DEBATE PARTICIPANTS
INTERVIEW WITH USHI TEITELBAUM
Who do you think would make a better president—Biden or Trump? | Trump
Age: 26
Party: Republican
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Occupation: President and founder, Sky High PR
Jewish Denomination: Hasidic
2020 Vote: Donald Trump
Current 2024 Choice: Donald Trump
Who do you think would make a better president, Biden or Trump?
Trump, absolutely. Not just because of Biden’s age but because Trump had a proven four years, a great presidency in spite of COVID. He did a lot of good things, showed great leadership in foreign and domestic policies, especially in business. In the debate, Trump did an excellent job. He was prepared; he was relaxed.
After watching the debate, I thought Biden should be replaced immediately for the sake of the country. I was very surprised, because I watched the State of the Union and he was very good. He was on target, on his game. But somehow when it came to the debate, he looked very bad, tired, like he didn’t even belong there. He didn’t look presidential at all.
I’m voting for Trump because it’s painful to see what’s happening in this country. In New York City, there are nearly half a million undocumented migrants, and immigration is a real issue. It affects everyone. I do think we’re a nation of immigrants, but you have to have checks and balances.
Crime is a big issue. I know it’s easy to blame the White House, when there are a lot of other people to blame, but it’s a real problem. I don’t take the subway anymore, because what’s happening in the trains is frightening. I’m going to have to pay a big toll going into Manhattan soon, because I’m afraid to take the train. And the governor and the mayor aren’t doing much to address that. I haven’t been a crime victim in New York myself specifically—maybe some people screaming Free Palestine at me a few times, trying to say Israel’s bad, but nothing more than that.
Do you think Trump’s felony convictions will change the trajectory of the race?
There was no real case there. It pisses me off tremendously. I’m very shaken about what’s happening in the 2024 cycle. People get carried away, especially the media. We’re not talking about issues that affect the people. It’s always another Trump conviction, another Trump trial, Trump at another courthouse. That’s not what the country should be looking at. We should look at how our bank accounts are doing, how is our safety in our cities, how is inflation? Can you pay your taxes this year? That’s much more important. It used to be that the media talked about issues of substance, what matters to the working class. Besides talking all day the way they do on CNN about whether Donald Trump’s conviction is legal, let’s start talking about issues that matter to people, like immigration.
It’s painful to see what’s happening to this country.
In terms of the other Trump cases, there is due process, and whatever happens happens. I’m not an attorney. I’m not going to weigh in on the legal questions, but I can tell you what bothers me as a voter in New York City.
What do you think of Biden’s handling of Israel and Gaza? Would Trump do a better job?
Biden has no strategy for how to handle the situation. He flip-flops every day. One day he says go into Rafah, another day he says stay out of Rafah. I think his stance on Israel over the past couple of months has changed dramatically. I’m utterly worried about what’s happening to Israel, the strongest ally of the United States in the region. The president should focus more on the future of Gaza, and let Israel end the war quickly.
Also, the United States should work more aggressively to get the hostages back home. The United States has a lot of political leverage in the Middle East, especially with countries like Jordan and Qatar. They definitely could leverage more pressure on them to get the hostages home, because every day is like a year for them.
I think Trump’s foreign policy was much, much better. Countries didn’t want to do anything aggressive to their neighbors, because they knew that Trump doesn’t play games. Trump has much better negotiating skills than Biden.
What’s the political atmosphere in your community? Are there undecided voters?
The community that I live in, in Brooklyn, voted for Donald Trump, I would say 80 percent in 2020. And now I think it’s going to be at that same percentage, more or less. They see safety as a major issue. And the economy is something that our community thinks about a lot. They feel that Trump had a much stronger economy than Biden. Inflation affects a lot of families, especially a lot of large families. It’s much tougher these days than it was. I don’t see anyone changing their mind and voting for Biden.
What sources do you read or watch to get your news?
Ami Magazine, CNN, Fox News.
INTERVIEW WITH DIANA LEVGERMAN
Who do you think would make a better president—Biden or Trump? | Biden
Age: 41
Party: Democratic
Location: Warwick Township, Bucks County, PA
Occupation: Project manager for health insurance company
Jewish Denomination: Reform
2020 Vote: Joe Biden
Current 2024 Choice: Joe Biden
Who do you think would make a better president, Biden or Trump?
Biden. I did watch the debate; Trump lied nonstop and Biden stumbled the whole time. It was painful to watch. But I still say what I said before the debate: You are not voting for a president, you’re voting for an administration. Biden’s cabinet is staffed with competent and educated leaders. Trump’s would be staffed with MAGA loyalists and extreme Christian nationalists who want to destroy our democracy. There’s literally nothing that will make me vote for Trump.
I know things aren’t perfect, but I think Trump would be completely disastrous. Thank God, Trump is not president right now, because things would be way worse—in America and Israel.
Do you think Trump’s felony convictions will change the trajectory of the race?
I don’t think they will change anything, because people who didn’t support Trump won’t support him now. And for those who are true loyalists, the convictions don’t seem to matter. They believe that the trials are witch hunts. So I don’t think that anybody who’s really loyal to Trump is not going to vote for him because of that.
There’s literally nothing that will make me vote for Trump.
It is a sad time. I wasn’t planning on ever voting for Trump anyway. I mean, I’m happy he’s been convicted. I honestly thought he’d never ever face any consequences for anything he’s done. But for me, personally, it doesn’t change anything. I don’t have many friends who are hard-right Trump supporters.
What do you think of Biden’s handling of Israel and Gaza? Would Trump do a better job?
I think Biden is in a very, very difficult situation. To be honest, I think he’s done a really good job—considering what he’s dealing with. I think he’s been level-headed, and his cabinet has been pretty good. At one point, when he threatened to withhold aid to Israel, people got really upset about that. I understand some of the strategy here. But I also realize that we, the common people, don’t understand everything that’s going on in a war situation. So we have to trust that a Democratic president who has a good relationship with Israel is doing the right thing. Also, I think it would definitely be worse for Gaza if Trump were the president.
What’s the political atmosphere in your community? Are there undecided voters?
During the primaries here in Pennsylvania, the results were eye-opening, especially in the suburban counties around Philadelphia, some of them very blue-collar. In Pennsylvania, we have closed primaries—only Republicans can vote in the Republican primary and only Democrats in the Democratic one. In the Republican primary in Bucks County, I saw almost 20 percent of the Republican vote went to Nikki Haley. In [adjacent] Montgomery County, it was even higher. So that tells me that a lot of Republicans are done with Trump. Anecdotally, I have a lot of friends who worked the polls on Election Day. And when the people at the Democratic table offered sample ballots, some voters responded: “No, I’m voting Republican, for Nikki Haley. But you’ll have my vote in November.”
I am seeing some pushback on Biden specifically from Jewish voters. Several people I know have mentioned that they can’t vote for Biden because they disagree with how he’s handled Gaza and Israel. And so there are definitely a few who are sitting around, waiting to see what happens in the next couple of months. But I’m only hearing that from Jewish voters. I’m not really hearing that from any other voters. I’ve heard people who I’m pretty close to say things like, “I can’t vote for either one,” because of Gaza, or because of Ukraine. We have a lot of Russian-Jewish immigrants here. Those issues are kind of difficult for them right now. But they’re basically saying: “I don’t want to vote for Biden, but I’m definitely not voting for Trump.” So they might just stay home on Election Day.
What sources do you read or watch to get your news?
The Philadelphia Inquirer, Bucks County Courier-Times, The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Atlantic.