For many months now, polls have shown that Donald Trump has been making significant gains in support from traditionally left-leaning constituencies, like black Americans, Hispanic/Latino Americans, and even young people. But according to a recent poll, another constituency appears to be leaning to Trump, at least in one state. That could spell major trouble for Kamala Harris.
According to a Siena Research Institute poll, Harris leads Trump in New York 53%-39%, which is an improvement over Biden's position in the state before he dropped out. However, Trump's gains among Jewish voters constitute a troubling sign for Harris, as the poll found Trump has a slight lead of 50% to 49% over Harris among likely Jewish voters in New York.
"While the lead for Trump is slim, it marks a dramatic change from the former president’s prospects against President Biden, who in June led Trump among likely Jewish voters, 52%-46%, in the state," reports Fox News Digital. "However, the race has changed dramatically since the last poll, with Biden opting last month to drop out of the race and immediately endorse Harris, who quickly worked to secure the Democrat nomination."
Jewish voters have typically been a reliable Democratic constituency. Jewish voters have consistently supported Democrats by an average margin of 71% to 26% since 1968. Jewish voters backed Biden over Trump by 68% to 30% in 2020 and Clinton over Trump by 71% to 26% in 2016.
According to the report, Jewish voters are worried about her lack of support for Israel. Some argue that she's distanced herself from the Biden administration since the onset of the Israel-Hamas war. If Trump is roughly equal in support among Jewish voters with Harris in New York, he's likely in a similar position in other states. This is a huge warning sign for Democrats.
In March, Harris became the first official in the administration to call for an "immediate cease-fire" in the conflict. Later that month, she was also the first to issue a warning of "consequences" for Israel if it proceeded with its planned invasion of Rafah, a city in Gaza, during an interview with ABC News.
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Her relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has faced scrutiny, particularly after she avoided directly answering whether he had become an "obstacle to peace" and for being far more critical of Israel's handling of the conflict.
"I believe that we have got to continue to enforce what we know to be and should be the priorities in terms of what is happening in Gaza," Harris said. "We've been very clear that far too many innocent Palestinians have been killed. We have been very clear that Israel and the Israeli people and Palestinians are entitled to an equal amount of security and dignity."
The poll was conducted before Harris chose Gov. Tim Walz (D-Minn.) as her running mate. Many believe the antisemitism in the Democratic Party contributed to Harris not choosing Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-Pa.) as her running mate since Shapiro expresses strong support for Israel. Does that mean that Trump might experience more gains among Jewish voters in future polls? Are Jewish Americans realizing that the Democratic Party doesn't care about them?
Let's hope so.
