to Canova’s calls for disarming the Middle East (he denied this included Israel) and his tough criticisms of Israeli settlement policy, which reflected the policies of Sanders.

Trump disavows David Duke following ex-KKK leader’s endorsement

(JTA) – Donald Trump once again disavowed David Duke, the former Ku Klux Klan leader who is urging Louisiana voters to send him to the Senate and Trump to the White House. “Mr. Trump has continued to denounce David Duke and any group or individual associated with a message of hate,” his campaign told Politico this week after it emerged that Duke mentioned Trump in a campaign robocall.

The robocall cites what Duke, who is seeking the Republican nomination to the U.S. Senate, depicts as the threats of immigration, gun control and black advocacy. “It’s time to stand up and vote for Donald Trump for president and vote for me, David Duke, for the U.S. Senate,” he says in the call, which was first reported by BuzzFeed.

‘Dr. Drew’ show canceled after remarks about Clinton’s health

(JTA) – CNN has canceled “Dr. Drew On Call” eight days after the Jewish celebrity physician said he was “gravely concerned” about Hillary Clinton’s health and medical treatment. His final episode will air Sept. 22. The changes came shortly after Drew Pinsky expressed his worries about Clinton’s health in a radio interview, during which he diagnosed her with brain damage and said she was receiving “sort-of 1950-level care.” Pinsky said he and a fellow physician had studied the Democratic presidential candidate’s medical records and “were gravely concerned not just about her health but her health care.” Although Clinton, like Trump, has not released a full medical record, she did release a two-page health care statement from her physician in July 2015 saying she is in “excellent physical condition and fit to serve as President of the United States.”

Roseanne Barr calls Hillary Clinton ‘antisemitic’   

(JTA) – Jewish actress-comedian Roseanne Barr repeatedly slammed Hillary Clinton on Twitter, saying the Democratic presidential nominee “will be the absolute death of Israel.” Barr posted numerous inflammatory remarks, videos and articles about Clinton two weeks ago, including one that refers to her as “Hitlery Clinton” and another that labels her “anti-Semitic Hillary.” Barr also tweeted and re-tweeted several posts about Clinton and her aide Huma Abedin, whom Barr labeled “a filthy nazi whore.” Abedin, a Muslim American, recently separated from former Democratic congressman Anthony Weiner, who is Jewish.

On August 24, Barr tweeted: “Hillary will be the absolute death of Israel-she will sell #nukes to Hamas next if price is right [sic]. She listens to Sid Paul and Max Blumenthal,” she wrote, referring to former Clinton adviser Sidney Blumenthal and his two sons, Max, an avowed anti-Zionist, and Paul, a journalist.

Barr has been outspoken in her support of Israel in recent years and a frequent critic of the BDS movement. She visited the Jewish state in May, where she was a keynote speaker at a Jerusalem conference on the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.

In 2012, Barr sought the presidential nomination of the Green Party, but lost to Jill Stein, the party’s current presidential candidate.