Eight years ago this week, a gunman murdered eleven Jews at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue. He believed Jews were bringing “invaders” into the country. In the days before, with the 2018 midterms approaching, President Trump had called a migrant caravan an “assault on our country” and told a rally that “a lot of money’s been passing” to people to get them to the border by Election Day.
Jewish history keeps teaching us the same lesson: when democracy is strong, Jews are safer. When it weakens, we’re often among the first to feel it. With the midterms coming Tuesday, we need to be clear that election security and protecting our democracy are Jewish issues. Strong democracy keeps us safe, and it’s up to us to keep it safe.
If you face intimidation at the polls on Tuesday, call the Election Protection Hotline: 1-866-OUR-VOTE (English), 1-888-VE-Y-VOTA (Spanish), 1-888-API-VOTE (Asian languages), or 1-844-YALLA-US (Arabic). You can also report it to your local election officials, whose offices will be open on Election Day. The ACLU’s voting rights guide covers how to check your registration and what your rights are at the polls.
That didn’t take long. Shortly after two trains collided in Spain, antisemitic conspiracy theories were spreading that accused Israel of having orchestrated the tragedy.
The “evidence” used was thin, but were perfect examples of how conspiracy theories work. They employ loose connections claimed as proof, timelines used as evidence of causality, and a predetermined conclusion that makes it easier to feel your answer must be right.
You can read our full debunking of the supposed proofs provided as well as a full breakdown of the way conspiracy theory mechanics played out in this article on our website.
There’s a new migrant caravan: several hundred people who left Honduras in September and are walking north through Mexico. Right on schedule, ahead of the midterms, right-wing accounts are calling it an “invasion” and asking who’s paying for it. One post skipped straight to the answer: “apparently it’s a bunch of Jews.”
We’ve heard this one before. In 2018, “who’s funding the caravan?” turned into “Soros” within days and climbed from anonymous accounts to cable news to the White House. Shortly after, the worst mass shooting of Jews in America’s history occurred.
Read our explainer on the Great Replacement conspiracy theory, which this story is based on, here.
When a heckler told comedian Lucas Zelnick that all Jews are evil “considering what’s happening in Palestine,” he had an answer ready: “There are a lot of Jews being naughty in Israel right now, but it’s not all Jews, and it’s not because they’re Jews.” Then he asked why he was “on the hook for explaining to you why one religion of people aren’t all evil at the individual level.”
Blaming Jews collectively for Israel’s actions is antisemitic. So is demanding that Jews denounce or defend Israel to prove themselves.
At a Michigan rally on Sunday, President Trump said “any Jewish person that supports” Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed “should be ashamed of themselves,” and told the crowd, “you should never speak to them again.” On Thursday in South Carolina, he went further: “If you’re Black or if you’re Jewish and if you vote for Abdul, you’re crazy.” Then he added, “You’re crazy anyway.”
He has said for years that Jews who vote for Democrats show “great disloyalty.” While the dual loyalty trope is typically used to turn others against Jews, Trump invokes it to pressure Jews into supporting him. Don’t get it twisted: it’s still the dual loyalty trope, and it’s still antisemitism.
Looking at Jewish voting patterns is not antisemitic. Saying Jews should be “ashamed” or cast out for how they vote is. American Jews don’t need to be “loyal” to a candidate or party to be both American and Jewish.
At a Wednesday rally with President Trump in Chillicothe, Ohio, Sen. Bernie Moreno said El-Sayed, who is Muslim, “can be nowhere near DC.” He asked whether El-Sayed understands “that our rights come from God Almighty” and “that Jesus came here for our salvation.”
The Constitution says “no religious test shall ever be required” to hold office. Moreno’s test would disqualify every Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, and nonreligious American. Islamophobia and antisemitism travel together, and Christian nationalism threatens both communities. You don’t have to support any candidate to reject this.
At an Oct. 19 Georgetown College Republicans event, Marc Bernhard, a Bundestag member from Germany’s far-right AfD, told students that the Holocaust is “used as a weapon against Germany” and that accusations of Nazism have become “inflationary.” The talk also included anti-Arab and anti-immigrant rhetoric. The same club was reprimanded last year for posting, “Let’s Be Honest: Muslims have no place in American society.”
Holocaust minimization, anti-Arab, and anti-immigrant rhetoric are unacceptable anywhere, especially on a college campus.
Nexus Consults on Last Week Tonight
John Oliver’s latest episode takes on rising antisemitism and neo-Nazi ideology in far-right American politics, and Nexus consulted on it. In one segment, Oliver plays Nick Fuentes telling Tucker Carlson that the international Jewish community puts “the interests of themselves before the interests of their home country.” Oliver names it as the dual loyalty trope and calls it “just absurd.” In his words, “Lots of people have connections to other countries without being sleeper agents for them.”
Haaretz reported on Nexus’s statement condemning Sen. Moreno’s religious test for El-Sayed: “If acceptance of Jesus were a litmus test for public service, every non-Christian person would be disqualified. We call on everyone, regardless of party, to condemn and reject this message.”
In an essay for J., Nexus President Jonathan Jacoby describes his path to Nexus’s work defending Jews and democracy here at home. He is the son of a Hungarian Zionist leader who helped Jews escape the Nazis and an Auschwitz survivor, and he spent decades in Israel peace work before that. “Legitimate Jewish fears are being exploited as cover for an assault on free expression and democratic institutions,” he writes. Jonathan speaks at the Z3 conference on Sunday, Nov. 1, at the Oshman Family JCC in Palo Alto.
Manhattan, NY: Federal prosecutors charged Anna Mochalova, 32, with two hate crimes in the Oct. 21 Diamond District stabbing of an Orthodox Jewish man. They say she stabbed a second Jewish man two blocks away the same day and smashed a Jewish teenager’s phone outside a Crown Heights yeshiva in June 2025. (Times of Israel)
Solon, OH: Students and parents told the school board that classmates aimed Nazi salutes, “Heil Hitler” chants, and comments about picking up money at Jewish students during Solon Middle School’s Cultural Awareness Day on Oct. 22. The district says consequences were issued but won’t share details. (WKYC)
San Luis Obispo, CA: At least two attendees at a Turning Point USA event at Cal Poly gave Nazi salutes toward protesters outside the venue on Oct. 21. The university’s senior diversity officer called the gestures antisemitic and deplorable. (GV Wire)
Berkley, MI: Residents found flyers with antisemitic language on lawns and sidewalks on Oct. 26. It’s the third time this year the Detroit suburb has been hit, after similar drops in May and July. Police have increased patrols. (Detroit News)
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, you can donate here. We’d love to connect.
We’ll continue offering clear responses, frameworks, and resources as these stories develop.
