The Nexus Project Newsletter

Two stories this week show how antisemitism is no longer confined to the political fringe.

President Trump’s nominee for a senior federal post was exposed for racist and antisemitic texts, while a Democratic Senate candidate admitted to having a Nazi symbol tattoo and a history of hateful posts. Both minimized their actions, reminders of how hate has become normalized across party and sometimes ideological lines.

As we mark seven years since the Tree of Life synagogue massacre, it has never become more important to find ways to prevent the normalization of hate.

That is why the ideas behind The Shofar Report are gaining ground. The report offers a framework for confronting antisemitism, replacing fear and reaction with research and accountability.

Remembering Pittsburgh

Seven years ago this week, eleven Jews were murdered while praying at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh.

Joyce Fienberg. Richard Gottfried. Rose Mallinger. Jerry Rabinowitz. Cecil Rosenthal. David Rosenthal. Bernice Simon. Sylvan Simon. Daniel Stein. Melvin Wax. Irving Younger.

They were parents and grandparents, teachers, doctors, neighbors, and friends. They came to synagogue to pray, to learn, to care for one another.

The shooter believed Jews were helping immigrants “invade” America. That conspiracy, known as the Great Replacement Theory, has not disappeared. It has intensified, spreading through politics and media, inspiring violence around the world.

Understanding Antisemitism

Why Banning Speech Does Not Work

Rabbi Seth Limmer, a contributor to The Shofar Report, appears in a new Nexus video explaining why fighting antisemitism requires evidence, not instinct.

“Despite last year’s efforts to claim that the slogan ‘Free, Free Palestine’ was a license to kill, research in political extremism has proven that attempts to demonize or even outlaw slogans only strengthen the resolve and often the resources of hateful communities.”

Public health research on extremism is clear: banning speech is counterproductive. Limmer calls for a shift from being right to being effective, studying what actually reduces hate and sharing those methods widely.

This is the heart of The Shofar Report: replacing the politics of reaction with a democratic, evidence-based approach to confronting antisemitism.

Antisemitism in the News

Trump Nominee Admits to “Nazi Streak” in Texts

POLITICO revealed that Paul Ingrassia, President Trump’s nominee to lead the Office of Special Counsel, told fellow Republicans in a text chain that Martin Luther King Jr.’s holiday should be “tossed into the seventh circle of hell where it belongs.” Using a racial slur, he called for eliminating “every single” Black holiday “from Kwanzaa to MLK Jr. Day to Black History Month to Juneteenth.”

When others pushed back, comparing him to the Hitler Youth, Ingrassia responded, “I do have a Nazi streak in me from time to time, I will admit it.”

Someone who admits to having a Nazi streak has no place in government, least of all in an office responsible for investigating discrimination complaints. The White House has not withdrawn Ingrassia’s nomination.

Democratic Candidate Caught with Nazi Symbol Tattoo

In Maine, Democratic Senate candidate Graham Platner admitted to having a chest tattoo widely recognized as a Nazi symbol. He claims he got the tattoo while drunk and unaware of its meaning, and has since covered it up.

Platner has also apologized for past Reddit posts featuring racist and misogynistic remarks. “I did not know” is not enough. Real accountability means showing how he has learned and what he is doing to confront hate.

Together, these stories pose a moral test for both parties: whether leaders will confront hate within their own ranks or excuse it.

Nexus in the News

JTA: “Project Esther Has Shaped Trump’s Antisemitism Strategy. The Shofar Report Is a Liberal Jewish Response.”

The Jewish Telegraphic Agency profiled The Shofar Report, the Nexus Project’s new framework for confronting antisemitism by defending democracy. President Jonathan Jacoby told JTA:

“Project Esther was not a strategy for fighting antisemitism. Project Esther is the Heritage Foundation’s tool for implementing Project 2025.”

The report offers an alternative to Project Esther, the Heritage Foundation’s plan now driving Trump’s policies. It urges the reversal of efforts to criminalize dissent, deport protesters, or defund universities, and calls for coalition-building rooted in civil rights and liberal democracy.

The Conversation: “The Conflation Problem: Why Anti-Zionism and Antisemitism Are Not the Same”

In The Conversation, Mira Sucharov, a member of the Nexus Task Force, explores one of the most charged debates in Jewish life: whether anti-Zionism equals antisemitism. Her answer is clear. They are distinct concepts, and conflating them silences legitimate political discourse.

Sucharov argues that Zionism, as a political ideology, can and must be subject to critique like any other, and that healthy debate is part of what keeps democracy strong. Her piece echoes the principles of the Nexus Document, which insists that fighting antisemitism requires protecting open political conversation.

Support Nexus

This is what we do: track real antisemitism, call out when it’s weaponized, and make clear the difference. If you’d like to support this work, please reach out to us. We’d love to connect.

We’ll continue offering clear responses, frameworks, and resources as these stories develop.