Pass the hate, please

You are not likely to meet anyone like me in Iowa, so please bow slightly in my direction when we are introduced I think I am part of a secret international Jewish conspiracy to force Donald Trump to behave like a fool, bigot and liar. I’ve done it secretly, and I really should not demand much applause since it was so easy. Trump was simply being Trump at a Mar-a-Lago meal to which he invited, by his post-dinner assertions, people he didn’t know or know anything about. No big deal. After all, almost all of us do that. I remember when we only invited a single couple and had to ask their names as they were leaving.

Sometimes, at Mar-a-Lago, an undisguised, proudly antisemite guy shows up, possibly with a Holocaust denier antisemite of national prominence. Since Trump eats with strangers, I have some suggestions of pro-Trump folks to invite when they get out of prison and may be hungry and want company.

Trump’s action and later statements were so outrageous and unbelievable that Republicans are finally speaking up about who he really is. Some are potential presidential candidates like Chris Christie and Mike Pence. Some are in the Senate, like Mitch McConnel. Kevin McCarthy, soon to be Speaker, screwed up his denunciation, but it was almost clear enough to understand.

Every time Donald opens his mouth these days, he drives people away, a kind of political halitosis, and he seems less likely to be the 2024 Republican nominee for president. Disgust has begun to be expressed and it will grow stronger.

Trump’s main guest at dinner was Kanye West, a rapper of some note and an admirer of Adolf Hitler. Ye said recently, “I see good things about Hitler … Every human being has something of value that they brought to the table, especially Hitler.” Ye wasn’t alone. He brought a friend.

Nick Fuentes is a Holocaust denier and a well-known anti-Semite. Donald Trump would have to have his head where there is no sunshine not to know or ask about him. Does any sane person believe that Nick Fuentes would want the opportunity to talk about World Cup soccer with a man who wants to be president again? “Hey, Don, how did you like Qatar’s goalie?”

According to Fuentes, America will cease to exist as a Christian nation, “if it loses its white demographic core and if it loses its faith in Jesus Christ.” In a debate on Alex Jones’ “InfoWars” in May 2021, he said that Jews have no place in Western civilization because they are not Christian.”

I’m heartened by the response to the dinner by some Republican candidates for president. One assumes they will be joined by others. Both Pence and Christie were once loyalists, took issue with Trump and did it without any ambiguity. America is better for their belated words of truth.

Other Republicans will follow. I hope the group will include a few Iowans, named Reynolds, Grassley, and Ernst. They don’t have to lead now. Other Iowa Republicans are already there and before Trump proposing to repealing parts of the Constitution. We don’t have to be first in the nation to say “no more Trump.”

Norman Sherman of Coralville has worked extensively in politics, including as Vice President Hubert Humphrey’s press secretary.