Democracy or Dictatorship – This Election is a Binary Choice
Dear friends,
As we celebrate the Fourth of July and 248 years of American independence, our democracy is under grave threat from Donald Trump and Republicans. This threat was compounded by this week’s Supreme Court decision on presidential immunity.
My new op-ed in Haaretz reminds Jewish Americans how Donald Trump is eroding our democracy, attacking our rights, and his dangerous plans to serve as “a dictator on day one” if he wins in November. Read and share this important piece about why this election isn’t just a choice between the candidates at the top of the ticket – with Donald Trump on the ballot, it’s a choice between dictatorship and democracy. It is not hyperbole to question whether democracy will survive under Trump. Given the Supreme Court’s recent ruling, it’s fair to assume it may not.
After the Supreme Court majority – half of whom were appointed by Trump – ruled that a former president has broad immunity from prosecution, Justice Sotomayor warned in her dissent, “The relationship between the President and the people he serves has shifted irrevocably. In every use of official power, the President is now a king above the law.” She signed her dissent:
“With fear for our democracy, I dissent.” We agree.
Today, JDCA hosted leading voting rights attorney Marc Elias to discuss the Supreme Court decision and the state of our democracy. Marc gave inspiring remarks about what gives him hope, including JDCA, and gave us all a call to action – to defend democracy at the ballot box in November.
Here are some highlights from what Marc shared:
- The immunity decision “creates this kind of imperial presidency, which he’s already said he’s going to target his political opponents and to seek retribution. We need to start taking him literally and seriously.”
- “These decisions are the accelerant for Project 2025,” the far-right’s blueprint to make Donald Trump an authoritarian and his White House transition plan.
- “No dictator is satisfied with being a dictator for just one day.”
- “If you thought we saw a reckless Donald Trump before, wait until you see Donald Trump in 2025.”
- “You need to vote for democracy, and that means you need to vote, from the top of the ticket to the bottom, Democratic.”
- ‘What gives me hope is organizations like Jewish Democrats. You guys wake up, good days and bad days, and fight hard for democracy in America.’
As I wrote in today’s op-ed: “It is up to American voters to hold Trump accountable on November 5 and render their own judgment. It’s particularly incumbent on minorities, including Jewish Americans, who would likely be the target of Trump-emboldened extremists, to defend our democracy, fundamental freedoms, and rights. This election is not just a binary choice between Biden and Trump. It is also a binary choice between American ideals and our future as a democracy, in fact, the very question of whether or not America will exist as we have known it for two and half centuries or become a dictatorship.”
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Happy Fourth of July and an early Shabbat Shalom,
Halie Soifer
CEO, Jewish Democratic Council of America