Team Trump is making a list of Jews—what could go wrong?
In a chilling move that echoes Nazi Germany, the Trump administration is making a list of Jews—supposedly for their own good.
The Intercept reported on Wednesday that professors at Barnard College in New York City received a text message to their personal cellphones with a survey from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that asked recipients if they identify as one of the following options: “I am Jewish,” “I am Israeli,” “I have shared Jewish/Israeli ancestry,” “I practice Judaism,” and “Other.”
Professor Debbie Becher, who is Jewish, told the outlet, “The federal government reaching out to our personal cellphones to identify who is Jewish is incredibly sinister.”
The questions on the Barnard text were written under the guise of the Trump administration purportedly trying to root out antisemitism on college campuses. But this excuse is a Trojan horse for attacking dissent on college campuses—to the point of disappearing people—and pushing an anti-immigrant agenda.
The Anti-Defamation League recently noted that Trump’s attempts to withhold funding from Harvard University under the guise of combating antisemitism was a ruse. Even though the school had taken steps to combat antisemitism, Trump is trying to deny billions in aid that would help Boston-area hospitals affiliated with the school.
None of that protects Jews from antisemitism. But the government making a list of Jews certainly raises questions.
In the 1940s, Jewish people were forced to register with the German government in areas of Europe controlled by the Nazis. This registration was a precursor to one of the worst episodes of ethnic cleansing in all of human history: Six million Jews were killed by the Nazis during the Holocaust.
The ultimate purpose of the government’s list is unclear. The EEOC is currently led by Acting Chair Andrea R. Lucas, who was appointed to the position by Trump in 2020. While the traditional mission of the EEOC is the enforcement of civil rights law, Lucas is an open critic of diversity efforts.
When she was appointed she said her priorities were “rooting out unlawful DEI-motivated race and sex discrimination,” which is how the right inaccurately characterizes pro-diversity programs. She also said she would be “defending the biological and binary reality of sex,” which is how conservatives refer to policies that strip the civil and equal rights of transgender Americans.
As for Trump, his posturing as someone hoping to combat antisemitism is not a believable premise.
Trump loves to use antisemitic language and tropes. He has argued that Jews in America have a dual loyalty to Israel, referring to the leader of Israel as “your prime minister” while speaking to Jews living in the United States. He has repeatedly referred to “globalist” forces controlling world events, a frequent citation used by Nazis and white supremacists. In a 2019 speech to the Israeli American Council, Trump told the audience “you’re brutal killers” and “not nice people at all.”
Trump infamously referred to neo-Nazis marching in Charlottesville as “very fine people” and hosted antisemitic figures like rapper Kanye West and conservative activist Nick Fuentes at Mar-a-Lago. And of course, there’s his co-president Elon Musk’s Nazi salute … twice.
Conservatism has embraced Trump’s antisemitic behavior for over a decade now, and this list-making is the next phase in his escalation.